Mary McDonald Shares Her 9 Favorite Tips for Playing With Pattern

We’ll let you in on a little secret: In the right hands, a roll of wallpaper or a few yards of fabric can have a transformative effect that can rival any structural undertaking. For proof, look no further than the magic that Mary McDonald has created with her latest collection for Schumacher. From instant floral fantasies to trompe l’oeil sleights of hand, her tips make light work of high design.

1. Don’t Be Afraid to Go Faux

“I love paneled rooms of all kinds, but remodeling interiors for millwork can be complicated. Fauxboiserie wallpaper panels make it attainable. You can pull them apart for a variety of configurations: Install sideways as wainscoting, or frame a window or a door to create the look of molding. Touch up blank spots with matching paint and you’re done!”

2. Frame Your Fabrics

“Overscale prints can offer an element of surprise, especially on a chair with separate back and seat cushions because the placement doesn’t have to match. Choose a different focal point for each!”

3. Don’t Underestimate Symmetry

“These trompe-l’oeil panels seem fanciful, but they’re actually based on classicist geometric patterns. You can solve a lot of decorating problems with classicist symmetry because it gives structure to a space: Choose a window or door as a visual anchor, install the panels around it, and suddenly you’ve buttoned everything up.”

4. Swap Solids for Stripes

“Honestly, a stripe is the easiest thing to use—you don’t have to overthink it. If it’s monotone, I like to treat it as a more interesting solid that will go with virtually any other pattern.”

5. Make a Considered Match

“Pairing a fabric to a chair is not rocket science, but you want to make sure to choose a fabric that complements the chair’s structure and design in both era and pictorial content. A Chinoiserie dragon works well with this Empire chair and the colors of its painted frame.”

6. Know When to Say When

“Trompe-l’oeil wallcovering is an easy way to bring a bit of fantasy and whimsy to a room. But once you’ve got a large faux element in a space, you don’t need other fanciful or gimmicky things to distract from or compete with it. A little goes a long way.”

7. Tape It Up a Notch

“Trim is a luxurious detail that makes things feel custom. There are so many ways to use it: on the bottom of a sofa skirt, bed skirt, the leading edge of a curtain. You can even stack two or more tapes to create a one-of-a-kind design.”

“There’s nothing prettier than a blue-and-white-tiled room, but the installation is a lot of work. So I came up with a wallpaper with a hand-painted design based on 17th-century Portuguese tiles. You can cover a room floor to ceiling or create a dado—we made sure to create a coordinating border to finish it off neatly.”

9. Grow a Botanical Garden

“Chinoiserie is a universal people pleaser because it’s based on the beauty of nature, but it’s very hard to find original antique panels these days. I designed this set based on a panel from the 18th century; the painting is so detailed, you see new things in it every time you look at it. Use this and it takes care of almost everything in a room.”