10 Modern Chintz Design Ideas

Hannah Jones

Choose additional accessories

Amy Lamb

Chintz is known for its colorful color palettes, often evoking a veritable rainbow of hues, from pastels to bold jewel tones. To tie the punchy print into the rest of your room, use the palette as a starting point for your accessories. Here, designer Lisa Gilmore has picked up a soft robin’s egg blue from the nearby chintz curtain of the bedside lamp.

From the Archive: An Ode to Chintz, circa 1984

Combine male and female

Painter Elizabeth Stern's ranch house in Nashville, designed by Liz Bonesio Interiors, master bedroom

ALI HARPER

Floral prints can be inherently feminine, so it’s no surprise that an excess of them—as often seen with chintz—can come across as too saccharine. To tone down the ladylike aesthetic, pair the print with a fabric that has a more masculine edge. In this Nashville home, designer Liz Bonesio added some edge to a Rose Tarlow chintz print with a mustard and blue striped bedspread.

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Layer southern elements

Cara Fox chose a sweet floral Schumacher wallpaper and latticework to make this bed between the dormer windows feel like a secret garden

Hannah Jones

Chintz fabrics have always had a stronghold in the South, where they enhance the formality inherent in Lowcountry design. To easily design a room around a stunning print, you can use other Southern-inspired design elements to flesh out the space. In this charming loft bedroom, designer Cara Fox paired a sweet floral Schumacher wallpaper with a sofa cushion and a wall lamp shade to make this bed nestled between dormer windows feel like a secret garden.

Related Story: 24 Dreamy Bedroom Curtain Ideas for a Tranquil Space

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Be brave

$House beautiful whole house 2023 1906 Hinsdale\, Illinois House$

KEVIN J. MIYAZAKI

A room with chintz on the walls or couch won’t be any calmer, so you might as well embrace a “more is more” attitude. Case in point? This 2023 maximalist bedroom designed by Isabel Ladd House beautiful Whole Home combines a chintz-inspired wallpaper by Morris & Co. with other extravagant accents like layered rugs, quirky art and a sculptural mirror.

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Rinse and repeat

Read McKendree

Pattern saturation – also known as using prints (often the same print) in places throughout the room – is particularly popular with chintz fabrics. Instead of opting for Only a set of curtains or Only a chaise longue, why not cover the whole room in your favorite print? Here, designer Katie Rosenfeld chose a buttery soft chintz fabric (a collaboration between Blithfield and Lee Jofa) to enhance the home’s classic New England farmhouse vibe.

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6

Increase the drama

Abigail Jackson

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7

Form a team of two symbols

$House beautiful whole house 2023 1906 Hinsdale\, Illinois House$
KEVIN J. MIYAZAKI

What’s better than one iconic print? Two, of course! Just because you choose chintz doesn’t mean you have to forego pattern in the rest of your space. The trick to mixing and matching is to choose patterns that match in palette but vary in size. Designer Roxy Owens led by example in the 2023 House beautiful Whole Home, where she combined Lee Jofa’s “Chinese Peony” wallpaper with the equally iconic “Les Touches” fabric by Brunschwig & Fils on a slipper chair next to it.

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8

Go to OneNote

$Georgian Home\, in Raleigh\, North Carolina, designed by Charlotte Lucas Design Daughter's Sunroom Girls' Bedroom$
Chris Edwards

There are many ways to modernize chintz prints, and one of our favorite ways is to pair them with a colorful room. In this historic Georgian home, designer Charlotte Lucas made a classic Schumacher fabric modern enough for a little girl’s bedroom by complementing it with various pink appliqués, including a pop art painting and a midcentury modern-style desk.

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9

Mix in modern elements

Amy Neunsinger

Today, chintz is so much a part of the design language that it’s not difficult to give it a contemporary look. The foolproof formula? One part chintz, two parts modern. Take this room in designer Mark D. Sikes’ home, for example. A chintz-covered armchair and cushion next to it blend seamlessly with other eras, including graphic ikat curtains and a Regency-style glass coffee table.

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Related Story: What You Should Know About California Coastal Interior Design

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10

Put a single color in the spotlight

Sarah Smith

Chintz design elements are there to stand out, so go ahead and put them in the spotlight. If you’re not a fan of all-over patterns, remember that a touch of chintz is often enough to enhance the personality of an entire room. Here, a simple and classic bathroom gets a wink with custom blinds in butter yellow vintage chintz.