The basic idea of spatially patterned catalytic reactors in this paper is to integrate auxiliary catalysts into a system in order to steer a desired reaction around a performance obstacle and toward enhanced selective conversion. While a traditional multi-functional catalytic reactor is limited to coupling reactions that can effectively operate in a common environment, a spatially layered pattern provides the unique opportunity to tune operating conditions in order to mitigate potential incompatibilities while optimizing performance. The power of the layered pattern approach is demonstrated through modelling studies on a by-product-inhibited reaction system that suffers from temperature and/or chemical species incompatibilities. Because multiple steady states - with dramatically varying levels of performance - often exist for these complex reaction networks, operation on an appropriate steady state has been shown to be critical to the realization of performance enhancements. The potential for multiplicity to undo the anticipated benefits of patterned operation is explored.