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Inspired @ Home

Inspired @ Home

How to Neatly Show off Your Maximalist Style

By: Staff Published: November 15, 2021
living room interior design

living room interior design

We’re all familiar with minimalist décor – the white walls, tables and counters with just a few trinkets on display. But some of us believe more is more – hence the maximalist trend. If that style suits you better yet you want to keep your home looking uncluttered, what can you do? We’ll share five tips with you to help you achieve an over-the-top but organized house.

Choose Color Wisely

Let your treasured possessions shine by keeping your paint colors neutral. You can always supplement the palette with bright pillows, patterned rugs or bold furniture.

If you really want to use strong colors on the walls, either with paint or wallpaper, coordinate everything thoughtfully. This might involve selecting a piece of artwork that will tie the room together.

Alternatively, you could choose to go monochrome – with the walls, furniture and possibly the floor all the same shade.

Curate Your Items

A haphazard array of your favorite objects will look messy and may cause them to get overlooked. By carefully planning out where and how you showcase your things, you’ll create a curated display. The two primary techniques to focus on are layering and staggering. Picture placing taller pieces behind shorter ones and smaller ones on top of larger ones – like books – but slightly off-center. You want everything to have its own spot and be visually interesting.

Another way to curate your room is to put similar items together as a collection, like a museum exhibit. Your collectibles could be anything from ornate perfume bottles to vintage typewriters. Use the layering and staggering method if it works for what you’re featuring.

cube organizer

Show off a prized collection with decorative cube storage.

Choose a Theme

Your room’s theme doesn’t have to be literal. It can be a mood, a color story or inspired by a cherished heirloom. Whatever you choose as your thematic inspo, tailor your design and your selected items to fit the motif. This will help give your space a cohesive look and invoke the feeling you want you and your guests to experience.

Use Negative Space

The word “maximalism” can bring to mind a home with every surface covered, but ideally you’ll want to build in some breathing room. The eye needs to be able to rest from sensory overload and you’ll enable your items to be stars and not lost in the clutter. What does this look like? Maybe a shelf or table has only one significant item on it or a wall is left artless but a fun piece of furniture sits in front of it.

Also consider balancing the room by offsetting the visually heavy with something that has a lighter appearance. A leggy table could adjoin a tufted, skirted sofa, for instance.

ladder shelf

If you have bulky furnishings or collectibles, pair them with lighter-looking items such as a metal and wood ladder shelf.

Stow Necessities

The fastest way to make a maximalist room look cluttered is to leave non-decorative objects lying about. Toss the remotes, phone chargers and other necessary items into a fabric bin or a drawer so they’re easy to access but not mixed with your collectibles. Return other things like drinking glasses or notebooks back to the rooms where they belong.

Make a habit of cleaning nightly or before guests arrive to remove anything that’s not part of your desired display. Also dust on a regular basis so that everything can feel fresh.

purple fabric drawer

Hide remotes, lotions and other everyday items in fabric bins to keep the focus on your objets d’art.

By following these suggestions, you can have the best of both worlds – a home with a lot of personality that’s also well organized.

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AUTHOR: Staff


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