Home designers are oohing and ahhing about the latest home design style to grace the home decorating scene this spring: Quiet Luxury. But what is Quiet Luxury and how do you incorporate it into your existing home style?
Simply stated, Quiet Luxury is exactly as it sounds. There's no ostentatious quality about a home that is designed with sophistication, subtle refinement and a timeless nature. Quiet Luxury creates a unified, cohesive balance between all design elements within the room. Looking closely, you may notice the exceptional craftsmanship or the bespoke nature of furniture, yet none of it would beam as if on a pedestal with peacock feathers raised.
Quiet Luxury is exactly as it sounds.
It's quiet.
It's subtle.
It's refined.
And it's most definitely NOT screaming at you to notice how refined it all is.
Photo: Thelifesyledco
The Everyday Girl defines Quiet Luxury as: "Definitely luxurious, but the classic style is warm and inviting rather than overly sophisticated and ostentatious. The understated aesthetic incorporates earthy elements, muted color palettes, natural textures, high-quality sustainable materials and an overall sense of relaxed elegance."
Quiet Luxury embraces:
The rarity of bespoke items
Quality craftsmanship
The mixing and matching of different eras
Intentionality in its curation
Serene and calming spaces
A balanced design where no one design element overpowers another
A harmony between minimalism and maximalism
Now that we know what it is, how do we create a home that looks and feels Quietly Luxurious?
3 Tips to add Quiet Luxury into your home decorating style
1. Choose custom and/or personalized pieces both large and small:
In the design world, the fancy word for that is Bespoke. But all it means is custom creation. If your husband has handmade your dining room table...guess what? You have a bespoke piece of furniture!
2. Go old, not bold in your home decorating style:
Quiet Luxury is opposite of bold. The statement it makes is subtle and refined, not over-the-top loud or in-your-face. When choosing design elements, both big and small, look for older pieces. Vintage pieces. Pieces that look like they've taken a turn around the block once or twice.
3. Invest in pieces that you love:
The key phrase here is invest. Creating a home that looks refined and subtly sophisticated takes a bit of time and intentionality. And sometimes that intentionality means to skip the art at Target and head to your local vintage boutique to see what they've curated for you.
The bottom line: AVOID TRENDS!
4 Places to source Quiet Luxury decor items (on a budget)
1. Thrift Stores:
It should go without saying that thrift stores are wonderful places to find home decor items that are not only priced reasonably, but are also items that are not necessarily found at your local big box store.
Learn to shop with efficiency and success at thrift stores here.
2. Vintage Boutiques:
The beauty of shopping vintage boutiques is that the items have already been curated for you - making your job ten times easier!! But not all vintage retailers are in alignment with your particular style so once you find a vintage retailer that you love, that has a similar aesthetic...SHOP THEM first. Vintage retailers are constantly on the hunt for curating pieces that align with their aesthetic and products change often! So go often and if you're looking for a particular item, don't be afraid to reach out to ask if they'd keep their eyes open for what you're looking for!
3. Etsy:
Vintage boutique shopping from the comfort of your own home! Though you could pay a premium in shipping costs, that cost may be worth the time you're saving by not driving to and searching for bespoke items on your own.
4. Flea Markets:
Flea markets can be such a wonderful place to curate pieces with a bit more rarity than your neighbor. Like thrift stores, prices may be less, but not always. Remember when shopping flea markets that the owner of the booth curates these pieces for a living and although sometimes the booths look haphazardly thrown together, it doesn't mean they are not aware of the value of the said items. Be respectful of that and remember they've done the hard work for you!
Looking for tips on how to be successful while flea marketing? Grab your free Flea Market State by State guide here.
Happy styling!