How To Add Bohemian Style to Your Living Space

Recently updated on April 6th, 2024 at 05:09 am

Nothing can bring down your mood faster than a boring or unattractive space. Whether you’re dissatisfied with the decor in your current room or home or are moving to a new place and excited to try something a little different, we’ve got the perfect thing. Bohemian style is an eclectic, vintage style of decor that’s been popular on and off for decades. If you know how to choose your pieces well, this style can be cost-effective and beautiful, transforming a once dull space into an area that makes you want to become a homebody. Here are our tips for implementing boho-chic design in your space.

Bohemian Style: Options

Bohemian design is an umbrella term encompassing a few slightly different decor styles. There’s classic bohemian, a relatively busy and generally eclectic decorating style — think warm seventies colors, plushly printed rugs, wooden round coffee tables, and nicknacks. There’s modern bohemian, which takes certain aspects of bohemian design and adds them to a modern overall style for a bit of interest. Last but certainly not least is Scandi-Boho — a design style that combines Scandinavian minimalism and bohemian design to create a clean and polished look that is still warm and inviting.

Bohemian Style: Implementation

Every city and town has a unique personality and often unique architectural styles to go along with it. Some rooms for rent in Seattle might feature warm wood floors, while homes available to lease in New York may have concrete or tile throughout. Wherever you find yourself, you can implement the kind of bohemian design you prefer if you approach the project from the right angle. Boho design overall is defined as artistic and unconventional. The style has been around since the mid-19th century when the word “bohemian” began being used to describe a French movement of artists from multiple disciplines who focused on beauty, culture, and art rather than money.

Bohemian Style: Elements

The main elements of bohemian design are:

• Varied and often contrasting colors, textures, and prints
• A perfectly imperfect mix-and-match collection of furnishings and decor
• A collection of plants and greenery displayed in interesting ways
• Lots of ornamentation

Bohemian Style: Ideas

If you haven’t experimented much with different decor styles or find yourself in a little bit of a decoration rut, bringing bohemian style into your home could initially seem a little overwhelming. Luckily, since you are in charge of your home looks, you can implement as many or as few elements of this style in any way you like and even keep some items in storage, allowing you to rotate the decorative elements when you feel like switching things up. Some ideas will suit those who want to go all-in when adding decor to a space, and some will suit the more design-timid among us and hopefully open the door into a world of new styles just waiting to be explored.

• Play With Textures

The Boho design is texture-heavy. Everything from rattan to wicker, plush seventies-style rugs to woven grass mirror frames, tasseled plant hangers to knit pillowcases — there is an endless supply of options. We recommend starting with simple pieces that make a statement: a plush and fluffy rug, some woven throw pillows, or a beautiful textured blanket draped artistically over your bed. Live with these new items and use them as inspiration to bring other textures into the room, or not — it’s entirely up to you.

• Become a Plant Parent

Lots of luscious, leafy house plants and cacti add great interest to any room. Not only that, but they supply oxygen to your living space and give you something to look after and care for. A well-loved collection of plants makes any room look inviting and homey — something innate to this decor style. Choose terracotta pots, which are available at most nurseries, and visit any local vintage or thrift stores to see what exciting pots they may have to contribute to your collection. Bonus points if you can find macrame hanging pot plant holders to dot around the corners of the room.

• Go for Bold

Bohemian decor is the opposite of a shrinking violet. Boho is what it is, and it’s happy to stand out from the crowd in its warm marigolds, velvety purples, chartreuse and bottle greens, and warm natural wood hues. Bold colors and prints that clash are a good idea in traditional bohemian decor. If you’re going for a more minimal style of boho, choose more soft or neutral colors for the majority of the room or house (plain white or cream calls, unprinted or patterned bed sets or sofas) and add the bold colors and prints in things like curtains, pillow covers, frames, and artwork. Paislies, India-inspired prints, colors, flecks of gold, ornate lighting, and eastern rugs are excellent ways to bring in the color and print injection you may be craving.

• Try Trinkets

A tiny mirrored box you found on holiday somewhere, a photo frame you saw peeking out of the bargain bin in a thrift store, an incense burner: all of these things placed around your room or home will draw the eye and add to the attractive, homey bohemian decor feel you’re aiming for. Trinkets are a big part of an exciting, eye-catching, bohemian space, so feel free to add as many as you like.

Wrap Up

These bohemian-style tips will help spruce up any space, big or small. Once you’ve implemented these tips, you’ll be dying to spend time in your beautifully decorated home.