Difference Between Interior Styles
When considering and trying to define your interior style, we will always direct you to Pinterest. Here you will find a world of visual inspiration at your fingertips with a powerful algorithm for creating more ideas for you. While some may think Pinterest is immaterial, we’re here to tell you that designers were already creating pin boards – just in the form of binders that we compiled from images cut out from magazines and gave to our clients to choose what styles they liked. It was arduous, time-consuming work that is now completely captured on Pinterest – creating more efficiency and inspiration. We work in a visual field and there is nothing more valuable than the ability to communicate visually. Simply put, words just can’t quite capture what the mind’s eye can see.
INTERIOR STYLES:
When considering your interior style, we suggest starting by focusing on the materials that are installed during the building process attached to the floors, walls, and ceilings. Then, accessorize with furniture, rugs, and window treatments as a less committed investment. Again, there are many more styles than we are listing here, but these are the most researchable.
MODERN. This is the most simple of the styles. No bells or whistles, just simple, clean lines so that you can enjoy the beauty of the design. There is a saying in design, simple is hard. Modern home design has to be perfect because there is no “fluff” to cover up any mistakes. For example, window trim covers the gap between the wall and window but modern houses typically have drywall meeting the window or at least a very small profile of trim.
CONTEMPORARY. This art-inspired style believes in going big and perhaps over the top. Some would say there is a fine line between modern and contemporary but those of us who love modern typically are not fans of contemporary. Artwork, tile, rugs, and furnishings are typically left up to the imagination to draw from; it is viewed as art and left up to interpretation.
TRADITIONAL. Going back to antiques that had a history of European or Asian influences, the traditional home design tends to have a lot going on. With ornate trim work and colorful intricate designs in rugs and window treatments, they are there to be noticed and appreciated. Traditional leans formal with rules of complexity.
TRANSITIONAL. This term was created around 2020 as a way to transition people from the traditional to the modern. Now, most people who consider themselves transitional also are a fan of both traditional and modern. There is for sure a blurry line for many of us in the industry but you only need to look and lighting and plumbing to understand why they needed to differentiate the styles. While close and many architectural designs cross over there has to be a way for them to filter products. So while you are searching for products you might want to take a quick peek into other categories to make sure you aren’t missing anything.
ECLECTIC. I often refer to Eclectic as “Anything Goes but in a VERY Structured Format”. I often realistically land in this world for many reasons. While we love modern at Abrigo Home, we also find value in introducing a balance of wood, fabric, color, and texture and this usually comes in the form of a blend of many styles together. It can be a bit harder to pull off and not just look like a hodge-podge mess because there does need to be a structure and balance of wood, metal, shiny, matte, textured, and color balance. Our suggestion if you like this style is to first choose the one thing in your project that you love (ie. a tile selection) then move to a wood selection (is it old, antique, textured, dark, light) then choose something with shine/texture that balances these selections. From there, you can choose the color and the rest of your fabrics.
SUSTAINABILITY. While sustainability is not a style, you can research building practices and products for your home that are sustainably made and installed.