Plaid Wallpaper & Stripes: the coziest way to carry fall into winter

I'm always locked in on plaids, year round really. There’s a reason the coziest movies all seem to have a plaid blanket in them somewhere.

Plaid and stripes feel like memory. Your grandmother’s quilt on the back of the couch. The ticking stripe pillows at the lake house that smelled a little like sunscreen and a lot like the lake. You don’t have to have lived it to feel it... that’s the magic of a pattern that’s been around this long.

Plaid and stripes are everywhere right now. On sofas, on rugs, on throw pillows, on every other coat in the store window. If you read my last post about finding your pattern style in your closet, consider this the sequel. Your flannel wants to move into the living room.

And honestly? Plaid wallpaper and stripes might be the easiest way to carry your home from fall straight into winter without redecorating twice.

In the summer, plaid and stripes give you lake life. The cabin on the water, the screen door slamming behind the kids, striped towels drying on the dock rail.

When it turns cold, the same patterns go deeper. Same cabin, different season. The fire’s going, the plaid is wool instead of cotton, and everything gets layered a little thicker.

That’s the secret to nostalgic winter decor. You don’t need a new box of decorations for it. Add layers to the patterns that already feel like they’ve been there forever.

Plaid is a year-round pattern. We just love it most when it’s cold outside.

Stripes are the friend who gets along with everybody. A ticking stripe or a quilt stripe calms down the louder patterns in a room and gives the eye somewhere to rest.

Vintage Ticking Stripe is my go-to here. It's tailored without being stiff, and it works in every season, which is exactly what you want from the pattern holding everything else together.

Here's my favorite little trick. Stripes and plaids are all straight lines and right angles... which is great, until a room starts to feel a little buttoned up.

Every room full of plaid and stripes needs one botanical.

A floral or a leafy print softens all those lines with curves and movement. It can be a pillow, a framed print, or a wallpaper in the room next door. Something like Azaleas or Meadow Vines next to a plaid is one of my all-time favorite pairings. (If you want to go deeper on this, my guide on how to mix and match wallpaper patterns breaks it down.)

This is where plaid really earns its keep. You don't need a whole new house for the holidays or winter season. Keep the base you already have... the plaids, the warm wood, the lamps you turn on at 4:30 because it's somehow already dark.

Then just swap the top layer. The pumpkins go out, the greenery comes in. Tie a velvet ribbon on something. Light more candles than seems reasonable. The plaid stays right where it is and suddenly looks like it was planned for Christmas all along.

If plaid and stripes are new for you, start small and work your way up. Pillows and throws are the easiest way in. If your furniture or bedding is neutral, try a plaid or stripe on a curtain.

And when you're ready to really commit, put a plaid or stripe wallpaper in a small room. A powder room, a laundry room, a little study. Small rooms are where pattern gets to be brave.

Samples are $9 and always ship free, so tape a couple up next to your favorite flannel and see which one feels like you. And if you want it up by January, here's when to order wallpaper so you don't miss the window.

• How to Pick Wallpaper: your closet already knows
• How to Mix and Match Wallpaper Patterns
• When to Order Wallpaper