Neutrals vs. patterns

Our new sectional sofa was delivered today! The one in this catalog picture but just the sofa. No otoman. That would have been too much matching for me.
I've wanted a sectional for a long time but not one of those big bulky reclining leather ones, just something simple and classic. I always try to stay fairly neutral with the fabrics because a long time ago I got stuck decorating around a sofa we purchased with a pattern. Yes, you can get slip covers but having the made can cost as much as a new sofa and the kind you buy at the dept. stores get sloppy too fast for my taste. Anyway, I always suggest that people use pattern on the throw pillow, draperies, throws, etc. Not on the larger pieces because goodness knows they las a very long time, and most of the time they last longer than your desire for that pattern.
We were not planning on buying any furniture until we had our basement finished but Wolfs Furniture (high end) was having a 50% off sale and offering 18 months same as cash, so how could we possibly pass it up, right!? We could have paid for them but if you can wait 18 months to pay, we decided to collect the interest instead.
We also bought a new dining room table. We kept the chippendale style chairs that we had and it looks like a new set. Yay!
Another great thing about fabric on dining room chairs is that you can choose to be trendy or classic because when the mood changes they are so easy to recover. I have changed out ours at least 3 times in the past 12 years. My tastes change, what can I say? I also like to coordinate our dining room draperies with the chair fabric so when one changes, yep you guessed it, the other has to, as well. So like I said consider getting a neutral fabric, not necessarily patternless but simple pattern and use more bold or larger patterned fabrics around the room, in the art, etc.
This also allows for you to lighten the mood for summer and cozy it up with warmer colors for the winter. Have fun!