Maximalism. What's with this new-old obsesssion?
With so many cookie-cutter and sterile, mass production places and items that surround us, it is no surprise that many people all over the world, who are spending more and more time in their homes, are yearing for a more personalized and creative way of life. Meet Maximalism ... Go ahead and say goodbye to your white and gray farmhouse interiors! Maximalism started in music in German speaking countries around 1890 as "a radical intensification of means toward accepted or traditional ends" but now embodies more a way of living and is moving into various art forms, including interior design where it has really taken hold in Britain. It's an aesthetic of excess, the opposite of minimalism, a "more is more" way of enjoying the experience of your home.
Picture contrasting prints, bold wallpapers, loads of various saturated hues, and not a reclaimed barn door in sight. There is unforgettable extravagance and a full representation of who you are. This is the embodiment of maximalism. You are surrounded by the things you love, every corner of your home expresses your individuality, there's a sense of joyousness, you are expressing yourself. So, what's not to love?
We are definitely getting down and LOVING this British obsession. After all, we have always been a bit more keen on environments that powerfully mix different styles, include saturated tones, and embrace the knick-knacks over those that scream "I am stiff and bleak and also just like every other neutral-palette midcentury modern home you've seen over the past 10 years!"
So how do you get your life more in line with maximalism? Here are a few interior design tips that can help get you there!
Generous Color
While color (or the absence of it) is everything when it comes to all your other interior design choices, color in maximalism is key. Think of a wall of ugly, terrible art that you have to have because it brings you joy, a hardwood floor, a velvet couch, a visually busy space, Florence + the Machine and Kate Bush on at high volume. Now, are those walls and that couch and that floor and that art white or gray or raw wood? No, you're thinking black walls, mismatched jewel toned seating, accent pillows with a distinct pattern that intentionally clashes with everything else. That is the basis of maximalism: bold, loads of hues, colorful patterns. Bold furniture that makes a statement with luxurious metallic finishes, somewhere a bright red shade (maybe in a powerfully different style of rug on that wood floor), floral print curtains bursting in shades of pink, rows of shelves with books in a rainbow of colors. Telling your own story by displaying something from every place you've ever been, without being afraid of verging on kitsch, is a great way to add color!
Contrasting ornaments, highly detailed wallpapers (maybe a different one on each wall), anything Victorian. The more of your favorite fabrics you can bring into the space and the fewer matched sets of furniture you can use, the better. Get rid of the Scandinavian furniture and replace it with something abstract. Replace the sleek futuristic (and eerie) soft lighting table lamps with something garish in a pattern with an accelerated rhythm, and opt for more drapery, bright and playful paintings, and side tables stacked with some of your favorite books. Think funky throw pillows, patterned rugs, big framed photographs, a home completely full of plants, and mixed concepts of good and bad taste. You get the point. Create visual depth by using happy patterns.
Walls Of Art
When it comes to design, you don't want your spaces telling you a story: you want to be the storyteller. Lean into gallery walls and treasured collections of photos on the walls - things that you would see in a vintage enthusiast's home. If you look at a wall and it's not bright and loud, or it looks like something hypertrendy or mass-produced, steer clear. You're aiming for a mix of high and low brands that is all about adornment and eccentricity. Maximalist gallery walls can be tricky, so forget everything you've ever been told about coordinating frames, colors, styles, or subjects. Don't pay excessive amounts of money for your gallery wall - instead, display family heirlooms. Do not pick art that is simple in style or install a smooth simple backsplash behind your stove (go for colorful patterned tiles instead!). The more liberated the imagination, the better, but if you need some rules on how to do this, decide on a uniform measurement between each item on the wall, and use that as your guide - the uniform spacing will hold together a random collection of jus about anything. Just don't do the thing where you deliberately hang a couple of perfectly simple pieces of graphic art or you will be going the opposite way into minimalism.
Reusing Everything
Maximalism focuses on a powerful mix of different times (including the return of the 80s) and the enjoyment of experiencing the space and allowing materials themselves to be the ornament. How does this translate into how you curate your home? Well, not only do we want things to be bold and speak volumes about our personality, but we want there to be a sustainability about our things too, and maximalism is actually very anti-consumerist. So use or buy second-hand something in cheetah print and figure out a way to make it work for you instead of putting everything you own into a landfill and breaking the bank trying to duplicate the austere (and lifeless ... and boring!) home some celebrity lives in. By surrounding yourself with iconic and charming staples from a bygone time, you also open yourself up to different cultural ideas about what is beautiful and can appreciate that the impossible reductive modernism of white Europeans is not the only answer to all aesthetic problems. Be sure your home has signs of life, that it is possible to live in, and don't hold onto anything that brings up negative feelings or bad memories. But remember that only the ultra-wealthy can truly afford those bleak minimalist homes, and they too are aspirational and deluxe and part of the consumerist culture. (Did you know Marie Kondo, after she urges you to get rid of a large percentage of your stuff, then wants you to buy her stuff to replace it?) Finding the right balance between maximalist decor and putting out everything (which can tip into clutter) can be tricky. That is where we as professional organizers can come in and provide you helpful tips on how to declutter, something we will post about soon.
So go ahead! Give maximalism a try and see how a few alterations to your space can bring some joy into your daily life!
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