A house is a shelter where you live, but a home is a place where you feel completely comfortable and yourself. One of the easiest ways to make your house feel like a home is through interior decoration. However, with so many options out there, the task can be overwhelming and you might end up with a bunch of random furniture with no cohesive theme. Below you will find four styles of interior decorating, and hopefully one of them will align with your taste!
Contemporary:
Lines are essential to contemporary designs. Pieces that incorporate straight lines give off a sleek appeal. Colors in contemporary styles are usually neutral, with the occasional bold color to make a statement. The furniture is often low to the ground and made out of basic shapes. Metal frames are very popular in contemporary pieces. When choosing wood, go with either a very light or a very dark wash; the key is to be consistent. Lighting that accessorizes contemporary designs often include track lighting, pendants, and floor lamps. And lastly, if you’re looking to add texture, materials such as velvet, crushed silk, linen, or wool tend to look best in a contemporary room.
Traditional:
Traditional designs get their inspirations from the 18th and 19th centuries. Arguably the most important element of traditional designs are the silhouettes used in furnishings, which create an elegant, yet still comfortable, appearance. The wall colors are typically neutral, in order to draw attention to the rich brown, blue, and red colors of furniture. Designs such as florals, damasks, or paisleys can often be found on fabrics throughout a traditional room. Dark woods such as cherry, maple, or mahogany can be incorporated in pieces. Sometimes the woods is even carved or beveled for a more luxurious look.
Eclectic:
If you are an imaginative person who doesn’t like sticking to norms, you might be the perfect candidate to put together a room with an eclectic style. This style borrows from several other styles to create unexpected contrasts. There is a fine line between an eclectic style room and an unorganized room of random pieces. Achieving the eclectic style requires you to build on an assortment of colors, textures, and patterns to create cohesion. For example, three chairs might all be different styles, but if their frame is the same color, their selection would appear to be purposeful. You could also have a dresser with a traditional style and a chair with a modern style, but if they had complementary wood tones, they would go together! Make sense? Other ways to be eclectic include mixing new and old pieces, keeping the backdrop a simple color to let the accessories stick out, and using a variety of textures.
Southwestern:
Living in Arizona, a southwestern style is fairly popular. It takes inspiration from the colors of nature we see outside everyday. Typical southwestern style colors include adobe red, cactus green, and dusty brown, as well as the occasional yellow, turquoise, or orange accents. Leather, suede, or woven fabrics are the most common for furniture pieces. Colorful shawls are sometimes hung as accents on the walls. For accessories, painted ceramic pieces or distressed metal accents pair nicely with southwestern furniture. Those who go all out with the southwestern style might even have terra cotta or clay tile roofs.
Now that you’re more familiar with a few indoor decorating styles, you might be wondering where you can go to get what you need to decorate. DownEast is a furniture and clothing store with locations in Goodyear and Mesa. Their furniture comes from high-quality manufacturers around the world, and they have a wide variety of pieces for creating your exact vision. So what’s the wait? Figure out your style and head on over to DownEast to transform your house into a home today.