20 Mins Read
July 25th, 2024
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With over 7 years of experience in interior design, Victoria is an acclaimed expert renowned for her ability to create vibrant, personalized spaces. She skillfully transforms concepts into elegant, comforting homes.
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If you have been researching how to design your home’s interior, you probably have come across different interior design styles such as “contemporary,” “modern”, “industrial”, “art deco”, and several others. Have you ever wondered what these terminologies actually mean?
For starters, these terms refer to different interior design styles, with each design having its unique characteristics, flavor, finish, and experience, and interior styles. While the interior design profession has existed for just over 100 years, the process of interior design, including the use of interior design software, has existed for as long as humans have been constructing homes and decorating them based on their needs and materials available to them.
We are going to talk about some top interior design styles that have managed to stand the test of time and are used by people even today.
Jump ahead to:
From the onset, it is important to note that “modern” and “contemporary” are two different interior styles. A modern interior design style is defined by clean and simple color schemes, welcoming feel, clean individual elements, as well as heavy use of glass and steel and much-needed siding replacements that date back in historical times. Black and white dominate the color palette, with some faded shades of blue, red, among other prime colors.
We spoke about contemporary interior design style which blends the design styles from various eras, the Modern Design style is from a specific period – the dawn of the 20th century. This style is rooted in German and Scandinavian design styles and architecture. It is all about logic and practicality and the paintings and sculptures are chosen accordingly. The focus of the designer is on functionality and not on the form.
The living spaces are designed in a minimalist manner with open floor plans. It focuses on block colors and primary hues with modern art in contrasting colors. The furniture used is functional and simple with clean lines. Natural lights play an essential role in a modern home while accent lighting is used to highlight specific elements, architectural features, sculptures, etc.
To set a modern interior design style in your home, you can:
Read also – 9 Ways To Incorporate Modern Interior Design Style In Your Home
Contemporary interior design is a type of interior design style which refers to trends that are ruling now- at this very moment. An interior design style that was “contemporary” in the 2010s is not necessarily contemporary now, but a design that was “modern” back then still remains to be “modern”- always was, always will! In other words, modern design doesn’t change with time, whereas contemporary is more fluid.
Contemporary homes usually have open floor plans and use a lot of natural light. The materials used are eco-friendly or recycled with a lot of focus on energy conservation. The colors used are usually neutral with a dash of vibrancy using a brightly-colored sofa or painting, etc. Most of the furniture used in a contemporary-styled home is from the present.
Lighting fixtures are chosen from various eras to accentuate the living space. Choose the right fixtures to create the best possible aesthetics using advanced floor plan creator like Foyr Neo.
To bring in a touch of contemporary design to your home, you can:
Read also – 9 Best Contemporary Interior Design Ideas For Your Home
Art Moderne originated from the United States in the early 1930s and trended until the late 1940s. Those days, this interior design style was all about bigger, bolder, and brassier. Furniture was designed with a swelling curve and other décor items were either pared or stripped down. Designers also refer to this interior design style as the American Modern or Modernist.
The mid-century interior design style was popular in the wake of the Second World War. Just like was the trend with almost every aspect of life those days, this interior design style emphasized on vivid use of color; from the walls to the wall arts, to the artifacts. Everything was colorful in this era. Furniture was defined by crisp lines, and indoor plants were in plenty.
The center of focus of a living room is a painting or an artifact that resonates with the people living there. Clean lines, spare surfaces, and simplicity are some other striking features of the mid-century modern design style. Sculptures, graphical shapes, and highly saturated colors that are symbolic of the 50s and 60s find their way in this interior design style too.
The style leaves tons of shared, common areas all-around a house. Go for this interior design style if your focus is on strengthening interpersonal bonds- if you are a highly social person.
Read also – 18 Ways To Incorporate Biophilic Interior Design into Your Home
This minimalist interior design style originated in Australia and is still very popular there. The style emphasizes minimalism in all aspects of interior design, from simple furnishing to neutral color palettes, to functional but not flamboyant accessories. Everything is streamlined, simple, and necessary. No excesses.
Read also – 9 Ways To Integrate Minimalist Interior Design Into Your Home
The Scandinavian interior design style is a combination of various design styles that evolved in the 20th century in the five Nordic countries of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland. The Scandinavian style is about a minimalist interior, utility, and simplicity.
It also embodies simplistic yet highly functional spaces. It is also warm and leaves space for personal invitations. What makes it different from minimalist designs is that the style emphasizes affordability and not just necessity.
Most décor items are bare ornaments, rounded furniture, organic and clean detailing, as well as dominantly black and white color palettes. It is also characterized by bare layouts and arrangements. You could call it a blend of minimalism and mid-century styles.
Read also – 9 Ways To Integrate Minimalist Interior Design Into Your Home
The Shabby Chic Style is characterized by laid-back vibes, airy lighting fixtures, antique-touch furniture, and a vintage-inspired charm. It is inspired by modern designs, but it has some elements of contemporary design.
Where the home uses elements that appear old with a lot of wear and tear but are highly functional, sometimes, new items are distressed to give the appearance of an antique.
Eclecticism is all about picking ideas and inspiration from a broad and diverse range of sources. The Eclectic Interior Design style creates homes that are rich and layered with ideas picked from design eras and styles spanning centuries.
Rooms designed with eclectic style have multiple focal points and work on balancing colors and textures to not overwhelm the eye. Many people associate the eclectic home décor with the ‘anything goes’ approach. However, it is a more purposeful and planned way of interior design.
Walls are usually kept simple. They allow the designer to add accessories that make an impact. You can play with a lot of textures and patterns to make your eclectic décor harmonize with your mood. Using textures that contrast can create a memorable eclectic feel to your home.
Eclectic homes with a simple color palette are usually accompanied by textures to add interest to the room design. Hence, many designers try to use one texture at least thrice throughout the home. Statement pieces are essential in a modern eclectic home. Place them at the right places by visualising them using advanced interior design software.
The crux of this space is minimal, raw, and uncluttered. It has been in vogue since the early 20th century. The urban industrial color palette is neutral, so you can save bold hues for small details. Go for combinations of neutral colors for a clean and minimalist look. Play with charcoal black, chalky white, and utilitarian greys with rustic timbers to add warmth to any space, and make your home appear spacious.
| Suzie Anderson, Interior Stylist & Retailer says, “The key to this design is about revealing all elements that most other styles try to hide, in terms of exposed bricks, concrete, raw hardwood beams, and iron rivets.” |
For flooring, consider concrete and recycled timber floorboards to maintain an authentic individual look, that can be softened with floor mats. Opt for lighting made from metal, and recycled glass with a combination of pendant lights, lamps, with wide and low-hanging shades.
Use reclaimed vintage fittings to honor the home’s architectural features wherever possible. For window treatments, your go-to choice is oversized iron frame windows, to allow unrestricted access to natural light and soften the space.
Your furniture choices center on functional, repurposed, and minimal. Go for time-worn leather Chesterfield sofas, oversized linen sectionals, leather upholstered dining armchairs, recycled timber, and iron desks.
Before you splurge on these iconic, and expensive furniture pieces, you may want to visualise how comfortable they will be, from different angles under different lighting conditions and test their fit to you and your aesthetics. Do this right with the help of interior design software and you won’t regret it.
Read also – Futuristic Interior Design
A farmhouse is rustic and allows us to unite with nature since it uses a lot of organic and natural materials and furniture designed accordingly. The Farmhouse Interior Design style uses these elements and creates a farmhouse-like vibe in a city home surrounded by concrete.
One of the most highlighting aspects of farmhouse interior design is the fact that each room is driven by a particular element. So, you can have a particular element ruling the living room and a different element ruling the bedroom, etc. This design style has a minimalistic interior and allows the homeowner to rewind and relax while keeping functionality and elegance in mind.
The core idea of the farmhouse-style interiors is to use chic elements from the countryside, modern industrial elements, heirlooms, and artistic elements to piece together a unique, luxurious, and relaxing home.
Read also – 7 Ways To Incorporate Steampunk Interior Design In Your Home
The iconic style emanates from France. Its pieces have refocused edges and jagged corners. It’s pronounced with large cabinetwork. The style veers towards the ornate and jewel-suchlike period. It also evokes substance and fineness.
Read also – A Guide To Art Deco Interior Design Style for Your Home
The Boho interior design style is a mark of free-spirited aesthetics that are a combination of culture and cultural expressions to form a miscellaneous style. Its laid aft atmosphere is grounded in nature with some marks of bold patterns and bright colors for its cabinetwork and accentuations.
The style is less strict on order and a blend of patterns and colors is encouraged. It’s streamlined by beast hides, metallic accentuations and rich wood. It favors lush fabrics like hand-woven Moroccan hairpieces concentrated with Japanese block prints and Malian slush-clothed gamble pillows.
Its other remarkable features are natural accouterments, shade, and lush green agronomists.
Read also – 8 Best Ways to Tell Your Story Through Interior Design
The coastal interior design is further of memory on a sand holiday with ocean shell collectibles in an airy, tranquil led and open space. It’s not a surprise to see crisp, white base concentrated particulars with sky and ocean alleviations. The style generally means drawing out littoral features and incorporating them into your spaces.
The features are substantially natural sand particulars like corals, shells and plums as centrepieces Accoutrements like wood, jute, linen and glass are dominant with the style. It’s also distinguished by lots of light and free-spirited air. The dominant accoutrements are substantially white-washed, natural, and blue tones that allow the sunrays to sludge through the aesthetic spaces.
The french country interior design style is a mix of sophisticated features and other styles like seedy enthusiasm, grange, and traditional. It’s marked by antique cabinetwork pieces and neutral womanlike designs. The design is analogous to the transitional ultramodern innards design style and is a mongrel blend of antique French, grange and seedy sharp styles.
It’s a popular style that evokes comfort and casual fineness. Its distinctive features include vocally patterned fabrics in muted colors, painted and quaint furnishings and accessories. It incorporates lots of wood and other natural accoutrements. It’s also appertained to as the parochial style as it’s further formal and refined.
Its rudiments include rich colors, bold patterns, and gold accentuations. It’s favorable with warm color tinges with medium to low intensities like soft yellows, warm pinks, baby blues and creams. It’s also connected to impregnated colors like sunbaked ochre and deep slipup reds.
Read also – How To Find Your Personal Interior Design Style?
Hollywood glam interior design has been popular in California since the mid-twentieth century. It’s a blend of art décor and mid-century ultramodern. It’s marked by a high discrepancy color combination of hot pink and green and occasionally black and white. Patterns in Hollywood Glam are bold, dateless, and gender-neutral overall.
From fabrics to flooring, Greek key and kiosk patterns, geometrics, and beast prints are all welcome in a Hollywood Glam home. Art deco and neoclassical motifs may also make an appearance. Black and white checkered flooring are a perfect addition to the theme. The chandeliers are paired with high buff or imaged cabinetwork.
You can also incorporate suede, lacquer, leather, and metallic highlights. However, it can round the style. If your client likes wallpaper and carpeting, it will be suitable to incorporate. The style diffuses glamour and luxury marking the design as an epitome of complication.
Read also – 12 Ways To Incorporate Wabi-Sabi Interior Design in Your Home
The Japandi interior design is a combination of Scandinavian and Japanese designs. The design is minimalistic and earthy. The Scandinavian part is embedded from Sweden, Denmark and Norway. The design is Nordic and stretched with soft color palettes. It’s completely functional and minimum.
The design highlights organic shapes with subtle interests, tonal textural plays and relaxed prayers. Color pops may be from cultural pieces and throw pillows. The comforting, Zen-like sense of Japanese style innards is fulfilled through the use of natural accoutrements and restrained colors.
Bamboo, gravestone and other natural accoutrements give the base for a soothing color palette of brown, argentine and green. Soft flowery patterns and colors are incorporated with ornamental crockery and stretched fabrics.
Furniture and accessories tend to be clean-lined and geared towards living near the bottom of the room.
Read also – 9 Best Sustainable Architecture Design Ideas
Mediterranean interior design’s origin is Greece, Spain, and Italy. It’s distinguished with bends, columns, and interior sundecks. Its cabinetwork is majorly from rich wood tones with ornate features like rattan, gravestone, reclaimed wood and linen.
The color palettes are generally a reflection of the sky and water. It also incorporates warm palettes from terracotta and unheroic. Its windows are distinguishably large covered with minimum sheer curtains.
Read also – 10 Mediterranean Interior Design Decor Ideas
Asian-style innards design, occasionally called Oriental design, showcases the societies of Japan, China, Vietnam, Thailand, and other prominent Eastern societies. Accessories continue this dramatic style by featuring beast motifs and mythological beasts, similar to monkeys and dragons.
Demitasse gusto jars, large vases, and fish pots painted with complex patterns in multiple colors or in classic blue and white are also fashionable in Chinese innards.
It’s a replica of contemporary designs with a focus on satiny lines, remarkable shapes, and relaxing ambient atmospheres. It’s embedded in nature attaining a Zen feel in your spaces. The innards are asymmetrical, exercising circle rather than square shapes.
Asian countries are known for their warm weather, coastal style of living, and breezy homes with a lot of natural elements and rattan furniture pieces.
Read also – How to Implement Feng Shui Design in Your Home?
Rustic interior design is pronounced with natural traces, artificial accouterments, and a grange charm. It was established from the alleviation of the Romantic Movement and focuses on the simplicity and the royal beauty of nature. It’s not a surprise that the design is inclined to practical, clean, mannish and minimal spirit.
It’s more inclined to natural and weathered homestretches, raw wood, gravestone and leather. Since it’s grounded on practicality, it’s common to find a fireplace as a statement piece. One can attain the look in their asked house by incorporating raw essence decorations on the bookshelves or reading recesses.
Read also – 14 Best Rustic Bedroom Ideas
The Traditional interior design takes inspiration from different styles from the 18th and 19th centuries. It is a timeless design style and is not rooted in any specific period or era.
The interior designer plays an important role in ensuring that the living space is interesting and makes a statement by using design ideas from the 18th and 19th centuries with a modern twist. It is ideal for homeowners who appreciate antiques and timeless art over eccentricity and modernism.
A traditional home usually has pieces of old world art found by homeowners with an interesting story behind them that can make for some great conversations.
Imagine the kind of character a chandelier and rug picked from flea markets in rural Europe that have a history of over 150 years can add to a home! With vibrancy and symmetry being the central theme of the traditional style, rich textiles and colors are used extensively. The interiors have clean straight lines with timeless and functional furnishings.
The core idea of the traditional design style is to create a home that is inviting and warm.
Read also – 30 Traditional Living Room Ideas
An interesting juxtaposition of the traditional and contemporary interior decorating styles, the Transitional interior design is a modern take on classic design elements. This is one of the most popular interior design styles among the millennial generation since it balances the masculine and feminine elements aesthetically.
The designers need to ensure that while modern design ideas can be used to make the classic look interesting, they don’t go over the top and create a home that is more modern/classic than transitional.
Some highlights of a transitional home are simple architecture, clean lines, distinct focal points, metallic accents, and a lot of texture. Many designers use contemporary art in traditional home décor to add glam and a modern twist to the tale of the classic. A minimalistic approach, elegance, and timelessness are the primary areas of focus in this design style.
Read also – Sustainable and Holistic Interior Design
A common misconception is that maximalism means constantly adding more stuff. But, that’s not it. It’s about embracing your personality, your story, and your colors. Bring in super dark walls for a bold look. Your best choices are emerald, deep blues, etc. Deep contrasting tones are common in maximalist houses. You can also incorporate art walls, or gallery walls to come off as eclectic.
| Ania Sousa, Principal Interior Designer says, “The very first thing when it comes to maximalism is bringing in color. What I love about the maximalist style when it comes to color you can go from one extreme to another easily. You can even go for neutrals, and then bring in a splash of colors through fabrics, materials, and finishes.” |
You can fill the art wall with frames that don’t match, styles and make them cohesive by spacing them properly. Embrace your collections. To keep your decor from being too random, find common colors, and patterns and repeat them throughout the room.
Bring in all comfortable pieces that give a snuggly vibe. If you travel often and bring home a lot of souvenirs, going for a maximalist interior design style is the best way to decorate your home.
| Lindsay, a Home Decor + Design Expert says, “The 1970s were an interesting time in history and design, including disco, glamor, bold colors, sparkles, colors, etc when we were recovering from sleek, minimalist modernism.” |
Some of the elements that ruled the 1970s were indoor house plants, explosions of color, stacked stone fireplaces, exposed brick walls, floating staircases, wall-to-wall carpeting, and wicker furniture. For colors, this style involves statement jewel tones – emerald, amethyst, and sapphire to be incorporated on sofas and accent chairs.
If you don’t want bold color explosions in your home, you can still choose black and white combinations, shades of grey, or a fine combination of warm tone neutrals, and contrast them.
If you want an earthy feel, introduce earthy tones within a neutral color palette – creamy white, rust, ochre, and warm brown. Go eclectic and go bold when it comes to choosing patterns. Mix prints of different scales, and try to find at least one color that’s similar between both prints.
Take a leap of faith in your creativity and choose furniture with never-before-seen shapes, including swivel accent chairs, sculptural chairs, and thick marble tabletops. Source these furniture pieces second-hand from thrift stores to get rare gems from the 1970s.
| Ashley Childers, a Home & Interiors Expert says, “Homes that adapt the English Country home design style exude warmth, character, and a timeless appeal and lead to cozy comfort. These homes are filled with darling florals, antique furniture and all perfectly imperfect charm you could ask for.” |
These homes prioritize comfort and blend it in seamlessly with aesthetics. For wall treatments, go for floral patterns in wallpapers. Choose antique furniture with a touch of history, to bring in a traditional English home appearance. For decor accessories and furniture, opt for natural materials like wood, stone, and rattan.
With all these natural colors and materials in place, don’t think you can’t add a dollop of colors. A splash of color in a neutral palette is a treat to the eyes. Incorporate unexpected treasures of a playful contrast. Add a sense of whimsey with a mix of pattern and color.
For fabrics, you’d be surprised to know how beautifully florals and stripes weave into the design style. Bring in floral throw pillows, a striped fabric-covered Ottoman, and layered window treatments.
Decorate your walls with floral wallpaper, wainscoting, tongue-and-groove paneling, and decorative wall murals. A final cherry on top would be lovely floral arrangements using antique pitchers, urns, or vases to create whimsical arrangements to create a welcoming and warm environment.
The cottage-core style is an aesthetic where people dress and live as if they have a rural life and is the exact opposite of hustle culture. This style means having a countryside, traditional, and nostalgic look with a cozy, cottage feeling. For furniture, choose reclaimed wood, secondhand furniture will be the best way to instantly create a nostalgic look.
| Jacqueline Dantier, Co-founder & Interior Architect at Dantier + Balogh says, “Stay away from plastic and glass furniture of any kind when you’re going for a cottage-core design style, especially if they have sharp lines and look very minimal.” |
Furniture in this style needs to have curves and more fluidity to its shape – for example, spice racks, coffee tables, old-fashioned plate racks, an ornate chest of drawers, floor-to-ceiling bookcases, bureau-style desks, etc.
You can grab them from thrift stores, and online marketplaces selling quaint decor accessories and furniture. Go for sofas with slip-covers and patterned ottomans that act as coffee tables. Use thick fabrics only. Bring in dried flowers in vases too.
This style was curated and given a name in 2019. It refers to mixing pieces from your grandparents’ time with a few modern elements to create a cozy, welcoming space layered without being stuffy. Create a space that’s serene, happy, and nature-inspired.
Start with a neutral base of white, beige, pearl, or tan, and layer in brighter hues. Bring in greens inspired by eucalyptus, soft sage, jade, and moss, along with gentle blues, dusty pinks, and soft oranges.
Go for traditional inspired flooring with painted natural timber or dark stained herringbone flooring. Ensure there’s warmth underfoot with intricately designed rugs. Mix glam and natural lighting fixtures. For ambient lighting, go with ornate, crystal drop chandeliers, for accent lighting use swing arm wall lamps, and for task lighting, go for Tiffany lamps.
For window treatments, use heavily printed curtains, drapes, and Roman blinds. Opt for materials like silk, cotton, wool, linen, and brocade. Prints like flora, fauna, twill, gingham, and checks. To source authentic furniture, go for a mix of Louis XV, Regency, and Victorian styles.
Moroccan design style has captured the world with its charm. It may be closely linked to the Bohemian style, but is different.
| Alexandra Gater, Editor, Stylist, and Home Decor Expert from Toronto says, “Moroccan design is an ornamental visual feast with a burse of expression, craftsmanship, history and love.” |
This style is all about color, texture, and fluid lines. It draws much of its inspiration from Moorish design with no lines or edges. It comes from arch-shaped doors, open courtyards, water fountains, and gardens. Choose bold colors – ranging from Royal blue, deep purple, red, yellow, and green, and infuse them in your design. Throw in the soothing colors of the dessert to create a holistic look.
You’re never at a dearth of patterns when it comes to Moroccan design style, as it comes alive due to its intricate motifs. Moroccan, Zellige, geometric, and tribal patterns are best suited for the design, and you can bring in sofas, poufs, ottomans, and hand-carved wood for impeccable furniture pieces to give it life.
For flooring, your best options are Zellige and ceramic tiles. Use drape curtains, sheer curtains, or crystal curtains to give a dreamy vibe to your home.
Design styles are abundant and unique, so it is up to you to find the style that will work best for you. There is also the option of combining elements of several styles in order to get that personal touch.
Before commencing with your interior design plans, be sure to research deeper about each of the styles and how different they are from one another. Try Foy Neo for 14-day free trial to design your home with all these interior design styles.
Classical interior design places a strong emphasis on symmetry and balance in its layout and furnishings.
Global design incorporates elements from various cultures worldwide, creating a diverse and well-traveled aesthetic.
Consider the client’s lifestyle, preferences, and the function of the space to align with a suitable design style.
Yes, but it requires careful consideration and expertise to blend styles harmoniously, ensuring a cohesive and balanced design.
Biophilic design integrates natural materials, greenery, and natural light to create a connection with nature, promoting well-being and comfort.
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