More Is More: 9 Ways to Rock the Maximalism Trend

There’s more to love in a maximalism-style living room. Image: Caseys Furniture

We love maximalism design for its lush colors and the “you can’t mess this up” style it delivers. Decorating trends kept minimalism strong for many years, until the idea of Hygge and the comfort lifestyle swept in. Decorating for comfort meant filling our homes with things we love. Maximalism means enveloping our homes with even more of those things. This style isn’t messy or random — you can’t achieve the look simply by filling your space with decor. You don’t have to commit 100 percent to maximalism, but you can borrow the best of the trend to transform your space. 

Maximalism: the basics

• Load up on lots of color.
• The more artwork the better.
• Strive for comfort and add only the decor that you love.
• Maximalism is a book lover’s dream — you can’t have too many books.
• Don’t strive for perfection, strive for personalization.

There is no wrong way to create a maximalist style in your home. You will be simply adding more of what you love to your home. There are no rules to maximalist decorating. All you need is a passion for creating a truly unique space. If you need inspiration to get you started, here are the top nine (easy) tips we love.

You can never have too much color. Image: Charlotte Crosland Interiors

1. Be generous with color

The foundation for maximalism design is color — lots of it. You can start with a basic color palette and build from there. When you’re looking for maximalist inspiration, you’ll notice right away that dark colors like black and navy blue are popular wall colors. The secret to dark wall color is to fill the room with bold or bright accents and patterns to balance things out.

Surround yourself with color and art that is important to you. Image: Slater Interiors

2. Create a wall of art

We love the gallery walls that are the most prominent design feature of maximalism. You can fill every inch of an accent wall with artwork and still be on-trend. The secret to making a maximalist gallery wall work is to forget what you know about coordinating the frames, color and subjects of your art. Your decorating goal is to simply fill a wall with art that you love. The only guideline you’ll need to follow is taking care to space your artwork properly. Decide on a measurement between each frame, and use that as your guide. Your maximalist gallery wall can hold artwork in a variety of sizes, but the spacing should be uniform.

Fill your home with what you love. Image: Billinkoff Architecture

3. Decorate with what you love

We love our homes even more when we are surrounded by the things we love. Maximalism means more of everything; that means more of your favorite colors, fabrics and accessories. To keep your decor from looking too random, find a few common colors or patterns to repeat through the room. There is a fine line between your decor being an “everything bagel” and a platter of colorful pastries.

Books are an essential element of maximalism. Image: Naomi Astley Clarke

4. Books are a must-have for maximalist decorating

If you love books, you’ll love maximalist decorating. The maximalist style is a book lover’s dream, while other styles usually limit the number of books you can display. All of your books are so welcome in maximalism — no more boxes of books stored in your garage. Your collection looks wonderful in tall bookshelves, or even stacked on side tables. 

Mixing contemporary and traditional design adds maximum style to a living room. Image: The Troop Group

5. Maximalism is all about comfort, too

Minimalism and downsizing brought a style backlash that left us longing for comfort. The need for comfort propelled extreme nesting styles like Hygge into our homes, but those styles lack the glamor that many of us crave. Maximalism is the best of both worlds, combining our most comfortable decor with our favorite colors and accessories.

Creative maximalism is at the heart of this cheerful living room. Image: Colin Price Photography for Noz Design

6. Create a space with maximum cheer

Maximalism could be the perfect decorating style for you if you love happy colors and patterns. To create a cheerful maximalist room, warm color palettes with flowery patterns are a must-have.  You can incorporate other decorating styles in your maximalist room, as this style fits beautifully with boho, English country and other happy looks. 

Maximalism works effortlessly with boho style. Image: Breeze Giannasio

7. Boho-style decorating is a perfect match for maximalism

Fans of boho style will probably fall in love with maximalism. These two styles share a common theme of gorgeous excess. If you love print fabric, love color and love to immerse yourself in everything beautiful, you can easily embrace maximalism while staying true to your boho roots.

Vintage-style maximalism brings the magic for this stunning living room. Image: Jodie Cooper Design

8. Add vintage accents

Your favorite vintage furniture and accessories can fit easily into your maximalist space. While mid-century decorating can be very minimalist, its vibrant colors and expressive art can also exude maximal style. The Victorian and Art Deco styles were all about excess, too, so you’ll have no trouble merging these with maximalism to create a room you love.

Embrace your unique style with the eclectic decor in this gorgeous living room. Image: Dulux UK

9. Your maximalist home doesn’t have to be perfect

How relaxing it would be to decorate without the pressure of perfection. Maximalism style works best when it’s imperfect. While your decor should have some unifying colors or patterns, there is absolutely no need to stress over matching furniture or colors — in fact, that’s the best part.

Will you be hopping on the maximalism trend? Let us know your plans in the comments below!

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