apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Maybe if it were different color combinations, but that room looks horrible.

It depends -

Tartans used for upholstery, drapery, wallpapers, carpets and/or bedding can be quite elegant and tasteful whether it's a traditional, contemporary, formal or relaxed setting...

...but cheezy painted effects like the one behind the sofa just remind me of the tacky old store displays from Expressions Furniture showrooms.

Maybe because I attended Catholic school in plaid...no.

No more karate chopped pillows!

i like tartan, but i agree with oakland about that room.

I'm on the "it depends" side.

After seeing this room, I'm no longer Mad for Plaid!

*Small* amounts of *matching* tartan are fine, but that room looks like an over-decorated frat house.

Hot for about 2.5 seconds then this trend will rightfully fall into the passe, along with branch decor overload, Brocade Home furniture, mirrored furniture, zebra striped stuff and the like.

Also, I can understand a throw, bedspread or pillow or two, but wallpaper, upholstery and other more permanent items are just asking for trouble.

What's next? Hunting scene pictures?

I like tartan plaids, but not so much in my own decor - unless I owned a cozy cabin in the mountains.

That wall in the top picture is putrid.

I kind of actually like the wall here, but maybe wouldn't want to see this as a trend that everyone follows. The pillows are kind of blech. Uptight, lodgy. I guess if they made the wall like this, the residents might not be so preppy as one might assume, but that's how I think of most attraction to tartan schemes.

Yes: tartan pattern fabric.
No: tartan pattern on anything else.

That would be a resounding NOT.

I think it could work if it were done a little more monochromatically. The contrast here is just waaay to much.

I love tartan (blame my Scottish blood), but that wall looks AWFUL.

Tartan belongs on fabric and nothing else. My parents have a lovely wool throw in our clan's tartan, and I love it to bits.

In knotty pine land, sure. Kitchen with knotty pine cabinet, man's den, attic bedroom, etc. Retroland. Kissing up to a Scotsman.

...but not the example shown.

In the photo I think it should be either/or but not both the paint and the fabric. The precision of the line and color in the fabric make the wall treatment look shoddy. If the wall were the only plaid in the room, it would look funky in a good way.

Hmm... the last time plaid was in my life was in the early 90's, with all the grunge rock from Seattle. 8^p

Depends on the decor and personality of the homeowner really, who cares if it's trend or not. Who cares if your friends like it. If you like it, good for you.

Fun!! I wouldn't want a "Trading Spaces" cheapo tacky plaid room, but I could definitely enjoy one as well-executed as this one.

0_0

Unfair! I couldn't vote. While I love the tartan trend (Vivienne Westwood 4-EVAH!), I really hated this room.

tartan good
room bad

Unleash your 90s grunge rocker.
Tartan is good, this room makes me tense.

I agree with most of these posts. In this case too much of a good thing is hideous. Now that said that I love plaids, stripes, polka dots. All within quiet good taste.

I bought an oil cloth tartan plaid of yellow black and red and it looks great on my kitchen table when I need to bake and need a clean work space to splatter flour. That happens to work because it is the oNLy plaid in the room in fact, the house. The kitchen is gray, yellow with tads of red.

And yes this room looks like guys gone wild. Better luck next time.

I remember seeing a chair exactly like that years ago and it was so dated then. While you could possibly pull it off in the right space I see it getting really dated really fast again.