What Interior Design Style Are You? Find Out Now.
We know, it seems next to impossible to try and figure out what interior design style you are, what with they’re being so many in existence!
Don’t worry. We’ve sifted through the styles to include just the major ones in an effort to keep heads from spinning. The smaller, less popular styles are more trendy and don’t have the same stay-power. You’ll see them pop by and just as quickly disappear, so don’t invest in those.
Once you’ve narrowed your faves down to one or two, you’ll then be able to delve into their intricacies. From there, you’ll be designing and decorating in no time! Let’s dive in.
Transitional
Transitional style is the heart of our designs at Chic Decor. It’s a hybrid that pulls the elegance and sophistication from Traditional design and the ease of use and simplicity from Modern style. Though Transitional spaces can look quite different from one another, the common threads are timelessness, serenity, and warmth. They marry right angles and clean edges with curves and rounded profiles to create spaces that are interesting and keep the eye from settling in any one place. Transitional design is one that inherently looks current and up-to-date so if you love the idea of never having to redo your space due to its perennial chicness, this is likely your winner.
Mediterranean
Mediterranean style originates from, you guessed it, the countries that surround the Mediterranean sea. When we think of these countries (Spain, Greece, Italy…) we think of cobblestone walls, terracotta roofs, and exquisite tilework throughout the home. An easy way to accomplish this beautiful design style is to decorate in neutrals, and let the finishes be the stars of the show. The tiles are where you can bring a lot of the colour and punch to your rooms, and they’re typically laid in abundance - on floors, stair risers, walls, even ceilings. Now, as much fun as it is to design using jovial, intricately designed tiles, you need to temper them with a neutralizer. Enter wood furniture. It creates enough contrast to ground the designs and make the rooms look collected and feel authentic. One last thing, and potentially the most important in Mediterranean design, is bringing the outdoors in and the indoors out. Matching your exterior living areas with the interior ones and making it feel like you’re in a climate that allows for open-door living is key to achieving Mediterranian style, and you’ll no longer have to dream of traveling abroad!
Eclecticism
Eclectic style is one of many faces - no two rooms look alike. It’s a style that is uniquely your own and ultimately as abtract and wild as you prefer. HOWEVER, this style is a difficult one to achieve properly because it can very quickly move from a quirky collection to discombobulated destruction (we love an alliteration, hence the overdramatization). You’ll want to have a common thread throughout your Eclectic room be that a colour or a texture (both is best) which will aid in creating a space that feels designer instead of chaotic. A tried and true Eclectic design moment is the gallery wall. When implementing, make sure that it contains frames of differing materials, colours, and designs, and that the artwork and photography displayed are of differing sizes. Your space will be well on its way to Eclecticism!
Contemporary
Contemporary style melds global styles like Art Deco and Minimalism with the style trends of today. It’s fluid and constantly morphing which makes it difficult to define, but there do exist some distinguishing features that should help you identify it when you see it. Contemporary style has clean lines and is extremely simple and straightforward. It may be high contrast but always welcoming through incorporating warm neutrals, having a lack of clutter, and using organic lines and items to soften things up. Think of this as the happy medium between getting super niche in an of-the-moment style and going back in time to another era of design. It can be considered the neutral backdrop to an ever-changing room that merges with whatever style is à la mode and hot on the design scene.
Minimalism
Minimalist style is one that requires finesse, planning, and restraint to really capture its essence. If we had to use this saying for one style and one style only, it would be this one; less is more when it comes to Minimalist design. It’s a style that focuses on letting the architectural features and the views from a space be the focal point, instead of whatever’s used to fill it. It uses timeless design and, of course, an open floor plan to help bring the sightline up and out. The furnishings and finishes, however, are thoughtfully curated so as to avoid having the space feel cold and sparse. This means incorporating different textures to create a layered effect and steer clear of a two-dimensional-looking room. For those with stellar views and large windows, this might be the style to implement!
Maximalism
The antithesis of Minimalism. This design style leaves viewers wanting for nothing in the way of colour, pattern, and personality. Maximalist style is very difficult to accomplish properly - without clash or overwhelm, but oh so much fun when it is. The purpose of this style is to showcase one’s personality and uniqueness, so as you can imagine, those who adopt Maximalism are likely not timid or introverted. (If you aren’t and this is your jam, we’d LOVE to hear from you all about your design journey with this style!) In any Maximalist room, you will see multiple patterns, saturated colours in many hues, highly architectural furniture pieces, and unique and visually stimulating accessories presented in a surplus. If even a small portion of these aspects are off, the entire room will look like a colossal mess. Proceed with caution when opting for Maximalism!
Farmhouse
Farmhouse style is used to display rusticity in the most charming way. Exposed wooden beams, a long, solid wood dining table (commonly known as the farmhouse table), and a large apron sink are some of the must-haves. This design style is in large part about practicality. How often are the builder-grade sinks simply too small or shallow to clean the vast majority of our cookware and baking essentials? Switching to that large, deep apron sink means life becomes a whole lot easier. Want even more life hacks made doable by this endearing design style? Change those counters into butcher’s block and do away with the numerous cutting boards and lack of storage space! Vintage dinnerware and subtle knobs and hooks for hanging aprons and hats as well as linens and lace add the pretty and dainty to this otherwise fairly masculine design style. Finally, the pièce de résistance, drumroll please…. none other than the barn door, of course! Make sure you have enough room for it to slide open and closed, but once that bad boy is in, there will be no denying that your space is none other than the rustic, practical, and delightful Farmhouse style.
Traditional
Arguably, the most universally recognized. Traditional style is one of regality, and typically one that is preferred by those who like to keep their home on the more formal side of things. You’ll often see walls with big personalities in the way of a mural or a large tapestry hung. Furniture is never static - it boasts loads of curves and swirls, and feet in many cases have quite literally been designed as animal feet (claws and so on). More often than not, the metals used won’t look shiny and brand-new. They’ll have an aged look with a gorgeous patina on them. Further, Traditional style is perfect for displaying that collection of fine china you inherited from grandma last year, and an easy way to integrate it into the room is to display it symmetrically. Traditional design loves order and symmetry, as well as depth of colour and pattern. Colour palettes in jewel tones and woods in dark browns are both cornerstones of this style. Finally, when it comes to pattern, we’re talking florals, toile, damask, stripes, and more. Traditional style leaves little to be desired in the way of personality and pizazz!
Industrial
Have you ever seen a space where brick was used on the interior wall, instead of the commonly painted drywall most of us are accustomed to? That’s Industrial style - born of Mid-Century Modern style and taken a few steps further in its exposition of raw materials and elements typically used for building. If you love the idea of urban living where old commercial buildings have been repurposed into residences, then you’ll love this style. Sprawling floor plans and lofty ceiling heights are the foundation, while uncovered ductwork and dark metals paired with wooden finishes are the accents. Windows are typically metal paned and colour palettes tend to be dark as many of these raw materials naturally lack lightness. Think of Industrial style as stripping an interior down to its bones.