It wasn’t a disaster—just a small stylistic misstep. We like to share both the wins and the moments that don’t quite land, so here’s a short tale of a HomeGoods find that ultimately didn’t make the cut for our guest bathroom.
We were hunting for night tables, rugs, pillows and any other bits that might work in the guest space when we spotted a shower curtain priced at only $12. A bright, modern pattern that seemed to fit the gray-and-yellow color scheme we’ve been working with—how could we resist?
At first glance it checked all the boxes: contemporary motif, the right hues to complement our vintage yellow tile, and a bargain price. We bought it, took it home, and immediately hung it up to see how it would change the look and feel of the room.
The curtain did wake the space up a bit and felt like a modern counterpoint to the old tile. But after a few moments of standing back and really looking, the combination of patterns started to feel overwhelming.
There’s a lot happening visually: a small-scale Scrabble-like floor pattern, the grid of the wall tiles, and a fairly busy, small-scale floral geometric print on the curtain. Together they competed rather than complemented one another. The overall effect was a pattern overload, so we decided the curtain wasn’t the right fit for this particular bathroom.
We packed it back up and returned it to HomeGoods. On the bright side, we did grab a few pillow covers for the bedroom while we were there—those felt like definite wins and we’ll share more about those soon. For the bathroom, we think the better approach is a simpler fabric that won’t fight with the tile.
Options we’re considering: a plain white or soft gray waffle-knit curtain to add texture without additional pattern; a large-scale tone-on-tone stripe in muted gray for subtle movement; or a curtain with a very restrained, large-scale motif so the eye has breathing room. The main lesson was that scale matters—small, busy patterns can get lost or create visual noise when combined with busy tile and grid lines.
We’re in no rush. There aren’t any imminent overnight guests, so we can take our time finding the right solution. We may even try a DIY route: dyeing a simple curtain to get a perfect shade, or using a stencil to add a deliberate, large-scale design. DIY would let us control color, scale, and contrast so the final fabric feels intentional and tailored to the room.
We’ll report back with photos and details if we go the DIY route—or share what we end up buying if we find the ideal store-bought option. Either way, this little purchase was a useful reminder about how pattern, scale, and texture work together in a compact space.
Psst—want to see something we don’t regret buying? We have a new BabyCenter post this week that includes another Clara video. We’ll share more about that post and the bedroom pillow finds soon.