What is multicultural home decor?
Multicultural home decor draws upon the idea that your home should reflect your personal history and speak to who you are beyond your stylistic preference. While the existing list of interior design styles such as mid-century modern, traditional, Scandinavian, and so forth are helpful categorizations of aesthetic sensibilities, they fall short of making your home truly tell the story of who you are. Our homes are sanctuaries and a place where you can truly be yourself. Your home may already be filled with beautiful furnishings, and even be painted in your favorite colors. But if someone walked into your house, would they be able to tell what kind of person you are? Or even be able to distinguish your home from another house that’s decorated in a similar style? If you have a family, will your kids be able to tell your family’s cultural history?
The idea of multicultural home decor encourages you to explore one step beyond your color choices, beyond your penchant for certain aesthetic styles. Multicultural home decor is about layering your cultural identity and your personal history to complement your existing decor preferences. Let’s clarify that multicultural home decor is not about filling your home with cultural artifacts or redecorating your entire home in some traditional style of your heritage. You certainly can if you so choose, but the idea of multicultural home decor is about creating thoughtful opportunities to introduce your heritage seamlessly into your existing lifestyle.
How to embrace Multicultural Home Decor
When you’re looking to refresh your living room decor for the new year, you may be paying attention to what the latest trends are or what the color of the year is. In addition to these considerations, seek out designs that showcase something personal to you. If you happen to be a family who likes to celebrate through food, maybe you can introduce placemats or table runners in culturally relevant textiles. If you’re shopping around for some accent pillows to bring in this year’s official on-trend color, Very Peri (PANTONE® 17-3938 ), perhaps you can look for accent pillows in the color of the moment with patterns or shapes that have special significance in your culture.
Did you know? In Japanese culture, the famous wave pattern, or Seigaiha, represents regenerative powers of the ocean and symbolize rebirth and strength.
Another facet of multicultural home design is the emphasis on creating experiences rather than vignettes. We fall too easily into the subconscious (or conscious) desire to replicate the images of beautiful homes we see on Pinterest or Instagram. Yes, these homes are beautiful, but what we’re seeing is just a moment in time. Instead, try to approach the decorating process with the aim of creating experiences in your home. When you imagine a gathering of friends and family in you’re living room, what do you want them to notice? A strategically placed wall art that highlights your heritage can lead to meaningful conversations. Or maybe a collection of photos displayed in striking cultural fabric frames can help your children provide visual affirmation to their cultural identity.
Multicultural home decor is all about making your home more than just beautiful. It is about making your home meaningful.