Style Mania!

When it comes to designing your home, the first thing that you should decipher is the type of style you’re looking for. It’s a common misconception that the only styles available are traditional and modern; on the contrary, I like to think of these two tastes as the design extremes with many others in between. In this blog, I’m going to talk with you about some of the most requested styles and give a little insight into what makes them unique in their own way. Use this as a guide to help you figure out what style you’re attracted to and what elements you can add into your space to help elevate the overall design!

Traditional: We could get technical here and talk about how most of the furniture used in this style resemble furnishings of 18^th century English and 19^th century neoclassic or French country revival; but unless you were an art major or have taken a few art history classes, this probably doesn’t mean a whole lot to you. So, let’s get to the basics – traditional design will incorporate a lot of floral, plaid and stripe patterns. You’re most likely not going to find bright colors that pop here, but more of a muted and toned down color scheme. Typically, you’ll find more ornate detailing here, for instance carved out designs in the wood trim around upholstery.

- Traditional -

Transitional: Ah, one of the most common design styles around. As a designer, I often work with clients who own quite a bit of traditional furniture but wish to move towards a more contemporary style without getting rid of everything they own. Transitional design allows us to work with elements from both traditional and contemporary styles to create one cohesive design. The color palette here pays tribute to traditional design in the sense that you’ll see a soft color palette. However, transitional design uses neutral colors – it’s important to understand that muted and neutral colors are different. The most important element in this style is line – clean lines to be exact. Gone is the ornate detailing and small patterns of traditional design. When it comes to being transitional, the more simplified you can make your home, the better. Stores like Pottery Barn are so popular because the majority of their furniture is transitional.

- Transitional -

Contemporary: The design style for the young and hip, but not necessarily the most practical or comfortable, is contemporary. Similar to transitional design, contemporary offers sleek, clean and streamlined lines. However, a big difference here is the bold use of color used in this style – not necessarily on every wall, but don’t be surprised to find one bright red wall used as an accent. With this style, colorful graphic art can be found on the walls and low furniture with metal framed legs can be found on the floor. Contemporary design likes to bring us back to the basics.

- Contemporary -

Modern: Modern design is where we find our minimalists due to the clean, exaggerated stream line concepts that we find within this style. With a modern taste come geometric shapes, asymmetry, high gloss surfaces and high contrast with colors – think black and white. This is not to be confused with mid-century modern design which also has elements of simplicity. Mid-century modern design will most likely include pops of muted green, brown and orange and organic shapes due to the fact that the height of this design concept took place in the 60’s.

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- Mid Modern -

Eclectic vs. Shabby Chic: These two styles often get looped together but could not be more different. Eclectic is the style of someone who loves all of the design elements and just has to have them all! Colorful and bright fabrics and patterns are the most important element of this style, and having plenty of them. They must all coincide together and add a whimsical feel to the space. Shabby chic on the other hand focuses on weathered or white furniture with muted colors, if any. This can tend to be a very feminine style due to the floral motifs found within it and the vintage accessories used as decoration.

- Eclectic -

- Shabby Chic -

There are of course numerous other styles, such as Arts and Crafts, Moroccan, Art Deco, French, Farm House, Western and more. Stay tuned for our next blog as we go over some more of these niches!