TEST PATTERNS

OUTSIDE CHICAGO, TEXTILE DESIGNER KATHRYN MARESCA FAULL AND HER HUSBAND MADE OVER THEIR BUNGALOW WITH BOLD COLORS, VINTAGE FINDS, AND LOTS OF HER OWN FABRIC DESIGNS.

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Of all the ways to decorate a room, it's no surprise that textile designer Kathryn Maresca Faull starts with a pattern.

“I’ve always used my home to test out designs,” she says. “It’s hard to match a fabric to a color. It’s much easier to find a fabric that you love and then match a color to it.”

When Faull and her husband, Chase, purchased their 1918 home in Riverside, Illinois, she knew she wanted a dark blue room to match a color she uses in many of her Maresca Textiles fabrics. “The living room was dark anyway, so I thought, Why not make it really moody?” she says. She later painted the ceiling to match a cornflower blue fabric she wanted to weave in. In the dining room, wallpaper was the jumping-off point. “I really love citron with dark blue,” Faull says. “I wanted that sharp contrast when you looked through from the living room.” Plus, the sunny color complemented the vintage wood furniture. She was less bold in the kitchen and bathrooms, opting for neutrals since tiles and cabinets are harder to change.