Photo by Vincent Rivaud:
When it comes to home decor, it's long been thought that sticking to the same theme or style will often give you cleaner and more cohesive results. And while the finished style can often be a seamless transition throughout the house, unifying each room, this isn't everyone's style or taste.
As home decor accounts on social media have been showing, there is no one hard and fast rule for people to stick to when it comes to decorating their home or even the style or styles they choose.
"Have nothing in your home that you don't know to be useful or believe to be beautiful" William Morris.
Beauty is subjective, and as the old saying goes, is in the eye of the beholder. If you want a truly beautiful home, you must ask yourself, whose beauty standards are you trying to achieve, and does this style represent what you wish your home to say about you? While following trends can inspire you, you should never decorate your home one way simply because it's the "in thing" to do or other people are doing so. Let's take the grey home decor style. While this has reigned supreme in recent years, for the end of 2023 and going into 2024, this is set to be replaced by warmer hues and a mix of colours and is currently being rebuked by Gen Z.
The Perfect Home Decor Style
There is no such thing as the perfect style; there is simply the ideal style for you, and you shouldn't be afraid of mixing themes and styles to help you create a home you enjoy spending time in and that makes you happy.
This post looks at the different ways you can mix styles and genres within your home to create something as unique and electric as you are.
Research Styles
Firstly, it can be worthwhile to research the different styles and trends on the market. Look at home design social media accounts, create Pinterest boards and pull together some ideas of what you like and dislike. This can give you some ideas of how different things will look together and help you identify what you do not want. From here, you can look for inspiration and get an idea of what you want, what works and where you can find pieces.
Don't Discount Old For New
While nice, shiny new things can be attractive; there are still a lot of older, even antique, pieces that can work well with modern decor. Don't discount checking out local charity shops to see what you can find. Blending vintage pieces with more contemporary design elements can help you to add charm and character. They might need some TLC for restoration or even completely upcycling, but as Patsy Stone once said, "One should never be the oldest thing in one's house."
Choose A Recurring Colour
While you don't need to choose the same colour palette throughout the home in every room, tying your home together using one common colour throughout can help you add consistency and avoid your different styles becoming jarring or not flowing together. It can be a specific shade, using white or black that is continued or anything else you wish that will work well in all areas to help you create flow and consistency.
For best results, use a neutral colour base for an understated look and less obvious flow that still ties the whole home together but lets each room area stand out itself.
Mix and Match Materials
One great way to add some style and wow factor to your home decor is to blend various materials and textures to help you add depth to a room and create something that comes to life.
From fluffy rugs on hardwood flooring to mixing natural jute or hessian with tiles, you can create something unique by throwing the rule book out of the window and incorporating many different minerals within one room.
Don't Split A Room
It can be tempting to block out a room and dedicate it to a different style, for example, a contemporary kitchen with a rustic dining room or a Victorian-style living room. But this will only make your home feel disjointed and confusing. The same can happen when you group similar styles of items together in different rooms.
Instead, why not look to spread things out in different rooms? Distribute your style elements throughout the rooms to create a different style alongside other items and features to help you gel a look and not make things feel separate and mismatched.
70/20/10 for Mixing Colours
You must be intentional about the colours you use when designing your rooms. Don't be afraid of experimenting, but don't forget to consider different hues and shades within your palette so there isn't too much going on. A good rule to stick to is the 70/20/10 rule, which basically means that 70% of your room must be in your primary colour, 20% in a different colour and 10% in a third colour. This will help you avoid becoming too messy and distracting and ruining the overall look you are trying to achieve.
Use Accent Colours
Following on nicely from the above point is to use accent colours to help differentiate elements you want to stand out or to give the room something extra. It can be using your hardware to add a metallic aspect, such as silver door knobs or a Brass Shelving Unit, or switching out picture frames for a bold colour. The choice is yours regarding how and where you add an accent colour, but it can be a great way to up the design element in any room.
Scale
One important aspect not to overlook is the size of the furniture in a room. Typically, if you're going for items from the same collection, the dimensions will be roughly the same, and you can measure this within the context of the room to ensure everything fits. However, when it comes to mixing and matching and developing your own style, bringing in different pieces can end up meaning you have a mixture of sizes, which can throw the room and the look out. Generally speaking, you need to make sure anything new you are adding to the prom, especially things like seating or tables, are of similar size in relation to each other and their placement within the room.
Repetition
Much like using a neutral colour throughout the home, repetition helps you create a cohesive look that works; repeating styles or patterns in different areas of the room or the whole house can also have the same impact. It can be going for a geometric theme that is replicated in flooring in the bathroom, tiling in the kitchen, wallpaper in the hallway and art in the living room or dining room, for example. While the exact colours might differ, reiterating this pattern in different ways can reinforce the look and feel you're going for.
Non-Negotiables
While you don't want to get too hung up on the overall look or style of each room as long as they're coming together naturally, you want to ensure you are building this look around your non-negotiables. What this means is that you are using one or more pieces to centre the room and create your style around it. It can be anything you need to have in there, and this will give you a base to work from and experiment around until you find exactly what you need.
Use Blank Space
Blank space is so effective even Taylor Swift wrote a song about it. And while we don't mean you need to plaster the lyrics in your home. You do need to make sure your home, too, sees the benefits of blank space. This means that you don't overload all areas, walls, flooring, etc, with things, and you leave some parts uncluttered. Blank space will give a cluttered or heavily designed room breathing space and make it look more balanced, not like you're trying too hard. Don't feel like you need to fill every gap or room; incorporate blank space into the design and see how effective it can be.
Perfection Isn't Required
If you're striving for perfection, then you might be disappointed. Instead, allow yourself to see the beauty in things that shouldn't work well but do, and with items with imperfections, too. Don't be afraid to embrace the more unusual aspects of design and create a style with life, soul and character by letting go of your idea of perfection and seeing each design aspect for what it can offer your home.
Your home design needs to be something you can enjoy and represents who you are and what your home is all about, from sleek minimalist lines with a neutral colour palette to vintage furniture, floral designs and over-the-top features to the increasingly popular natural style comprising plants, jute, wood, and eco-friendly materials. Don't be afraid to play around with different pieces to help you understand what you want and what will work well. Remember, nothing is set in stone, and if it doesn't work, then you can simply start again.