Jennifer Sheahan: How to use interior design themes in your home
Inside the hall door of Jennifer Sheahan's home in Rathmines. Pictures: Moya Nolan
When it comes to designing your home interior, it’s easy to focus on choosing the style of each room, room layouts, what colours work best in which room — but it’s also important to focus on creating overall cohesion throughout your home.
Do you need to carry the same design throughout your house? Or can each room be wildly different? There are a few ways to consider this. Perhaps you like things simple — you like one consistent theme creating harmony and flow throughout your home.
Maybe you prefer variety — you might want to unleash your creative expression in an eclectic array of styles across your home, with the distinction paradoxically providing unity. Or possibly you’re somewhere in the middle, preferring an assortment of genres linked by one or more common threads.
No matter your preference, there are benefits to creating cohesion on some level. Committing to a theme — even if that theme is personalised rooms — is more visually appealing than designing each room completely ad hoc, with no consideration for the overall experience.
Finding the right balance requires consideration and attention to detail — here are some tips to find what works best for you.
This approach is likely more appealing to minimalists and modernists. One style throughout all (or at least most) rooms in the home creates a polished, considered aesthetic that is relaxing and harmonious — assuming you haven’t painted every room neon, that is.
To achieve this style, create one colour scheme for the whole home. You can of course have different colours per room, provided they work within that scheme.
You should also choose one design style throughout — for example modern, traditional, or jungle-themed (hey, consistent doesn’t mean boring!).
No rules are hard and fast — you can always choose one room to go rogue in your design, my favourite example being your downstairs loo! Small, enclosed rooms are the perfect opportunity to express yourself if you need to, without encroaching on the consistency of the rest of your home.
It’s your house and you can do whatever you want in it, within the bounds of the law. Using completely different themes is such a fun way to express your creative individuality.
This approach works particularly well in homes where cohabitors, partners, or children have different tastes and needs. Allowing each person complete creative control over their chosen room avoids having to compromise (something I’m admittedly not great at) and gives everyone a place where they feel at their best.
If you don’t share your home with anyone, you may enjoy having a totally different vibe in different rooms. Complete zen and relaxation in the bedroom, unadulterated chaos in the kitchen, and refined elegance in the living room — you can choose the mood you want to invoke in each space and fully lean into it.
Having a range of eclectic styles allows you to express yourself fully and adds stimulation and excitement to your home. Going dramatically different in each room creates completely separate spaces, atmospheres, and functions, which gives your home a level of versatility that a cohesive style doesn’t provide.
The key with going different is to really embrace it. You don’t want a chaotic mish-mash that will just make you feel uneasy. You will need to pay extra attention to the design of each room, and maintaining cohesion within that room becomes even more important. In this way you actually achieve cohesion, albeit in a less obvious way.
Another great time to choose this approach is when you’re conflicted on your preferred style and are in a transitory home — maybe a rented apartment for example — where you won’t be splashing out a large budget on “forever” items. You could use this time to play with various styles and colours and get a feel for your favourites through experience.
There is always a grey area within extremes, and your interior design is no exception. If you want the harmony of a cohesive design and the variety of different styles, you can achieve this with some careful strategies.
Having some core common elements throughout your home — for example, consistent flooring, wall paint, or a specific pattern — will ensure a connection between spaces, even if other elements in those spaces are different.
If you have central corridors or hallways in your home, these can serve as a fantastic bridge between differently themed rooms. Keeping a neutral and consistent theme in these in-between spaces will allow for a smoother transition between contrasting rooms.
Finally, you can choose repeated accents throughout your home — for example, picking one accent colour that is featured in each room; having consistent artwork between rooms; or choosing a similar lighting style throughout.
Choosing this middle road requires a level of design skill to achieve the right balance. If this feels challenging, it’s always a good idea to work with a talented interior designer — a good one will save you money in the long run.
- Got a question for Jennifer Sheahan? Email home@examiner.ie
