There are certain hallmarks we look for in decorating styles. When it comes to filling your home with touches you love, there are four types of decorating styles that influence most of us. From traditional and contemporary, to eclectic and coutnry, which style do you prefer?
1. Traditional
Traditional decorating relies on classic furniture pieces, symmetrical arrangements, and rich color schemes. Traditional style has come to translate a generous mix of polished and tailored pieces, neutral colors, and rich wood tones. Still, no matter if the tone is sophisticated or more relaxed, the emphasis is on comfort. A traditional living room decorated with furniture in classic shapes and styles — despite how formal it may look — is always an invitation to make yourself at home.
Contemporary decorating style embraces uncluttered, light-filled spaces, open floor plans, minimal furnishings, and slick finishes. Think smooth profiles instead of ornamentation, solid or subtly patterned fabrics in lieu of colorful prints, minimal accessories rather than big collections. As a contemporary decorator that doesn’t mean you can’t let a little personality shine through, of course.
Eclectic style is the great equalizer. It’s a little of this, a little of that, a little old, a little new. An eclectic room is more telling of its creator than other kinds of decor. Compiling diverse furnishings, fabrics, finishes, and objects from any number of periods and countries, it’s possible to arrange a totally unique scene. Not bound by any rules, you’re free to include whatever you like. What it is not, however, is a free-for-all. you’ll want to keep all the principles concerning form, scale, composition, and proportion in mind. But, the more original, the better.
4. Country
Sometimes country gets a bad rap; the word conjures visions of tea cozy collections, gingham overload and cow tchotchkes. But comfy, casual and personal, coutnry style is perfect for the way we really live. Fabrics are forgiving; furnishings invite us to flop down and prop up our feet. There is a reason that country living and styling never truly die. It’s bred into our genes and hark back to our roots in America. Sometimes sparse, sometimes rustic, sometimes kitschy but always homey, country living is a style that speaks to who we are.