Key Insights
- Embracing Personal Style in Interior Design: reflect on your unique personality and preferences in your first home’s design.
- Maximizing Space Creatively: Innovative solutions for space-savvy furniture, and ways to think outside the box when it comes to maximising space.
- Make your home uniquely yours: use your interior style as a reflection of yourself. Colours, textures, and patterns have a great impact on the ambience of your space.
Building your first home is an exciting journey, and one of the most rewarding aspects is creating a space that truly reflects your personality and lifestyle. 💁♀️So how do you manifest your dream home vision into a reality – one where your personal style meets practicality? ✨It all starts with one of the most important designs principles; harmony.
What is harmony in interior design?
Harmony (also referred to as Unity) is one of the seven principles of design (Balance, Contrast, harmony, Emphasis, Rhythm, Scale/Proportion, and Space). It is all about creating unity between individual elements and balancing visual interest with design elements such as colour, texture, scale and proportion. When done right, you should be able to walk into a room without feeling like all the visual elements in your space are fighting for your attention.
Why is harmony important?
Your home’s style should reflect your personality, and while this is totally achievable; we feel different on a day-to-day basis. This means that as we buy furniture and decorations over time, our home’s style slowly loses its cohesiveness and can quickly look messy and cluttered. So, unless you are going for something more eclectic, it’s super important that you try to set yourself some rules or boundaries when selecting furniture, decor, and colours. This way your home will feel like everything fits together in visual unity!
How to create harmony with design styles
While it can be challenging to achieve without some guidance, the shortcut to achieving harmony is to follow one of the many interior design styles that professional interior designers follow, as these styles come with their own set of principles and guidelines that inherently promote balance and cohesiveness. The result will be a home that looks like something straight out of a magazine. 😲✨
Here are a few modern design styles as well as some tips on how you can bring them to your home.
Minimalism
If you find beauty in simplicity, embrace the elegance of minimalism. Let your space breathe with decluttered, zen-like vibes. Incorporate sleek lines, white space, neutral colours, and empty spaces that create a sense of calm and tranquillity. Minimalist chic is perfect for those who believe less is more and seek a clutter-free environment.
The most important rule of Minimalism
The one rule to follow in Minimalism is that every item should have a purpose or offer some form of value – be it functional or aesthetic. Avoid the temptation to fill every empty corner or wall – in fact you should consider negative space as a feature, not a flaw. 😉
How to achieve minimalism in your home.
Using the example of your entertainment area, we can achieve minimalism by removing unnecessary furniture. Instead of a traditional entertainment centre cluttered with various items, opt for a wall-mounted TV with a single, sleek floating shelf beneath it for essential audio equipment. This frees up floor space and keeps the area uncluttered, while still serving its functional purpose.
Industrial
Industrial design is all about authenticity. It leans on a building’s imperfections, often looking slightly unfinished with exposed brick, support beams, weathered wood, and metal accents. It’s a rugged yet chic style for those who love a space with a story and character.
The key to industrial design
The hardest part of industrial design is finding the aesthetic balance. It should look raw and unfinished but remain warm and welcoming. You can achieve this by balancing hard materials like iron with soft textures like leather and using warm exposed lighting to make a statement (think old factory floors with pendant lights and Edison bulbs).
How to achieve industrial perfection in your home
To create an industrial styled space that’s warm and inviting, consider pairing a steel-framed coffee table with a softer, tufted leather/leather look sofa. The steel frame provides that raw, unfinished look typical of the Industrial style, while the leather adds a layer of warmth and comfort to the room.
Rustic
If you love the allure of nature’s touch, channel your inner rustic spirit. With wooden accents, earthy hues, and cozy textures, create a warm and inviting haven. Rustic charm leans on the beauty of our natural surroundings, offering a sense of comfort and nostalgia that stands the test of time. 🌳Focus on using natural materials, adding more indoor plants, letting in lots of natural light, and using deep and natural colours like greens, browns, and greys.
The key to rustic design
The trick to mastering rustic design is creating a space that feels both rugged and cosy but not dirty. While it’s tempting to go all-in with rough-hewn wood and animal hides, balance is key. Use softer elements like throws and warm lighting to soften the hard edges of your raw materials. The right balance brings the outdoors in, without making your living room feel like an actual log cabin.
How to achieve the perfect rustic look in your home
Consider using a weathered wood coffee table as your centrepiece and balance it out with a softer, neutral-toned area rug. This way, you retain the raw, earthy elements central to the style, while the rug adds a touch of comfort and warmth, making the space feel inviting rather than plain.
