Naan bread, elephants, vibrant colors, chicken masala, Taj Mahal, Shahrukh Khan, and sarees. What is there not to love about India? The number one most colorful country of Asia and the base of the Bollywood fandom. India has its place in many people’s hearts as one of their favorite countries or as an essential destination on their list of countries to visit. If you are one of those mesmerized by the cheerfulness and creativity of the Indian trends, you will LOVE this!
Why does your relationship with India have to stop at your TV screen? When will you bring it to live to your home setting? Even if you were not such a big fan of the country and its traditions, these are still very stylish trends to follow in the interior design of your home. They could turn it completely from a dull, common home to a vibrant, festive one. Here are some tips to apply Indian interior design trends.
1 Colors
As a country with streets full of diversity, from language to religion, India also has a great diversity of colors. Use a neutral shade as a base, like grey, brown or off-white. And add vibrant, lively colors to decorate it. Or you can go with earthy colors for walls and floors like ochre yellow or burnt oranges, also burnt maroon. And add more colors to the assisting elements such as blue cushions and green frames. The Indian culture also appreciates the sun, so a choice of pale yellow for the walls as a sign of its light is commonly found there, adding dark brown furniture or floor tiles works perfectly with that, combined with colorful mats and ancient paintings on the wall.
One easier, more common way to choose color combinations is inspired by the spectrum of Indian spices. From the orange of Turmeric to saffron’s deep red, combined with the sunny yellow of curry. You can’t go wrong with this tip.
2 Patterns
If you love India, then you must have already noticed the importance of patterns to the Indians! From clothing to accessories to fabrics used in making sarees. Patterns are also part of the Indian home decoration; you could choose to adventure with a lightly patterned wallpaper to add a twist to your walls, or go with a less bold choice and use patterns in smaller spaces like bedspreads, fabrics hung on the wall or pillowcases. You can even go for sofas or chairs upholstered in patterned fabrics. Handspun fabrics are also historical elements; a quaint canopy with a traditional Indian pattern above a bed can give an authentic look.
3 Furniture
Indian furniture is most commonly made of dark, exotic wood such as ebony and rosewood. Go for an authentic look by choosing pieces that show India’s exotic craftsmanship, with ancient carvings of symbols or traditional motifs. Heavy round wooden tables and Indian engraved benches will give you the Indian look you seek instantly; the bench will also give you more seating space. Use ornate wooden pieces as well such as traditional wooden chests embroidered with ivory or engraved with flower and animal patterns. Add authentic footstools or a decorative birdcage.
One more very traditional wooden Indian piece is a Jharokha, which is a wood wall decor that holds a mirror sometimes and is commonly hanged in the living room or the reception. For a more functional piece, add a traditional Indian cabinet, it’s not only brightly painted and pleasant to see, but it is also used for storage. Place it in the reception for storing shoes or in the bedroom for clothes perhaps.
4 Flooring
Since India’s climate is usually hot, choosing floors there is influenced by trying to cool the house temperature. Granite floors are the most preferable since they don’t stain and are more durable than others. Then comes marble which also gives the beautiful gloss of granite, though it may fade in time. And finally comes the most affordable of all, tiles. They can crack easily but they have various color and design options that can suit everyone. If you don’t prefer having a colorful or shiny floor, you could go for a dark stained timber one.
5 Decore
The final and most important point of all is using decoration and accessories, even if you can’t afford or do not know how to follow the previous points, this one alone can be sufficient. Indian houses are characterized by the noticeable use of various decorations, don’t overuse it though to avoid giving a chaotic look.
- accessories: simple use of a flower vase, while adding different color patterns and types of flowers will enrich your home.
- statues: one of India’s most important symbols are the use of figures; they could be wooden, brass or copper. Statues of cows, elephants or turtles mirror the animal richness in India. Other commonly found sculptures are those of Hindu Gods and Goddesses or religious idols like Buddha and Ganesha. You can also add statues of old kings to feature Indian mythology. All these motifs will give cultural richness to your home.
- frames: use ornately decorated frames instead of normal modern ones to hang your family photos, try going for vibrant color patterns.
- Rugs: Rugs with authentic idols on them or traditional animal patterns will be perfect on dark or neutral floors, and they will save you the expenses of changing to a marble or tile floor. Just add the rug on your normal wooden or concrete floor, and it will change the look completely.
- Oil lamps: the brass of copper oil lamps give a tremendous look, also lighting them at night will change the mood of the room entirely to objects calm or even romantic one. Indian brass pots are also recommended as centerpieces on round tables.
- Paintings: hang large gold-leafed pictures or those of Tanjore or Madhubani as centerpieces in the living room. You can also add other small pieces around them and create a mini gallery for an artistic theme.
- Floor cushions: either buy or make relatively large pillows and place them randomly on the floor of the reception or around the central round table in the living room. Choose cushions embroidered with colorful or shiny beads or buy sari fabric and make them yourself at home.
- Jhoola: add this traditional Indian swing for more fun and light way of decoration, perfect for use in the outdoors as well, on the porch or the balcony perhaps.
- Artifacts: India’s culture is very rich in artifacts such as Hindu masks. Also using small decorative boxes that have various colors, materials and different beads and mirror pieces will give a festive twist to your table setting.
- Mandalas: mandalas will always give you the exotic eastern look you are searching for, add them as small paintings on the walls or big pieces of fabric above your bed. Use them as a wallpaper or even as a rug or bed sheets. Mandalas can always give the wanted colorful look without outdoing it.
Finally, be creative! Anyone can be his own home designer. All you need is to find what you are most comfortable in. Here is another idea, instead of going for the Indian theme in your whole house, choose one room perhaps, or a corner in the reception to apply this on, then select other themes for other parts of the house for a diverse exotic environment.
Best of luck!
