13 Great Ways to Say Yes to Plaid

Give your room a dose of the unexpected with plaid’s classic lines in nearly infinite colors and materials

When I hear “plaid,” my mind immediately conjures up L.L. Bean flannel shirts, Scottish tartan kilts and very traditional rooms. Plaid patterns adorn dark libraries full of leather-bound books, offices that smell of rich mahogany, hunting cabins, overstuffed sofas in country estates where cocktail hour occurs promptly at 6:00 every evening … you get the idea. What’s caught my eye lately is the way designers are giving my preconceived plaid notions a twist, mixing the pattern into modern, contemporary, transitional and eclectic rooms. Here are 13 ways to freshen up this classic pattern.