Styles and themes are not the same things when it comes to interior design. Styles develop over time, are steeped in culture, and encompass the whole house. Themes, on the other hand, are designed after something specific. You can’t have a living room that is in the traditional style if the theme you’re going for is, a French cinema. You can’t have an art-deco kitchen if you’re going for an under the sea theme. You can introduce themes correctly if you follow along.
Living room jungle theme
The living room has some of the best theming opportunities you’ll find around the house. There are so many little things that you can implement to complete any sort of theme you’re after. If you were to be injecting a jungle theme, here’s how you could do it.
- Place a Monstera Deliciosa in the corner of the room beside something prominent like the television or sofa. This large leaf plant is exotic and instantly gives off a lime-green accent to the room.
- A turquoise green glass coffee table would be splendid for your living room. The light can play around with the shade of the glass, but it’s still translucent enough that you can see through it.
- Place some high-stem flowers on a side table, so you have a vibrantly beautiful display but it’s still ‘large’ as the jungle theme has to incorporate things that look overgrown and somewhat Jurrasic.
- You can also place a painting of a jungle scene, such as South American tribesmen, around a fire cooking something, or a group of naked children that are jumping into and swimming in a lagoon.
Aquatic bathroom scene
Some themes are much easier to implement than others, and the aquatic theme for your bathroom is one such example. Paint an exotic reef or fish shoal that is swimming around, on your walls. You can place dry seaweed in the corners of the bathroom, or on top of your mirror cabinet. You should place mystical or stereotypical sea creatures in your bath. Something like an Octopus Shower Curtain would be great! The incredibly detailed drawing of this eight-legged figure on your curtain will immediately give away the aquatic theme of your bathroom. It will set the precedent for all your other items to follow.
You can also place blue towels on your towel rack, have a turquoise blue sink made out of quartz and blue see-through handles for all the drawers and cabinets in the room. A chequered tiled wall with different shades of blue would complete the room nicely. If you want more characters in the room, hang rubber fishes from the ceiling using fishing wire. You could also place a fishing hat with flies on the toilet plate.
Ancient Roman dining room
Did you know that in ancient Rome, dinner was a big deal? It was usually around 7 courses, people ate while lying down on lounge chairs and the food was put in the middle of the room so everyone could take what they wanted. You can slightly modernize this theme for your own dining room, by starting off with a quartz dining table instead of a wooden or glass type.
Then you can also place a ceramic water jug in the center and red and cream placemats or cloths that are in front of every diner. The Romans of the day loved to have limestone figurines around the room, so a half-naked woman with a water jug or perhaps a man posing with his hunted prey would do nicely. When we think of ancient Rome, we imagine lots of red, which was the color of royalty. So place red flowers around the room, such as roses, begonias, and chrysanthemums.
A bohemian retreat bedroom
Bohemian might be considered a style, but it was more like a movement. It’s a grey area but it’s very easy to implement. Simply put your mattress on the floor and place candles all around the room. You should also hang linen cloth around the bed so you need to move it out of the way to get into bed. Hang some plants from the ceiling and put plenty of cushions on and around the bed on the floor. A woolen shaggy area rug is the finishing touch for your new humble abode.
Themes aren’t difficult to execute, but they require a commitment that you’ll go all the way. Don’t just add a few items, the entire room needs to adorn the same character, utilizing all aspects of the theme you want.
Honestly, a true “themed” room is just not something that I like to achieve in my home. However, I think the best spaces to try out a theme are kids bedrooms and bathrooms and you can really have fun with it!
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