Maximalist Decor: How To Embrace The Cheerful Design Style

BY CRESCENCIA NGA CHE

Maximalist decor is a way to unleash the joyful spirit inside you. Here are a few ideas to embrace this design style in the most elegant way.

For some people, living in a home full of bold shades, sumptuous patterns, ornamental details, and eclectic furniture is truly an art-de-vivre. Embracing maximalist design style that celebrates “a more is more” approach to interior decorating is very much part of their identity.

Maximalist decor is more than simply adding happy colours to your space. The clear antithesis of minimalist design, maximalism is a carefully curated interior design style that allows for the most daring creative souls to express themselves and their joyful spirits unapologetically in a way that few other design styles permit. 

To the untrained eye, maximalism can be misconstrued as cluttered or busy, which could not be further from the truth. To create a cohesive clash, every piece of a maximalist decor scheme is thoughtfully edited to deliver the “wow” factor that characterises this aesthetic.

Scroll down to find a little bit more about maximalist design, its evolution in history, and how to effortlessly infuse that style in your own home.

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What is a Maximalist Decor?

Maximalist interiors celebrate happiness, joy, and vibrancy. It is an interior design style that embraces the “more is more” philosophy in interior decorating by expertly mixing together bold colours, contrasting materials, luxurious textures, patterns, furniture and decor accessories with elaborate ornaments to create a visually striking space. 

Both large and small scale items and vintage pieces are welcomed in maximalist decor so long as they exhibit high-impact features that make this design style distinctively unique.

The maximalist approach to decorating a room takes into account a few defining elements and characteristics. Some of them include: 

• Bold colours on walls, furniture, cabinetry, and decor accessories
• Elaborate murals and wallpaper
• Sophisticated architectural details with stunning craftsmanship
• Layered fabrics
• Contrasting patterns with striking motifs, florals, animal prints, or geometric shapes 
• Ornate accents and lighting options
• Statement artwork and vintage decor pieces

When considering maximalist decor for any of your rooms, it’s wise to proceed methodically. Pick the dominant wall paint colour(s) that will set the scene for your space. 

Then, select  a few contrasting patterns that clash well together for your soft furnishings, including your rugs, the accent pillows, the curtains, duvets, blankets, and your wallpaper.

Next, curate vintage decor pieces, statement artwork, and customisable furniture items that will help infuse brighter hues or unusual fabrics and textures into your interiors. Invest in lavish decor items that wouldn’t look out of place in grand palaces.

Make sure to leave enough room between items to allow them to stand out and deliver that visually appealing drama that is synonymous with maximalist decor.

To deepen your understanding of maximalism as an interior design style, it is worth looking at the origin of this design trend, and how it has evolved throughout centuries.  

History of Maximalist Interior Design

The maximalist decor trend that thrives on vibrant shades, decadently luxurious furniture and decor items dates back from the Victorian era (1820 -1914), a time when people decorated their homes with lots of ornaments and accessories to display their wealth and status. 

Maximalist design was prominent in royal homes, palaces, and bourgeois interiors. Think France’s Château de Versailles, England’s Buckingham Palace, and Andalusian royal palaces in today’ Spain, Morocco, and Turkey to get an idea of that style in ancient times.

Intricate embellishments and ornate decor adorn the walls, the ceilings, the floors, and the furnishings of these grand homes, depicting the extravagant lifestyles of its former inhabitants. 

Maximalism as an aesthetic rooted in extravagance heavily influenced Europe’s Baroque period (17th–18th century) frequently associated with grandeur, drama, deep colours, exuberance, richness, dynamism, and a tendency to blur the lines between various arts.

The American Gilded Age (1877-1896), during which huge fortunes were made and lost and great conflict between the old and new worlds arose, embodied the excesses of maximalist decor as a status symbol.

In the early 20th centuries,  Art Deco and Hollywood Regency design styles with lots of vivid colours, patterns, and textures richly layered together reinterpreted maximalist style. There was greater emphasis on conveying a sense of glamour and a use of rare materials to build and furnish homes.

Maximalism also greatly influenced various arts of these time periods, from painting to sculpture, music, dance, poetry, and decorative arts. Everything was about triggering a sense of awe and shock effects.

At the end of the Second World War, which marked a celebratory period in history, maximalism came to the forefront in fashion and people’s homes. Women wore vibrant outfits in elaborate designs and intentionally adorned their homes with vivid hues and patterns as ways to express their joy. 

From that point forward, maximalist decor evolved as a style which is more about an expression of one’s joy and undiluted personal sense of style than an ostentatious display of wealth and status.

Bold colours and intricate patterns that today characterise maximalism have made the design style more accessible to many home interiors.

American interior decorator Dorothy Draper was amongst the people who brought this aesthetic into the mainstream. Today, Martin Brudnizki and Kelly Wearstler are some high-profile designers who continue to champion this design style into their residential and commercial projects.

If you fancy adding pops of colours  and patterns here and there to brighten up a dark room or simply add vibrancy to your space using maximalist decor principles, below are a few ideas to stir up your creativity.

Splash a Vibrant Colour on Kitchen Cabinets

Welcome spring into your home all year round by choosing a bold paint colour for your kitchen cabinets. This will bring joy to your face every time you walk into your kitchen, and it will definitely be the talk of many conversations with your loved ones.

Mustard yellow, light green, pink, and blue are wonderful for transforming a space with warm and uplifting tones. Complement the look with softer wall hues, antique brassware and gilded artwork frames.

Mix and Match Different Colours and Textures

Throw away the “matching matching” rule book and pull together colour clashing fabrics, patterns, and prints that will bring positive energy and cheerfulness into your space. 

Edit your style in such a way that you work with designs  that add complementary levels of depth, intensity, and character to your maximalist decor. 

Create a Jungle-like Effect

No home is complete without a bit of greenery, fake or real.  This is no exception for maximalist inspired homes.  To achieve an interesting display of plants, invest in different types and sizes of greenery that you can group together in different room corners to dress up your space and create a jungle-like effect.

Alternatively, create a feature wall with a mural or a beautiful wallpaper showcasing a jungle design to colour-drench your space in low-maintenance greenery.

Display a Gallery Wall

Add drama with a floor-to-ceiling gallery wall display of your favourite prints, photos, and artworks. Regardless of the size of your available space, remember to be creative with your gallery wall layout  by framing interesting objects, dried plants, ceramics, or hand woven baskets to make it quite unique and eye-catching.

Showcase Eclectic Decor Accessories 

Maximalist interiors are the right places to experiment with quite unique furniture and decor accessories that would otherwise look out of place in most muted homes. 

To bring a living space to life, bring together an eclectic mix of plush fabrics, large sculptures and small paintings, neon art prints, vintage finds, bold pillows, patterned blankets and flooring, ornate furniture, ginger jars and chinoiserie wallpaper.   

Draw inspiration from the vibrant Moroccan decor or bohemian style, where vibrant shades of green, purple, yellow, terracotta and earthy tones expertly blend with sumptuous fabrics, ornate furniture and architectural details to deliver an uplifting cocktail of joy to the senses.

Experiment with a Small Bedroom

The children’s bedroom or the guest bedroom are excellent spots to experiment with pops of bold colours and accessories. 

For a small bedroom with a low ceiling, cocoon the space by applying the same paint colour  on all your walls, mouldings, windows, and skirtings to make the compact room look bigger .

Alternatively, choose to add a striking wallpaper on the children’s bedroom ceiling to create visual interest or  create a feature wall with colourful neon prints and patterned fabrics.

When curating items for your rooms, choose the main paint colours alongside the dominant textiles for the bedroom sheets and accessories to create cohesiveness in your clashing aesthetic. 

Be Daring with Patterns

Find creative ways to cleverly add patterns to your maximalist decor. Try patterned curtains on window treatment. 

When dressing up large windows, curtains with large patterns will help make  a statement in your room.  Curtains with smaller patterns lend a more refined aesthetic to small windows. 

For the most daring personalities, customise a sofa or armchairs with sumptuous floral, plaid, tartan and wool fabrics to infuse elegant stripes and motifs in your interiors.  

Celebrate Old and New Worlds

Combine new furniture items with timeless pieces to create a unique maximalist decor scheme. Classic patterns such as animal prints, florals, ikats, mudcloth, and stripes are welcomed in maximalist interiors. 

When paired with vintage rugs and furniture pieces such as an antique bed, a lacquered dresser, gilded paintings, or an armoire, they add old school charm into an interior. 

Add a touch of contemporary vibes into your cheerful maximalist scheme with contemporary artwork, sofas or accent chairs with a pared down modern design style.  

This ensemble where the new and the old collide in an explosion of vivid shades is a great way to infuse a welcoming atmosphere into your home.  

Make a Statement in your Entryway

Your entryway decor sets the tone for the rest of the home. They say “first impressions count”. Make sure this applies to your maximalist inspired entryway by layering vivid fabrics, lampshades, handcrafted pouffes, or a hand carved bone inlay console table will help create that show-stopping moment at the entrance of your home. 

For a little more glamour, consider adding a fancy looking decorative wall mirror for practicality and to allow rays of light to flow in your space.

Decorate With Florals

If you fancy decorating with vintage as part of your maximalist scheme, going full on with florals is an excellent way to add grandmillenial vibes into your home.

Pick a room and place floral wallpaper on all the walls.  Move on next to the curtains and even the occasional chair or the bed frame if you so wish.

Try to achieve a cohesive scheme by choosing florals that have some form of similarities in their background colours. 

To balance your room, add more contemporary pieces alongside sumptuous textures such as silk, suede, wool, and cashmere.

Go Big in the Powder Room

The magic of a bold wallpaper in a powder room cannot be overstated.  It helps breathe life and personality into your small space and sets it apart from the other spots in your home. 

Don’t forget to choose a stunning looking natural stone (or a lookalike) with lots of veining or intricate details for your bathroom sink to make your powder room more interesting.

Choose to be playful in the cloakroom instead. Throw away the rules book. Let your creative spirit guide you to come up with a bold scheme in that tiny space as a way to honour the joy inside  your soul.

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