How to Mix and Match Bold Floral Patterns in Your Home

If the word chintz gives you flashbacks to Grandma's parlor (or its tissue-box cover), let us unfurl a whole new vision. With sophisticated colors, fewer frills, and creative pairings, classic flower and plant motifs can look ultramodern. Pick an idea or two, and make your place bloom.

Punch Up Some Furniture

Put your stamp on a plain piece of furniture by adding a favorite floral pattern. Serena Dugan grasscloth in Camel ($98 per yard, serenadugan.com) gives the above Crate & Barrel "Tate" mid-century sideboard ($999, crateandbarrel.com) perennial style—plus its subtle pattern adds texture, and you'll never tire of it. Black-and-white prints ($81 each, artfullywalls.com) offset its pastel tones and nod to vintage botanical art. An Alder & Co. garden pot ($215, alderandcoshop.com) completes the vignette.

Play with Scale

To embrace a motif you love (in this case, verdant leaves), stick to a single color, and play with patterns of different sizes—one large and loose, the other small and detailed. Living home editor Lorna Aragon cut a yard of Rose Cumming's chintz—the word technically refers to any glazed cotton, but has become shorthand for a big floral print—"Chestnut Leaves" fabrice (price upon request, wellstextiles.com) into rectangles, then framed and hung them in a tight grid, aligning the pattern so it's continuous. "The chintz is bold, and the William Morris Willow Boughs wallpaper ($237 for a double roll, wallpaperdirect.com) is softer, but they work together because they're in the same color family," says Lorna. This is also a wilder riff on traditional botanical drawings, which are often positioned in a grid featuring different single plants. A matching umbrella stand, printed rug from the Rifle Paper Co. x Loloi Peonies collection ($220, riflepaperco.com), and the Room & Board "Ravella" bench ($1,399, roomandboard.com) ground the effect.

Craving a different colorway? Cover a wall in a different fine-print paper, and use larger-scale fabrics for art and accents. For example, pair Cole & Son's "Maidenhair" wallpaper in Mulberry, Ink, and Alabaster Pink (price upon request, cole-and-son.com) with CW Stockwell "Martinique" fabric in Pink ($248 per yard, cwstockwell.com)—or coat the walls in Lake August's "Bettina" covering in Brook (from $198, lakeaugust.com) and accent the space with LuRu Home's "Mei Long" fabric in Flax ($158 per yard, luruhome.com).

Make Your Bed

There's no rule that your sheets, duvet, and dust ruffle have to match—so live a little! Buy floral bedding à la carte, or break up your sets. Start with a neutral base, and layer on a few prints in the same palette, says Lorna. Then every time you change the sheets, you can swap in the other pieces to get a slightly different look. If you prefer blue colorways, consider layering Martha Stewart's "Leigh" floral quilt set (from $116, target.com) with this Lady Pepperell Edith floral sheet set (from $100, kohls.com) and a classic sateen ice-blue sheet set from The Company Store (from $108, thecompanystore.com).

Are you partial to green? Opt for a trio composed of Serena & Lily's "Grenada" quilt in Moss (from $348, serenaandlily.com), Marigold Living's "Aria" flat and fitted sheets in Green (from $115, marigoldliving.com), and Red Land's cotton basic sheet set in White (from $200, redlandcotton.com). Or, take a maximalist approach and opt for a multihued floral set from top to bottom. We think Peacock Alley's floral percale "Chloe" duvet cover and sham (from $135, peacockalley.com), Anthropologie's "Greta" organic cotton sheets (from $48, anthropologie.com), and Parachute's iconic blush linen sheet set (from $149, parachutehome.com) look lovely together.

Styling by Lorna Aragon; Flowers by Naomi Demañana.