As I was trying to break in the couch by going out of my way to watch a little TV {wink}, I caught an episode of ‘What Not To Wear’ on TLC. I know my mom loves watching that show, and if I indulged myself a little more to watch TV more often, I probably would too. They have really great style tips that I think are worth knowing. On one of last week’s episodes, Stacy and Clinton gave pattern advice to their ’student’. I thought it was very appropriate to how we decorate our homes. Here are their 3 rules of thumb:

• Neutrals are black, tan, gray, navy and green and can be combined together in any shade.
• Neutrals can be mixed with any color or pattern.
• Other colors and patterns can be mixed together if the same colors are present within the color palette.

This is a really good way to measure the colors and patterns in your home. Don’t get hung up on mixing blues and blacks or reds and pinks, etc… there are much fewer rules to decorating than you think. I myself am breaking a few of these rules in my home, but that’s just how I like my home to look. So, a la Stacy and Clinton, if you are going to do pattern in your home – the patterns can be different if they contain similar colors. They’re right! See if it applies in your decorating…