Home Decorating Ideas

Here you will find a brief description of various home decorating styles including accessories and colors that traditionally accompany each style. 

Art Deco - Art Deco is a streamlined, elegant, and geometric style of home furnishings popular in the 20's, 30's, and early 40's.  Vibrant colors were predominant as well as neon, chrome, and inlayed furniture in this decorating style.

Art Nouveau - A forerunner to art deco.  Developed in France between 1890 and 1910, art nouveau includes furnishings and accessories such as Tiffany lamps, ornate and flowing lines and shapes taken from nature and feminine form.

Classical - Classical style is reminiscent of ancient Greece.  Use of pillars and columns in both interior and furniture design.  Marble table tops, tapestries and crystal chandeliers are suitable accents used in the classical style.

Colonial - The colonial style dominated the designs of American furniture from the 1700s up to the Revolutionary era.  Unfinished wood was used for floors and walls.  Spindle forms were used for chair legs and backs instead of fancy ornamentation.  Delicate embroidery such as crewel and needlepoint along with pewter and family portraits were used as accessories.

Contemporary - Styles developed in the latter half of the 20th century were considered contemporary.  Pieces feature softened and rounded lines.  Use neutral colors for walls and furniture but bold color for accessories.

Cottage - The cottage style is a colorful, comfortable look characterized by painted and/or decorated furniture with graceful lines and accessories which add texture such as baskets, wicker, natural fiber rugs and window shades.  Weathered finishes and pastel colors are widely used.

Country - A general term that depends on geographical location.  The country style includes antique cotton quilts, stoneware bowls, and enamelware.  Wood and vintage cotton fabrics prevail.

Eclectic - The style that most people use is eclectic!  It encompasses a variety of styles brought together through the use of color, texture, shape and finish.

French Country - Rustic versions of formal French furnishings of the 1600 and 1700s.  Chairs feature caning for the backs and seats instead of heavy upholstery.  Yellows, blues, rooster collections, tiles on the floors and walls are all considered French country.  Natural materials like stone and terra-cotta are used abundantly, in addition to wire and wrought iron.

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