Welcome to Bevillion Interior Design Blog. In a short series we will be exploring different design styles to get wannabe designers, or those with an interest in interior spaces, inspired by design & the variety of styles that the developing industry has created. There are always old & new ways of approaching design & we love to see what is growing with popularity, the invention of new styles or styles that have historical relevance.
Become inspired by all our Interior Design Style topics as we dive deep into all that design has to offer. We spend so much time in our own homes, its only right that we make an environment that reflects us & makes us feel at home! When using Interior Design to create a space suited for us, it's useful to know what styles of design are out there. We also want to blend this type of style with our own unique personality to bring that essence of ourselves inside our sanctuary.
We hope you enjoy Part 1 of our new exploration into Interior Design Styles.
Minimalism
Minimalism is about creating a feeling of space.
A design style that is always current because it is modern & fresh atmosphere, it's not about creating an empty space, it's about sleek finishes, clean lines, selecting solid colours or patterns that don’t clash & that are too busy.
We can create a minimal atmosphere by thinking about ways we that we can create that sensation of openness. Being minimal doesn't mean that you need to throw everything away, it means you find new ways of hiding the clutter of everyday life. Think of smart storage - It's about finding the spaces that we can tuck the things that seem to take over our counter tops & large surfaces.
Being a minimalist means that you can create an environment that embraces functionality, with storage space to hide that clutter & limiting the amount of furniture in the home or pushing furniture against the walls or having built-in units that make the space seem bigger than what it would look like if furniture was placed in the middle of the room.
Having a floorplan that makes it easier for you to travel around that space so that you don't have to move around the objects to move from one area to another. This is a great way to create a space inspired by minimalism.
Another great way to create the minimal style is by limiting the selection of colours in your colour palette.
Select a colour that will be the main colour of the space. Choose no more than 2 other colours to compliment. Think monochromatic or choose clean complimentary colours to accentuate the main colour.
Then think about those soft finishes, most minimal kitchens won't have kitchen unit draw handles & will choose the option of push to open doors. But those soft finishes are still important. Light switches can be selected to blend in with the colours of the walls to tie the space together & you can do the same with kitchen handles by selecting colours that either compliment the space or blend in with the same colours.
You can always find a place to display an item or décor but keep in mind the more you pile on the shelf the less minimal the area feels, keep it simple. Think about just letting one item be the star of the show & give it a place where it highlights itself. Think of objects as a solid coloured or clean pattern & style.
Minimalism is the modern way of creating an environment that has a sense of harmony. This type of interior design style is the Feng Sui of design, by making the space seem free, using storage to provide the illusion of the space. The aim of being minimal is to be mindful of the area around you, being open with your floor plan & not limiting your space but opening it up to a new experience.
To learn more about minimalism as a design style check out Elle Decor's post on minimal interior spaces.
Maximalism
The key to achieving the most from maximalism is embracing those good vibrations, it's about being colourful & choosing to stand out from the crowd.
The fusion of styles, collages of images & a collection of items for some can be a little sore on the eyes. Still, being a maximalist can bring around some fun to the space. embracing how people live & who we are inside.
Being a maximalist seems easy, the clashing of patterns, unique items & a fusion of different styles.
However, it takes a unique perspective of a designer to be able to strike a balance between dualities within the home.
There is something that maximalism can achieve that minimalism cannot, & that is the acceptance of a variety of clashing & personalities all in one room by finding a way for them to come together in perfect unison.
This is a great style to experiment with the bold & the beautiful. It's about not holding back & having the courage to step outside the box by involving many colours within your palette & displaying who you are.
We all need to remind ourselves that Interior Design is completely subjective, it's not suppose to be everyone's cup of tea, but it's about what you like & that is what's important. Maximalism is about having everything on display & not being afraid to show of these different personalities even when some might feel they juxtapose each other, it’s about understanding the correlation between objects from different universes.
Bright & vibrant colours, patterned & abstract wallpaper. Furniture with unique forms & objects from different backgrounds. When I say that being a maximalist requires balance, it means understanding that somethings just work together even if they a parallels. But this doesn't mean you can throw anything together & then you're a maximalist, it's about stepping back & understanding the correlations & why things seem to just work together.
Unlike minimalism, you don't have to limit that colour palette to 3 colours, but it does help to have an understanding of the colour story within the space in order to make the environment feel thought out. Before planning a space in this style, create some mood boards, get inspired by what others have done & see what variety of colours work together before selecting colours in the space (how does it make you feel?).
Some might assume being a maximalist requires filling the space with random objects, think about the story you want to tell before just mindlessly shopping or making the most out of what you already have.
You will want to select in accordance to the things you like but also what has aesthetic value. Maybe a fan of antiques could benefit from a display where the crazy collection of items has somewhere to be featured. We love to see are well lit displays to give your items purpose or creating the right space to display these things. Or maybe someone who collects artistic things, how can you make each object shine in its own way.
The balance to strike is not seeming like a hoarder, with everything being more busy than what most are used to we need to understand where the places are to let it breathe, maybe we can divide the home into its own areas, each with its own character rather than trying to blend everything into one big picture but smaller pictures that correlate with the big one.
If you want to learn more about Maximal as an interior design style then check out this post by Mosaic's Lab the images on this website really encapsulate maximalism as a bold & charming style. Colourful designs that really represent that particular style that is totally unique to everyone. Worth the read if you want to learn more.
The beauty of interior design is that there are so many ways to go about defining spaces to suit different personalities. With all these styles that are presented to us in modern times its understandable that as people our styles are always changing to suit the current moment that we live in.
There are certain styles that tend to suit certain people, for example, a maximalist might like to keep the things on display & know where something is simply by knowing where they left it. People might feel like they are messy but really they are just extremely expressive. A minimalist will tend to be want their space to feel wholesome, they admire the modern lifestyle & due to a busy lifestyle they of the modern day they want the create the illusion of a tidy space to give their mind a place to rest. The only thing that connects both of these opposing styles is that they compliment the personalities that live within the space, both as styles & as a lifestyle. In a world where we celebrate our differences, it is truly amazing how we can create a space that is crafted to our own personal needs.
So, what style did you like the most? Minimalism? Maximalism? Let us know what style inspired you & in the comments below tell me other styles you'd like us to talk about in the exploration of Interior Design Styles series by Bevillion Interior Design.
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