Cohesive Interiors
How to Create Flow and A Cohesive Design
The details are not the details, they make the design.
Charles Eames
If you flick through some glossy magazines or furniture catalogues you'll notice how these spaces just look so beautifully put together. The most gorgeous and timeless interiors tend to have some kind of connection that really ties the various areas together.
Here is a step-by-step guide how to create a cohesive look and feel that speaks to your style and flows throughout your home.
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Define The Function of Each Space
The key to a cohesive space is to firstly understand the space that you have and then recognise the needs of the people within that space. Ensure that every piece of furniture and decor that you might already own fits that function in that space. Remove any items that do not fit in with the function of the space. Likewise, if you are missing any items that will make the space work the way you want it to, consider sourcing these items.
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Create a furniture layout plan
When furniture is not arranged to optimise the use, shape and size of a space, it can make your home look disordered. Make sure your furniture is positioned around a focal point or arranged in zones. In this context, also consider the scale of your furniture to fit in with the shape or size of the space. As a rule of thumb, a good furniture layout plan ensures that the furniture fits the space with enough room for movement as well as adequate traffic flow. Clearly define the spaces with furniture or area rugs. This helps to create definition and flow.
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Build A cohesive style story
The next thing you need to consider in order to make your home look more cohesive is a design style — think of it as your ‘master plan’. I recommend to not just limit yourself to a specific design style, but think in terms of the mood you want to create; and how you want to feel in your home. A great way to start is to create a vision board. Creating a vision board will help you work out how you want your space to look and feel; and it will help you define your design style. You can also read more about what defines specific design styles in our spotlight design series: Interior Design Styles and Trends.
Based on your vision board, you might pull elements from various styles such as coastal, farmhouse and contemporary style, or you might like Scandi and Mid-Century Modern — as long as the elements you select have the desired vibe that you like, they will work together. Combine pieces that have some dialogue with one another, this creates a layered and soulful interior. (Read our feature on How To Mix Styles — a nutshell, when you combine styles, aim for the 80/20 rule, 80% being the dominant style, 20% mixes in the secondary style you might lean towards. It is all about proportion.)
Defining your style will give you focus and clarity when looking for new items or deciding on your colour palette.
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Define A Colour Palette
Choose your colour palette before you indulge yourself in the shopping experience… The easiest way to create a more unified and cohesive look in your home is with colour.
One way of achieving a cohesive interior that flows seamlessly is by considering one colour for all your walls with some accent colours to be worked in. If you have a bigger space where you don’t ‘sight-line’ the entirety of the space at once, you can get more creative and mix in some other colours from the colour palette. Make sure that the colours complement each other though.
A good way to start is with a neutral base colour (this will be your backdrop such as walls and larger furniture pieces), one main colour that you can use in different shades, then mix in 2-3 repeating accent colours (decor, wall art, cushions). It’s a good formula to start with.
This doesn’t mean that each room needs to have exactly the same colour… You can create flow from room-to-room by changing up the ‘colour ratio’ in the adjacent spaces. This creates visual interest and flow without looking the same. For example, your accent colour could take up much more visual prominence in another area of your home. Don’t forget to extent your colour palette to your furniture, textiles and accessories. Each piece forms part of the whole composition. You might be interested in our guide on how to choose colour.
In line with your chosen style story, this is an effective way to build a cohesive colour story by building flow but still giving each room its own personality.
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Across-the-Board Decisions
There are some elements that you might want to make across-the-board style decisions on. These elements will repeat throughout your home to increase cohesion. These often include light switches, door handles, metal finishes, faucets, and often, curtain rods, light fixtures (and style), doors and flooring. For example, flooring throughout a home can go a long way in creating continuity, especially for open concept living. Selecting limited flooring materials for the entire home will really root it, it will make a space look larger, and it will flow from one space to another. Although, you can certainly use different materials in areas such as bathrooms, kitchens or laundry rooms - just ensure that the materials ‘flow’.
Repetition of your core and favourite materials, paint colours, textures and textiles is an effective way to make your home feel cohesive - and give it flow. Here is an easy trick, I call it ‘sight-lining’… Walk through your home and pay attention how far your eye can see from space to space and notice how certain elements echo from one area to another. Allow your eyes to flow down hallways, through doorways and adjacent areas with ease.
(I am not saying that your home ought to look too ‘matchy matchy’ to be cohesive, no, just like ebb and flow over time, curate your interior over time and constantly review your space to make sure everything is complimenting each other. This will make your space more interesting and tell your story.)
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Decorate to Achieve A Cohesive Look
Be more intentional about how to bring your style vision to life. I touched upon repeating some materials throughout your home in order to create a cohesive look. For example, you could use woven textures and repeat these in your rugs and runners, cushions or baskets. It will make a room more tied together. Pay attention that your wood finishes work together in harmony. It is fun to mix wood tones but make sure they live together happily.
Even when accent colours are changed in different rooms or areas, they all should have the feeling of belonging together. Follow your colour palette to ensure visual harmony. Sprinkle your accent colour(s) into each space to create that cohesive flow throughout and ultimately create rhythm that allows your eyes to connect the different spaces. Repetition of colours, materials, textures and shapes maintains consistency and connects the elements — this creates harmony, balance, unity and cohesion.
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Avoid Inspiration Overwhelm
Having your defined colour palette and style definition will really help you focus when it comes to gathering inspiration and ideas. Pinterest is a great tool for finding inspiration, as is Instagram. Focus on only the items on your vision board or your Pinterest board that represent your desired feel and mood of your home. Edit your Pinterest board down to your key items to only keep the best of the best inspiration. This will narrow down your focus and avoids you getting overwhelmed or carried away what might result in cognitive overload to make your decisions.
Homes evolve forever, just like our tastes, styles and desires change over time. Sometimes you might need to make room for your evolving style by purging items that you already own but that might not sit well to create a cohesive flow. Unless an item has deep sentimental meaning, is functional, useful or beautiful, consider purging it. Read our feature about How To Declutter Like Marie Kondo.
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Applying these techniques will help you make your home more cohesive and more thoughtfully styled.
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You Might Also Be Interested In:
>> AVOID STYLING MISTAKES
>> Mixing Interior Styles
>> Symmetry + Balance