Choosing a finish and textiles for your bed swing can be fun – and it can feel a little overwhelming. We’ve helped plenty of people choose just the right fabric combinations, and we’re always happy to talk to you on the phone, in person, or send swatches. Here are our best tips for choosing a finish and textiles for your new bed swing: Finish Start designing your bed swing by choosing a finish. Don’t be afraid to choose something completely different than the flooring of your patio or your other patio furniture. Choosing a contrasting finish, a painted swing if your other furniture is natural wood for example, adds visual interest. Or, choose a lighter stain if your other furniture or patio flooring is dark wood. Choosing a finish with some color, like our sea glass finish, also adds visual interest. It can be tempting to try to match all of the wood tones in your space, but the overall effect is more visually interesting if you intentionally create contrasts. Mattress Fabric and Color Next, choose fabric for your mattress that blends with your finish. We usually recommend keeping it neutral so you can switch out throw pillows as the seasons or your tastes change. If you have kids or pets, a material with a little texture will help hide fur, and extra wear and tear. Accent Pillows When it comes to accent pillows, you can’t really make a mistake. However, a short review of color theory usually helps people feel more confident. Colors relate to each other in certain ways that can give the impression of calm, energy, or harmony. The color wheel, which you may remember from art class, is a visual representation of how colors relate to one another. • The three primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. • Secondary colors are green, orange, and purple. • Tertiary colors are formed by mixing a primary and a secondary color, such as yellow-orange, red-orange and blue-green. Now that you’ve got a color wheel, it’s easy to choose colors that help you achieve what you want with your décor. If you look at the color wheel and pick your favorite color, you could choose accent pillows in an analogous scheme by choosing three colors next to each other. For example, shades of blue, turquoise, and purple, or green, chartreuse and yellow. Or, you could choose a complementary color scheme. Just choose two colors directly opposite each other on the color wheel. Purple and yellow are a classic example of a pleasing complementary scheme. When it comes to pattern, a good formula is to use two pillows with a large pattern, two with a small pattern and one solid. Whatever you choose, just have fun. Changing accent pillows as your mood changes is part of the fun of having a bed swing! If you’d like some help designing your bed swing, we’re here for you. Just give us a call, send us some photos of your space and together we’ll create a versatile package that can grow and evolve as you do.