Studio Alpha Interiors combines patterns thoughtfully to create a children’s bedroom that can easily evolve with time. Our Market Stripe fabric on the daybed, Grass fabric on the roman shades, warm yellow trim, and a painted checkerboard floor create a room that feels joyful and intentional. We spoke with the team about their approach to pattern, color, and designing spaces that can evolve over time.

RA: How did you approach mixing several graphic patterns in the same space?

SAI: With any space, I never stray away from color or pattern, but mixing patterns can always pose a challenge. I could lie and say I have a specific strategy for mixing patterns, but typically I just follow my gut. However, I do always select one fabric that drives the overall palette. For this room, it was Market Stripe in Red.

What guided your choice of colors for this space?

Simply, it was the client’s request. This project was a renovation of a multigenerational home. The family has always had a system of color-coding each bedroom. This specific room has always been the "Yellow Room." Yellow can date a room quickly, so I wanted to be thoughtful about how we could keep with tradition while keeping it timeless. I knew I wanted the presence of yellow to be soft so the fabrics I used needed to pair perfectly to provide balance.

How do you approach designing for children in a way that feels playful but still refined? What role did function play in your window treatment decisions here?

With any space, I want my designs to have a lasting effect. Kids’ rooms can succumb to design decisions that make them look dated in a few years. A space can feel playful and sophisticated at the same time—that’s what I was trying to achieve here. The playfulness is obvious but subtle, which I think RAD’s Grass fabric facilitates perfectly. It allows a school-age child to enjoy the space while also providing a calm sleeping environment for a younger baby. RAD’s artistic quality really bolsters that throughline. The window treatments were driven by all the age groups that would inhabit the space. When in doubt, black out all and any bedroom.

When selecting a statement fabric for the daybed, what factors guided your choice—durability, scale, pattern, or color?

As this is a fairly small bedroom, I knew the trundle daybed had to be a focal point but also functionally sleep one to two people. With this fabric selection, I wanted something playful in color or pattern —and I needed a durable fabric, because kids and their sticky hands... This project is a summer house on the water in New England, so I wanted to give hints of a nautical or coastal aesthetic without being too obvious or on-the-nose. The Market Stripe fabric in Red was the perfect fit. It had the perfect "Maine" red but was unique in its own special way with its accent taupe and two-tone weave. 

How do you design a children’s room that has the flexibility to evolve over time?

There are two factors that I consider when addressing the evolution of a space: end-use and palette choice. At the end of the day, a room has a purpose and as a designer my goal is not only to fulfill that purpose but also to create an environment. I believe a space evolves effortlessly if you address the function of the room well while also considering the palette. RAD’s fabrics and wallpapers make it so easy to achieve this. Specifically for this room, the RAD selections help it walk the fine line between playful but also creating an enduring quality of design. As this house is over 100 years old, my goal is for my designs to withstand the test of time just as this house has. 

Was there one element that set the vision for this design?

The painted check pattern on the floor was the element that set the vision for this room. This was a full-service project where we did the interior architecture and the furnishings. In this part of the house, we kept the original floors. They weren’t in the best condition, so I thought we could bring new life to them by painting them. The check provided the perfect foundations for the rest of the palette and patterns. 

What are some of your other favorite patterns from our collection?

I’m pretty sure I’ve used at least one RAD fabric in every project I’ve completed. The Market Stripe fabric is always in my back pocket, but there are so many RAD textiles I’m dying to use. Two top ones are Budding Stripe and Gridded Ikat —hopefully they get selected eventually!

Thank you, Studio Alpha Interiors. We’re grateful to be part of such a creative design community and hope this space sparks ideas for your own work. If you’ve been working on a project with our fabrics or wallpapers, we’d love to see it—whether it’s a finished install or one in progress.