Decorating themes sometimes get a bad rap for being cheesy or overdone. But when done well, a theme can make a room feel private and place together. Whether you would like to integrate favorite finds from your travels or decor featuring a motif you adore, you can pull off the subject of your choice in a subtly chic way.
Here are four theme ideas to try in your home, along with tips which can come in handy no matter what the theme that grabs your eye.
Jessica Helgerson Interior Design
1. Well Traveled
Tell a story with your decor by incorporating finds from your travels or by highlighting a civilization you adore. To evoke a feeling of location, look at good photography books for inspiration and pick out key components to replicate in your home. To get a Parisian-inspired area, for example, go with a bistro table and chairs or classic café au lait mugs as opposed to a bunch of Eiffel Tower souvenirs.
A space, such as a novel, is more satisfying when it is well edited, therefore exercise restraint and display only your favourite pieces. Foundation pieces on your typical style (modern, conventional etc.) can help the room work well — and make the few carefully selected treasures stand out even more, as from the stunning Moroccan-influenced space shown here.
Liz Williams Interiors
Chic holiday mementos. Cherished treasures from holidays and trips tell a personal story and deserve a special place in each home. Gather up all your treasures and assess them as a team, since this can spark creative display ideas. Tiny mementos such as matchbooks and sea glass have the most effect when grouped together, therefore look at mounting and tagging them into shadow boxes, or display them into a glass apothecary jar. Use bigger items, like classic glass bottles, as a centerpiece or line them up on a windowsill.
Less is more, so try to winnow your collections to the best examples and the many meaningful treasures, and let go of the rest. Isn’t 1 photo album, lovingly made, more important (and easier to rescue in a crisis) compared to 10 boxes of jumbled messes which nobody appears at?
See how to beat decluttering obstacles
Shannon Malone
2. Natural History
The organic world as a decorating theme is quite inspirational and flexible, encompassing everything from insect issues and bird’s nests to botanical prints, organic fibers and discovered and foraged items from character.
Support your organic locates with a color palette inspired by the environment that most resonates with you — dunes to a windswept shore, a lush wetland or even a dense woods.
S / Wiley Interior Photography
Decorating with organic objects. Every area may benefit from the accession of something in nature. Consider adding fresh green plants, cut flowers, terrariums, stones and shells, feathers, branches, driftwood — you name it. You might even discover that these organic finds do more for your rooms compared to store-bought decor.
Jane Lockhart Interior Design
3. Birds and Blooms
Floral prints and bird motifs are still trending today — but that doesn’t mean they are trendy! All these superversatile romantic accents operate equally well in traditional and modern interiors, and are worth giving a try now.
If you want to integrate a theme of birds and blooms into your decor, look for accent pillows, artwork and 3-D items (such as a classic birdcage) that operate thematically and are tied into colorwise.
Jen Talbot Design
Noncheesy nursery decor. It’s easy to go overboard with topics from the nursery. But so long as you use a light touch, themes can help make an imaginative and private nest to the little one. Avoiding overly commercial motifs (such as cartoon characters) signifies the distance will still feel appropriate a couple of years later on.
To get a bird theme, consider using pale blue or robin’s egg on the walls, and search out nursery art and soft toys featuring birds, feathers, nests or eggs. For textiles, reference the theme in a subtle way with a mixture of a couple of solids, a stripe and a botanical or geometric print in shades of sky and grass.
Rethink Design Studio
4. Nautical
A popular theme with good reason, nautical design manages to be both fresh and classic — so long as it is approached without too heavy a hand. Maintain the nautical appearance contemporary by steering clear of a lot of dark woods and too much decorative items.
You can’t fail with a crisp, clean color palette of white and blue with bright red accents. Curtains with rope ties inspired by sailcloth, floors painted with a wash of deck paint and a couple of well-chosen parts of wall art would finish the appearance.
See more about modern nautical design
Mitch Wise Design,Inc..
General Tips
Creating an issue is as simple as 1, 2, 3. When you are planning your space, consider selecting three ways to bring your theme to life — this ensures that you will make a statement (one or two items could just feel arbitrary) without going overboard. A fantastic guideline is to include a fabric print, some type of art or art item, and a color related to a theme.
From the bedroom shown here, the 3 items include the nautical maps, anchor-print bed skirts and blue wall color. You may always add a few more subtle touches (such as the sailboat on the desk); the point is to keep things easy.
CapeRace Cultural Adventures
Seek out the authentic. Nothing says “subject gone bad” more clearly than a bunch of knickknacks which are obviously not the real article. If you’d like nautical design, visit a marine supply store or an antiques shop specializing in nautical goods, and scoop up a couple of classic fishing floats or lobster traps. But even with the real deal, less is definitely more!
Rethink Design Studio
Choosing themed art. Artwork is a superb way to tell a story in your house, building on the opposite components and actually bringing your theme. Just make sure you choose art because you enjoy it, not only since it matches your theme. Normally this means taking your own time and enabling your collection to grow organically over time.
Inform us : appeared in on topics in decorating. Would you adore them, or do they make you cringe? Any more tips on building a theme work?