Creating a fabric scheme is one of my favorite ways to pull together a room. It is the easiest way to customize your space, and really gives you a jumping off point for designing the rest of the room. However, if you don't understand how to use pattern and color, it can be a bit tricky. I hope I can give you a quick little guide to help you better understand how to create your own fabric scheme.
Color
The first thing to consider when creating a fabric scheme is color. There are two approaches you can take. The first approach is the easiest, and what I recommend most people use. Essentially, you want to start with one fabric that has some sort of pattern (typically a floral pattern). Then you will pull colors from that design. This approach is safe, because you know if the colors look good together in the pattern, they will look good in a fabric scheme. Below is an example of some fabrics I pulled together to demonstrate that method. You can see here that I started with the modern floral pattern. Then, I pulled out the blush pink as a solid velvet and the gray for the stripes. I'll explain more about the use of patters/solids in the next section.
The second, and more difficult approach is to use color schemes (like complimentary, analogous, and split complementary). This method involves using the color wheel and understanding how colors relate with one another. Because this method is a little bit more involved, I will be sharing a blog post soon that will focus completely on color schemes and the color wheel.
Pattern
Pattern is such a fun element to play with, but can be a little scary for some people. Again, you can start with a pattern you really love and build off of that. You want to make sure that your patterns are all of different scale, and solids can be a great way to break things up from looking too busy. For example, in the fabric scheme below I started with the blue floral. This pattern is a medium scale. The scale of a pattern refers to how often the pattern is repeated. Then I chose a pattern that had a small scale which is the ikat type pattern. It is a small scale because the pattern is repeated often. Then, I chose a fabric that had a large scale. In this case, it is the circular pattern. Finally, to pull it all together and keep things from looking too busy, I selected a navy blue solid velvet fabric as a finishing touch.
So just remember, the easiest thing to do is start with one fabric you really love and then pick colors from that and select patterns that are a different scale. I hope this gives you confidence to build your own fabric scheme at home, as it really is a great way to infuse style and personality into a space!