Design Happens

BRIANA: Patchwork is picking up again. So let’s stitch together some opinions on this trend. Homespun sweetness or just a hot mess?

LILI: I posted the Oswald Squint patchwork sofa as a Daily Delight a while ago…

…and my thoughts on this sofa are essentially the same: I don’t know why I like it! My design style leans toward the classic, mid-century modern, the austere-with-a soft-edge. These patchwork pieces are the polar opposite. I can’t help myself from liking them, though. I think a crazy side chair like this Rug Collective one would make a perfect complimentary piece to my solid gray sofa:

JESSICA: Patchwork headboard or bust:

MARIANNE: I can’t say this is my particular jam, but I was just at the NYIGF and I think that Kantha quilts are going to be the hot new textile trend:

BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: There needs to be an element of randomness to doing patchwork, but a bit of cohesiveness, too. Perhaps a consistent palette that runs throughout the piece. But, in order for that palette to seem effortless, it needs to be applied in a somewhat imperfect manner, mismatched with a keen eye if you will. My favorite example of modern patchwork done right is with wallcovering, like this:

Then again, I used to live in a kelly green and fire engine red loft packed with space-age furniture and 16-foot-tall photography walls, so perhaps my opinion is a bit warped.

CAMILLE: Sorry, but I vote hot mess. While I think quilts can look great in the right setting (meaning anywhere Sarah Richardson wants to use one). This just looks so haphazard and accidental. It’s like a fabric experiment gone awry – Franken-furniture. ::shudders::

GRANT: It all depends on the size of the piece. A sofa or chair is way too much — however, I think a little dab of patchwork in a space is fun (like this Chippendale stool).

KAYLA: I’m not a fan. Not a fan at all. (Too many bad memories of patchwork scarecrow quilts and such.) This is the closest I’ll get to “patchwork” furniture:

FARIMA: I absolutely LOVE patchwork. I think it takes a keen sense of style to put together crazy patterns and colors and actually make it work harmoniously. Anthropologie does that so well, which is why it’s one of my favorite stores. I mean how could you not love this bedding?

LIZ: No, I hate it.  Some pieces are uglier than others, but the fact remains: there is a really, really fine line between “crazy chic” and “crazy clown.”

Bill Murray can pull it off, though:

We’ve worked out our feelings about patchwork, now tell us what you think: