7 Popular Home Decorating Styles and Themes

Your home, and the personalities of everyone who lives with you, is unique. When someone first visits your home, you want them to see your unique personality reflected in the space. Home decorating styles and themes help inspire how we arrange our homes to reflect our personalities. The following seven popular styles and themes can get you started if you’re decorating your home for the first time or want to re-decorate to better reflect who you are.

Traditional

The traditional style got its name for a reason. It’s one of the most common home design styles thanks to the timeless, classic color schemes and furniture arrangements such as brown color palettes and formal dining rooms. Traditional homes emphasize symmetry, predictability, order, and comfort inspired by European sensibilities.

When decorating according to a traditional style, focus on details and dimensionality. The details and dimensionalities should add personality and a hint of elegance to your home without causing overwhelm or creating discomfort. For example, a dark wooden table with carved details in a formal dining room with a neutral floral-patterned wallpaper perfectly captures traditional ideals.

Minimalist

Sometimes we lose our homes amongst all our stuff. As things pile up, we lose the sense that our homes are an oasis from the outside world. The minimalist home design seeks to rectify this common problem. This style focuses on utilitarian furniture that’s simple and streamlined, often in neutral colors. Clean lines show off decluttered, minimally decorated spaces full of light.

When using minimalism to inspire your decorating, less is always more. Furniture pieces with multiple functions, decorations that serve a purpose, and natural light sources are priorities. Make sure each item in your home has a specific place, and remove items that serve no purpose. While this may feel difficult at first, the decluttered lifestyle inspired by minimalist home design is often very relaxing.

Scandinavian

The Scandinavian style has minimalist inspiration with an added layer of comfort and visual interest. While everything in a Scandinavian-styled home has a utilitarian purpose, many pieces artistically fulfill that purpose. The color palette comes from nature and often features off-white neutrals with pops of color. These pops of color often come with texture, such as bright plastic chairs.

Consider the contrast in your space, warm details, layered textures, and light sources when decorating with Scandinavian ideals in mind. Balancing these elements creates a functional but visually appealing space. For example, you could place black rattan furniture in a white room with big windows, a woven rug, a faux fur throw blanket, and one piece of colorful wall art.

Mid-Century Modern

Mid-century modern comes from the popular home decor styles of 1930s-1960s America. People needed furniture to fit in new suburban homes without overwhelming these spaces. The furniture was functional and often easy to store, often using folding elements. Curved and geometric shapes were popular, especially for functional decor elements such as mirrors. Neutral colors mingled with earthy colors, and the lines between outdoor and indoor spaces were often blurred. Today, mid-century modern home design continues to embrace these themes.

Your mid-century modern home should be basic with a few fun accessories. All furniture should serve a purpose and have clean lines. Pops of earthy color can come through in various ways, such as wall colors, art, and rugs. Allow windows to act as statements for your rooms to embrace the natural elements of this design style.

Eclectic

There is no singular theme to eclectic home decor. The eclectic theme embraces interesting elements that look beautiful together and defy stereotypes and traditional expectations. This style has global roots that celebrate contrast, color, texture, and homemade and vintage designs. An eclectic home is laissez-faire but stunning and functional.

You probably already have many items that can help you create an eclectic home. Finding a common theme that unites them is the key to creating an eclectic space out of your items without descending into chaos. For example, you could decorate a space with bright, multicolored wallpaper depicting jungle leaves. A neutral-colored mirror with lines resembling leaf veins and a rug woven from plant fibers would look great in that space, even though they may not have anything in common at first glance.

Coastal

Few places are as relaxing as the beach, which is why many people want to decorate with a coastal vibe. Coastal home design favors neutral, natural colors, often in shades of blue and beige. Natural elements and textures are favorites of coastal design and add warmth to your home. You may see a few pops of nature-inspired colors, such as terra cotta and lots of wood.

Decorating a coastal home is easy if you’ve ever been to the ocean. Think about what you would see while spending a day on the beach and use that to inspire you. Paint walls with light shades of blue, leave wooden furniture with a natural finish, and add comforting textures such as cotton and rattan. Purposeless decorations such as wall art and knick-knacks are welcome in coastal homes if they participate in the coastal theme, such as hanging signs with beach directions and seashells.

Modern Farmhouse

It’s no surprise that modern farmhouse is a popular style since it’s all over HGTV. This design style elevates rustic elements such as raw wood and stone with bright shades of white and well-placed accessories. Country and barn details are common, even if the home is nowhere near the country or a barn. Clean lines, natural light, and cozy but neutral details are all part of a modern farmhouse aesthetic, which is why so many like it.

If you want to create a modern farmhouse, even if you’re nowhere near the country, you can. Embrace wood elements, even if they need a bit of work, and decorate with the help of vintage or thrift stores instead of buying something new. Keep everything in a light, neutral color scheme with lots of white, and bring as much natural light into your space as possible.

These seven popular home decorating styles and themes can help inspire you as you make your home your own. If you’re worried that you can’t afford the furniture to create your desired style, Grand Furniture can help. Our furniture stores with no interest financing provide the opportunity to bring home the furniture you want at a price you can afford.