Types of decoration – Art Deco Style,Boho Style,Coastal (Beach/Nautical) Style,Contemporary Style,Craftsman Style,Eclectic Style,Feng Shui Style,French Country Style.
Decoration and style reflect your personality, the character you have, and the life you lead. You can decorate everything and anything with embellishments and personal touches to show the world your genuine taste for designs that make your smile broader and your days brighter.
You can decorate anything from your lawn to your food and your Christmas tree to your school supplies. But to decorate with the types of decoration at your disposal, it is essential to recognize and identify your decorating style first.
The following information is the ultimate guide to the 15 decoration styles and how to identify yours.
Art Deco Style
First popularly coined by the art historian Bevis Hillier in her book Art Deco of the 20s and 30s (1968) reflected innovative technology, portrayed by smooth lines, symmetrical shapes, sleek forms, and bright, albeit garish colors.
Although art deco began as a luxury style in the 1920s, reacting to the austerity of World War I and the boom of US prosperity, the Roaring 20s art deco style lasted through the Great Depression until the Mid-Century modern style took its place around the time of World War II.
Art deco involved metallics—especially gold—and employed costly materials such as silver, crystal, ivory, and jade during its popularity. Following the Great Depression, it used less expensive and mass-produced elements such as chrome, plastics, and other industrial materials that catered to the expanding middle class’s taste for an interior design style that had elegance, glamour, and function.
Many of the 20th century’s popular art styles influenced art deco, including Cubism’s geometric forms, the industrial-styles of Constructivism and Futurism, and the amalgamating approach of Art Nouveau.
While Parisian Fauvism affected art deco’s highly intense colors, the style also borrowed from Aztec and Egyptian designs and Classical Antiquity.
During the 30s and 40s, art deco’s popularity declined as people began to view it as too flashy and ostentatious for wartime austerity, thereby falling out of fashion. The next resurgence of art deco took place in the 1960s—synchronized with the Pop art movement—and then once again in the 1980s, coincident with the growing interest in graphic design.
Attributes of the art deco style include:
- Trapezoidal, zigzag, and triangular shapes
- Chevron patterns
- Stepped forms
- Sweeping curves
- Sunburst motifs
- Aluminum
- Stainless steel
- Plastics
- Lacquer
- Inlaid wood
- Ivory
- Zebra-skin
Boho Style
People dream of an artsy interior design for their space, and nothing could make that dream come true more than the Boho style.
Like the Eclectic style, Boho, or the Bohemian style, concentrates more on natural elements (i.e., bamboo and wicker) and bringing the outdoors inside the space through plants.
Risk-taking and carefree, Boho is a relaxed style with earthy tones, including hunter greens, naturals, and creams, as well as pops of color throughout its designs. Boho is a beautiful style for the person who wants a laidback atmosphere, emphasizing a wilder aesthetic.
Bohemian style designs have items that people can quickly accumulate, suggest a far cry from fancier designs, give a positive impression, have a unique look, and relate to nature and ethnicity.
Coastal (Beach/Nautical) Style
What do you think of when imagining warm whites, natural sunlight, and soft, sea-inspired hues? Why, the coast, of course!
The coastal style, complete with wood and terra cotta, focuses on blending the indoors with the outdoors, focusing on soft colors and adding some natural elements like palms or driftwood to the area.
The coastal style will:
- Rely on neutral color dominance
- Mix white with other hues (color pairings)
- Have large windows
- Use a door with a wide opening
- Bright, natural light and bright colors
- Have open balconies
- Reflective surfaces
- Minimize the use of glossy furniture
- Decorate and complement the home with nautical displays
Not singularly influenced by the Hamptons each with unique characteristics that reflect its particular world origin.
Different coastal design layouts include Hawaiian, Aztec, and the Mediterranean, including nature motifs like seashells, the ocean, sea animals, blossoms, and sea-inspired color palettes.
Contemporary Style
How to master the contemporary style begins with understanding the differences between it and the modern style. Although similar, the new style is a style in and of itself that calms and soothes.
While it creates a space with warmth and simple sophistication, the contemporary style concentrates on architectural elements, decorative details, gives attention to bold scales, and uses a concise color palette. The contemporary style’s simple, clean lines, play on texture, and dramatic ambiance fundamentally achieves a perfectly poised space.
The contemporary style usually uses surprise by those who wish for their design to make an artistic statement as they lean towards a modern aesthetic.
The contemporary style is easy to update, timeless, and defined by the classic approach to luxurious simplicity.
Attributes of the contemporary style include:
- Classic wooden floor and source rugs with a simple pattern
- Carpets with a low pile and geometric shapes
- Source lighting showcasing home décor and architectural elements
- A mix of metal, opaque, transparent glass or stone
- Use of structural elements (i.e., molding, exposed brick walls, pipes, etc.)
- Use of neutral colors with gray, black, and white
- Furniture with solid hues and finishes, natural materials, and unadorned surfaces
- Natural fabrications such as wool, cotton, linen, silk, and jute
- Throws and pillows without loud patterns
Craftsman Style
The craftsman style grew by leaps and bounds by the turn of the 19th century. The style replaced the elaborate, lavish Victorian homes of the 19th century with the minimal, modern homes of the 20th century.
Popular for their clean lines and nature-inspired motifs and considered a bungalow, the craftsman style home has more hand-wrought woodwork and detail than modern houses.
But what attributes and characteristics does the craftsman style have?
The following characteristics will help you name and recognize the craftsman style:
- Custom wood finishes
- Exposed beams
- Large windows
- Window casings
- Hardwood flooring
- Fireplaces
- Open floor plans
- Use of natural materials including wood, stone, brick, and glass
- Earth tone color scheme
Eclectic Style
Colors, furnishings, and materials give the eclectic style a cohesive and eye-appealing design when tied together correctly.
The main design attributes of the eclectic style include:
- Varied color palette with grounding neutrals
- Defined by contrasts and variety
- Various room pieces tie together with paint, fabric, or a more refined or rugged finish
Diverse and playful, the eclectic style mixes newer design styles with the old to create something fresh and unique. This style borrows ideas from various trends, styles, and periods to create a chance for people to break the rules and have fun designing.
Although poorly executed eclectic designs seem haphazard and chaotic, eclectic designs can offer aesthetic eye-appeal with a sense of a measured motif or theme if done correctly. It is a very assorted style, but when done right, they supply balance and beauty, the true definition of eclectic style—a cohesive blend of designs, colors, and patterns.
Feng Shui Style
For those who like to balance the elements to make a space feel just right, the Feng Shui style may suit you just right.
The five elements of Feng Shui consist of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water.
Wood
Wood uses the power of creativity and expansion while also representing traits, including:
- Growth
- Birth
- Strength
- Flexibility
- Intuition
When designing with the wood element in Feng Shui, it is essential to remember that using shapes that mimic the vertical, column-like tree trunk shape and leaves and flowers’ softness is critical. Like the trees and sky, incorporate the colors for the wood element (i.e., green, blue, etc.) into your space, as well as fresh and silk flowers, plants and trees, cotton and other natural fabrics, and wood furniture.
Fire
The fire element can help you increase your enthusiasm and leadership skills. This element encourages expression, inspiration, and boldness.
To add this element to your space, use:
- Candles
- Incandescent lights
- Sunlight
- Any shade of red, pink, or purple
- Electronic equipment
- Animal prints
Earth
This element—the earth element—affects physical exertion and order while generating overall stability and balanced feeling.
To add more of this element to your space, incorporate anything in earth tones (i.e., brown, green, etc.) square and rectangular shapes, low, flat surfaces, and landscape images.
Metal
The metal element of Feng Shui directly influences mental clarity and logic. A person can feel the presence of metal in a room by feeling organized, focused, righteous, and analytically capable.
When you need to enhance your space with metal, include:
- Round or oval shapes
- Anything made of metals, such as iron, aluminum, gold, or silver
- Rocks and stones
- White, gray, silver, or light pastel colors
Water
The water element domain encompasses spirituality and emotions, bringing about a balance of inspiration, wisdom, and insightfulness.
To incorporate water into your space, add black or any deep, dark tones, reflective surfaces (i.e., mirrors, gazing balls, etc.), wavy, free-form, or asymmetrical shapes, and water or water features (i.e., aquariums, fountains, etc.).
French Country Style
The French country style recreates the warm, hospitable feeling you have in a French farmhouse. Often a rustic style that displays elegant simplicity, the French country style is significantly associated with France’s Provence. Still, you can take it to different heights to suit your design inspirations.
Characterized by its ornamental flourishes—particularly in light—traditional patterns and asymmetry executed by mixed and mismatched furniture and rough, textured areas.
Effortlessly blending simplicity and elegance, the French Country style has a beautiful and comfortable, old-world aesthetic with rustic finishes amid refined details.
Global Style
Creating a story with décor is the goal of the global style. Much more than the boho or eclectic styles, the global style encompasses thoughtful interaction with culture to create space with key elements.
Embracing colors and patterns while emphasizing textiles is the key to the global style.
From the Mediterranean to Modern Japanese, Moroccan to Scandinavian, and Spanish to Tuscan, and with more to boot, the global style boils down to specific key elements mainly geared to the corner of the world you want to share with your visitors.
Mediterranean Style
Although not widely used, this fun style is distinct from ornamental stylings and features, including columns and arches, as well as an earthy tone color scheme.
Main style elements of the Mediterranean style include:
- Ornate features including furniture
- Tile and brick
- Large furniture
- Interior balconies
- Tall ceilings
- Curves
Modern Japanese Style
The modern Japanese style has become emblematic of modern American design. Minimalism, streamlined furnishings, and natural element inclusion (i.e., stoneware, standing plants, etc.) encompass what modern Japanese style is all about. Quiet serenity is the goal of modern Japanese.
Attributes of the modern Japanese style consist of asymmetry, altar-like alcoves, nature references, chinoiserie furniture, natural materials, circle motif, orchids, and user of curtain walls, door panels, or Japanese tokonoma.
Moroccan Style
Rich in history, color, and texture, the Moroccan style evokes the traveler’s life and an appreciation for worldwide design. The Moroccan style has significantly aesthetic patterns and architectural components on display.
Achieve the Moroccan style with:
- handmade furniture
- hand-woven tribal textiles
- hand-painted tiles
- hand-laid mosaics
It is a warm and comfortable style, offering a sense of beauty and serene confidence.
Scandinavian Style
The lifestyles of those in the Nordic countries inspired the Scandinavian style, which supplies a timeless interior style characterized by the fjords, snow, and mountains found in these regions.
Pared-back coziness, a myriad of textures, and fresh, pure lines epitomize the Scandinavian style perfectly.
The Scandinavian style attributes include white color dominance, large mirrors, light-colored wood, warm colors, and light wood floors decorated with fine colored rugs.
Simple and subtle, the Scandinavian style emphasizes space, has fewer accessories, allows natural light to shine in, and furnishes with minimal furniture, but that still has a purpose.
Playful accent colors, organic materials, and gentle contours create the modern, practical, and uncomplicated designs that encompass the Scandinavian style.
Spanish Style
The Spanish style bridges the gap between man and nature. It combines the richest colors with the humblest of raw materials to create an effect that exceeds expectations—simultaneously grand yet grounded, earthy, and majestic.
Rich and warm colors create a comfortable and genuine space, even in the grandest of homes. The Spanish style emphasizes the relationship between the natural world and the world of man, beautifully merging both.
Attributes of the Spanish style include:
- Vivid clary tile roofs
- White arched stucco
- Vaulted ceilings set off dark rustic beams
- Cold surfaces warmed by the style’s friendliness
- Floor to ceiling use of natural materials
- Warm, earthy tones
- Touches of terra cotta
- Wrought iron accents
Tuscan Style
The Tuscan style, founded on the old-world decorating style, is full of rich colors and textiles and significant, historical elements. The Tuscan style successfully merges elegance and drama with a feeling of rustic comfortability.
Industrial Style
As an open-plan approach to spaces, the industrial style is a masculine style epitomized by raw surfaces such as exposed brick and ironwork and stone and concrete flooring. Finding the sophisticated side of these natural spaces is fun for industrial designers.
Combining utilitarian designs with worn textures and the warmth of raw, aged woods is a nod to the industrial revolution focused on mixing raw materials such as galvanized metal, glass, and reclaimed woods. This style keeps shapes as well as silhouettes simple and uses vintage and salvaged items.
Attributes of the industrial style include:
- Exposed brick walls
- Cement flooring
- Raw, unfinished materials
- Sleek, metal, and glass lighting
- Exposed beams
- Stainless steel accents
- Grays, neutrals, and rustic colors
- Utilitarian objects
- Large sectionals
Mid-Century Modern Style
This style comes complete with geometric shapes, contemporary patterns, and unique accents. Designers draw extensive parallels between nature and human-made functionality with this style as pieces tend to appear straightforward and simple.
The mid-century modern style must appear on both the home’s exterior and interior and has a distinct look with clean lines. It can give off a nostalgic look from the 1950s and 1960s with sparse furnishings. With a unique blend of minimalism and an ancient retro appearance, the mid-century modern style breaks free from traditional design conventions that have plunged directly into the modern era.
Mid-century modern style attributes include:
- Simple fabrications
- Pared-down forms
- Molded plastic plywood
- Natural-shaped furniture
Minimalist Style
Low-key and straightforward, the minimalist style has some designers thriving on the “less is more” principle, as they take the best of most straightforward modern designs and simplify them even more.
Minimal interior designs and styles involve ultra-clean lines and streamlined furnishings, absent of flamboyancy and glitz.
The minimalist style has:
- Neutral color palettes
- Simplicity
Believed to have started sometime during the 20th century and influenced by super simple and delicate Japanese designs, the minimalist style, although not a technically established design style, is one of the most popular types people want to have. The style type uses black, white, and primary colors that supply a sense of warmth and coolness to the eyes.
Rustic Style
The rustic style embraces the organic way of life and has repurposed, hand-built, used, and reused space—rough and worn.
To achieve the rustic style, use raw wood surfaces to capitalize on an old-time look. Use weathered, natural wood in your ceiling beams, doorway trims, windows, and even fireplaces. Sharpen and tighten the look with a few sleek surfaces incorporated into your overall style.
Use natural, earthy textiles such as canvas, burlap, wool, linen, denim, and animal skins. Compensate for color neutrality and lack of print by enhancing your space’s textural balance. You could use patterns, including stripes, plaid, or ikat.
Incorporate a warm, organic color palette that reflects a serene, nature-inspired feeling that will prevent your space from becoming dark and heavy, all the while infusing a sense of the outdoors on the inside. Use subtle hues in your palette and go with pale-shaded inspiration from stone to soil and from bark to leaves.
Go organic with your flooring. Use simple, neutral rugs on top of your wood, tile, or stone flooring. Use rugs made from natural materials (i.e., seagrass, sisal, jute, or animal furs—like faux), which will supply an organic sense of texture to the space.
Incorporate repurposed objects into your space. You infuse more charm into your space with the more weathered and worn items, so artfully repurpose.
Use reclaimed wood, tarnished metals, and antique glass that supply visual interest.
Other attributes of the rustic style include:
- Exposed ceiling beams
- Exposed stone walls
- Wood-burning fireplaces
- Prominent staircases
Traditional Style
The traditional style became popular during the 18th and 19th centuries and became heavily influenced and inspired by old European décor. Heavy furniture and fittings epitomized the traditional style’s elegant designs.
The traditional style includes the following characteristics and attributes:
- Reflects classic European decoration
- Elaborate moldings
- Classic art pieces
- Built-in cabinetry, coffered ceilings, and wood paneling
- Antique elements
- Elegant furnishings and antique pieces
- Symmetrical objects
- Furniture and accessory pairings (symmetry)
- Neutral or sophisticated color palette with vibrant hues for furniture and accent pieces
- Expensive textiles
- Intricate tile and wood floor patterns
- Rich tones and dark woods
The traditional style’s most distinctive attribute is the neutral color of the walls to highlight the furniture and decorative accents. The traditional style’s underlying idea is the balance of space centered on a focal point (i.e., a television, a decorative piece of art, or the fireplace).
Vintage Style
The vintage style is a wide-ranging combination of vintage and antique pieces, which create a comfortable and cozy feeling in the space.
The vintage style always tells a story with a rich history while focusing on minimal clutter, supplying a very classy, fresh, and crisp display of furnishings, decorative accents, furniture, and designs.
Open shelves help accentuate vintage accessories and items, as well.
Remember that when you choose from any of the fifteen styles described above, you will indeed create an eye-appealing aesthetic that will show the world your sophisticated tastes in design, and ultimately your personality, character, and the life you lead.
