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Looking to make your home more atmospheric and aesthetically pleasing but don’t know where to start? Unless you’re an interior decorator, you’ll probably benefit from getting to know some of the classic and trending design styles.
These 10 design approaches will help you work out what you like (and don’t like). Read on for helpful tips for refining your preferences and your ideal style for your home.
10 Design Styles for Inspiration
1. Hamptons
The Hamptons design approach is one of the most popular trends right now. In simple terms, it blends luxury with relaxation for a sophisticated look that mixes rustic charm with a beach-resort ambiance. White, blues, and neutrals feature prominently with this style approach.
2. Contemporary
The contemporary or modern design style, by and large, focuses on sleek, simple spaces with open layouts, clean lines, and a light and airy atmosphere. This approach often uses metals and glass, textured fabrics, and neutral palettes.
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3. Traditional
In contrast to the contemporary style, the traditional approach to interior design incorporates dark woods, ornate detailing, silk, velvet, and linen for furnishings and fixtures.
Florals, stripes, plaids, and damask are popular patterns. Think 18th and 19th century France and England and you’ll be on the right track.
4. Minimalist
The minimalist design approach, in general, utilizes functional pieces and monochromatic colors, along with a lot of negative or empty spaces to create airy, open floors.
It uses colors sparingly, perhaps just one strong shade in each space. The room should feel serene, uncluttered, clean, and functional.
5. Mid-Century Modern
This class style uses clean lines and surfaces and materials that provide a sense of comforts, such as timbers and leather. It doesn’t skimp on textures and patterns either. To sum up, the mid-century modern design style is a clean yet slightly retro approach.
6. Bohemian
If the idea of joyful, free-spirited design appeals to you, the bohemian design style could be worth exploring.
Featuring a mix of eclectic textures, patterns, and bold color palettes, the bohemian look also incorporates layering and inspiration from nature for depth and a laid-back vibe.
7. Modern Farmhouse
The modern farmhouse style, in a nutshell, is a combination of the cozy, rustic traditional farmhouse look and clean, sleek lines and surfaces of more contemporary designs.
Combine wood furniture, natural and sleek lighting, painted brickwork, and wide plank floors, and you’ll be on your way to achieving this design style.
8. Shabby Chic
Shabby chic design has its roots in the 18th century. Today, it’s evolved into a vintage-inspired approach to decorating.
It features vintage furniture pieces, layers of soft and faded materials, florals, neutral colors, chandeliers, and white linen. Shabby chic has a distinctly feminine and romantic aesthetic.
9. Industrial
Exposed beams and pipes, concrete, eye-catching metallics like copper and brass, and aged brick all belong to the industrial look. This popular approach often softens these harsher elements by using textures like leather, jute, linen, and timber, along with oversized artworks.
10. Art Deco
The art deco design style began in France in the early 20th century before spreading to the US and around the world. In general, you’ll find oversized furniture, animal prints, and geometric shapes.
Glamorous lighting, rich woods, and natural motifs are also essential elements of the art deco approach.
Three Steps to Finding Your Ideal Style
You’re now aware of some of the trending design styles, but how do you go about finding your unique ideal style?
Examples
Collect examples of everything you like. Use hashtags to do searches on platforms like Pinterest and Instagram. Explore home decor websites like Houzz and save images of what appeals to you.
Don’t judge what you’re doing; just collect everything that appeals to you. There are other ways to find examples for refining your ideal style. For instance, you can look at your closet for textures and fabrics you love.
Review
Once you’ve gathered these examples, step back and review everything. From this, work out what it is that you like about each image you’ve collected. In all likelihood, you’ll find common themes or patterns emerging.
For example, you might discover you love statement walls, neutral tones, or bright pops of color. You might realize you love layering different textures, or you could discover you love a busy, eclectic look with contrasting patterns.
Name Your Style
Step back again and review the patterns and themes you’ve identified. Name your style. Most of the time, you could find your style doesn’t fit into a neat description box.
You could end up with a design style such as “Minimalist Hamptons” or “Industrial Bohemian with a Little Art Deco.” Defining your style in this way can make it easier for you to identify the pieces, upgrades, and elements that align with your personal taste.
Conclusion
Finding your ideal design style for your home can take a bit of trial and error. Getting to know the approaches out there is an excellent starting point. Exploring these styles on social platforms like Instagram and Pinterest can help you develop a deeper understanding.
It can give you practical ideas on how to apply them in your home. The good news is you don’t need to do it all at once. Completing your home’s design can be a gradual, ongoing process until you feel like you have it right.
The reward for this effort can be an inviting place filled with personality and warmth – a property that feels like home.
Author’s Bio:
Jacqui Coombe is a blogger, marketer, wife, and new mum to a beautiful 1-year-old daughter, Lily, and cavoodle puppy, Max. Finding the right work/life balance is always a juggle, but Jacqui loves being able to combine her learnings and insights of parenting with her passion for blogging.
