Cath Kidston's designers explain how to showcase prints in any home - including the 'family of cushions' rule
Give your home character with patterns, prints, and pops of colour
Heart-warming, whimsical designs come so naturally to Cath Kidston. If you love the look of their patterns and prints, but don't know where to start, or need a little inspiration, you're in luck.
Holly Marler, Cath Kidston's Head of Creative, gave us all of her expert tips and tricks on how to showcase prints and patterns to make you fall back in love with your home.
Whether you're working from a neutral palette or already on the dopamine decor trend, we've got plenty of inspiration - including Holly's "family of cushions" advice.
Meet the Cath Houses - prints, textures, and styles for the season
Cath Kidston's new autumn range, available exclusively on the Next website, showcases prints, patterns, and textures for your home. Before we get into Holly's advice on showcasing prints and patterns in your home, here are some of our favourites for bringing colour and character to your home:
How to use little pieces in the collection
Seeing the Cath Kidston collection might make you want to do a whole room redesign, but Holly celebrates the little tweaks that you can make at home. Whether it's Cath Kidston tableware. a cushion, a lamp, or a ceramic vase, she calls these "little pieces of art." Holly says, "I love the idea of pieces that tell a story or evoke conversation," because you've collected them very consciously.
What is the "family of cushions" rule?
Holly also recommends designing with her "family of cushions" philosophy. She explains that a room's soft furnishings shouldn't match, but should feel like they belong together. "The thought is comforting," she explains, "for example, a check piece, perfectly placed with a print and a bold colour can all live harmoniously together but look wildly different."
And now is the perfect time to be thinking about your cushions, because they're one of the easy autumn resets that make your home feel cosier. And it's even nicer to have expert permission to make your cushions all siblings, not twins.
How to use lighting in your room
It doesn't just have to be about soft furnishings. "If you prefer an instant transformation, our lighting collection introduces immediate warmth, colour, and personality." She points out the Dipped Pink Lamp as a "standout favourite."
We've always celebrated Cath Kidston's lighting and one of Holly's top tips for using lamps is to make them your single, special printed object. She explains that you can surround checks, stripes and florals with different fabrics or plain colours to emphasise the "pop of colour" that the lamp can bring. Plus, as the mornings and evenings get darker, a soft glowing lamp is an easy way to bring some ambiance to your rooms too.
How to introduce colour if you're drawn to neutrals
As someone who loves neutrals and soft colours (including Sage Green - the colour trend for 2027 ) I was keen to find out how to add some of the Cath Kidston colour and joy to my own home, an area on which Holly has lots of advice.
"I always talk about balance in a room and creating focal points within a harmonious colour scheme," she explains "I use my paint palette in much the same way: keep the main area calm, and let the strong colours come through in details like lighting. A petite bistro lamp in red gingham, for instance - small, but with a bold personality.
For rugs, look for printed borders, like a delicate butterfly motif, so the pattern doesn't become overpowering. It zones a room effortlessly while bringing in those joyful brights."
Finally, we asked Holly what she wished more people knew when perusing the collections she was quick to tell us more about all the work that goes on behind the scenes. "Each piece has been created with such love and care, and treated like a canvas - each print hand painted and placed on the object."
These pieces of home decoration will help to bring character, charm, and colour to your home. Not just because you chose them, but because the people who designed them put so much into them too. And if you're still seeking some home inspiration for autumn, we have collected all the cosiest pieces that are inspiring us this season.
