After years of decorative restraint, all-white kitchens and minimalist aesthetics, maximalism is taking over new home trends, with bursts of color and statement-making decor choices.
This new home trend is growing in popularity as homeowners look for ways to express themselves in ways that are personally meaningful.
While one of the cornerstone principles of maximalism is about expressing individuality, what all homeowners who embrace this movement have in common is the pursuit of joy through decor choices, which translates into warmth and comfort, as well.
“With people spending a lot more time at home over the last few years, everyone is leaning into cozy and homey vibes. When done right, maximalism offers this comfortable, lived-in feeling that people are craving. It's a way to express yourself and feel happy doing so,” says Michelle Murphy, owner and principal designer, Michelle Murphy Interior Design.
What is Maximalism?
In interior design, maximalism, simply, is ‘more is more’. Rooms explode visually with color, patterns, textures, metallic finishes, layers and overscale furniture.
Textured prints and botanicals, rich, detailed, lush textiles and mixed metals are all trending, indicating a solid return to maximalism.
Significantly, trending colors are big and bold, and play a key role in the maximalist aesthetic.
“We are seeing a push towards ‘color maximalism’ because we’re tired of the same old, same old. We want new. We want exciting. We want to feel something. Our job is to embrace the ideas of injecting more personality and style into our spaces, but in a way that still feels timeless, harmonious and fresh,” says color psychology expert Michelle Lewis of the Color Cure.
While on the surface, maximalism seems to offer an anything-goes aesthetic, and it is to a certain degree, there is a strategy behind making bold expressions look curated and intentional, as opposed to chaotic.
Maximalism isn’t New, Just Newly Trending
Maximalism, where a room is full of color, texture and textiles, has appeared often throughout interior design history, and trend cycles ebb and flow, repeating over generations.
In the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe, Baroque interiors were prominent, with gilded accents, tapestries, rich textiles and highly detailed, ornamental fixtures, painted walls, including ceilings. Design elements were opulent and colorful, with a definite air of formality.
One of the original centerpieces of maximalism, the cabinet of curiosities, was popularized in the 16th century, and continued to be prominent in the eras that followed. It was an ornately styled cabinet that housed objets d’art, trinkets and mementos.
The concept behind the cabinet of curiosities is important, as it encouraged collection and display of personally meaningful pieces, a theme that will carry maximalist trends through to today.
In the Victorian era, maximalism continued its influence and colors, textiles and accents were rich and colorful, but the concept of curation of items for a bespoke effect became more intentional, a strategy still being used by today’s homeowners.
Victorian-era homeowners curated meaningful decor and displayed them in such a way to inspire and naturally encourage conversation amongst guests and household members, while making a statement on household wealth and status (in part why decor remained so ornate during that period).
Today, with so many splashy decor choices to choose from, homeowners are pushing this new phase of maximalism, driven in large part by the pursuit of joy at home.
Make Your Home Look Curated, as Opposed to Chaotic
Given the volume and visual weight of a lot of decor pieces that generate the maximalist vibe, it is important to strike a balance. Part of the success of good design is giving the eye strategic landing points to rest, while absorbing the aesthetic. When curating a maximalist room, think of drawing a visual map to guide the eye correctly.
“It is possible to go overboard with maximalism. You have to be careful not to cross the line into crowded or cluttered. Finding the right balance of key colors, textures and items to make a comfortable space that represents you is important,” says Murphy, emphasizing that balance, juxtaposition and scale are key.
“Place various sizes of items together in an interesting grouping that draws the eye in an intriguing way, not an overbearing way. Remember that even with ‘more is more’ there can still be elements that stand out and pull the space together,” says Murphy.
How can you Gain Confidence with Maximalist Decor?
Even though bold decor is trending, and some homeowners may be ready to place their personal stamp, it can be hard to define your comfort level, especially after so many years of minimalist decor.
Start with small steps to build confidence, suggests Murphy.
”If a homeowner is used to a more minimal, clean aesthetic, it will be a drastic change to jump right in. Maybe start with only one or two rooms or experiment with some of the elements you prefer, such as color drenching or pattern on pattern,” says Murphy.
Employ a Maximalist Color Strategy
Color plays a major role in any design, and the key to curation is to begin from a psychological, rather than aesthetic viewpoint when choosing your palette, explains Lewis. Remember, with maximalism, the goal is to create spaces that make you happy.
“Start with an emotional assessment: what do you want to feel in your space? This will inform your color choices,” she says
“For example, if the emotion (you are after) is calm or serene, you won’t choose anything too warm - like reds, oranges and yellows. Instead, it will be a cooler palette, consisting of blues, greens and purples to result in those feelings of restfulness,” she says.
“Cooler colors feel relaxing, calming and elegant. Warmer colors feel moody, bold and romantic.”
Once you’ve settled on a color family, fine tune some of the details to create a good base upon which to build out the rest of your decor.
“Will everything be bright and bold? Soft and muted? Dark and elegant? Thinking of this before selecting paints and patterns will help you keep your designs cohesive and within a single-color family,” says Lewis.
“As you build the space, your color family will help inform your choices with patterns and textures. If you’re going for feelings of connectedness, which links to purple, along with a dark and elegant color family - all paints, patterns and textures will have a black undertone. You can be bold and mix multiple patterns across artwork, rugs and drapery.”
Lewis continues, “If you’re in a light and bright color family - with white undertones, you’ll probably want to stay simpler with your patterns and have one focal piece.”
