Plain colors may look dull and boring for sometime. You can create focal points in your home and make it look attractive and interesting by the use of patterns and textures, while maintaining the harmony and synchronization in your home décor. There are unlimited choices of textures and patterns for you to brood upon and choosing them and arranging them in an inviting manner, is not so easy a task, as it may seem at the first instance. Textures and patterns play an important role in determining the style of decorating the home.

Your environment limits your choices while every individual may have different preferences too. However, here are a few key points to keep in mind while selecting the right texture and pattern or their combinations for your home that you can use to create illusions of seemingly changed proportion of rooms, climatic conditions and overall mood of the room:

* Complex use of multihued patterns, diagonal line criss-crossing lines each other randomly serves to keep eyes busy. They can infuse new life in a large area other wise dull but can lead us to distraction in a small room, and is thus not advisable in small areas.
* Vertical stripes are for rooms with low ceiling as they create the illusion of height but should never be used in a room with high ceiling or it will make room look like a church!
* If the room is narrow, add horizontal stripes between the walls set closer together to add illusion of width to the room.
* You choice of pattern is usually determined by the size and scale of space in the area or room. Larger areas usually look good with larger prints while smaller areas should use smaller prints. Sometimes, as a change you may experiment with large prints in very small areas such as corners or space under the staircases to add a touch of opulence to those areas.
* Using similar patterns in two or more consecutive rooms put them together and creates a wide-open plan look. The sudden or contrasting differences break the sense of continuity and flow and come in handy when you want to create certain focal areas or define spaces in over-large rooms.Similarly, colors often play a vital role in the look of a pattern. Shades of same color or colors of same group create a subdued and subtle environment that is more peaceful and restful while highly contrasting colors add energy and life to a room. They are better for play areas or high-activity areas in your home such as gym.
* Since rough texture absorbs more light while smoother texture reflects light to make everything look sparkling, it can make a whole lot of difference to the room décor.
* Rough texture gives a more rustic look though it can add more natural feel than the artificial-looking glossy areas. However, areas with higher gloss and sheen are also smoother generally, making them easier to clean and thus, go well with areas that need to be cleaned more often such as kitchens and baths.