Back To Basics: How To Design A Cohesive Home
The best completed home designs are the ones that manage to coordinate design schemes beautifully from room to room. That's what we think. What do we mean by this? Well, think of it as a story; a home should begin telling one from the entrance through to the bathrooms. Pieces shouldn't necessarily match, but there should be a subtle or indirect similarity from one space to the next so that the home appears balanced and cohesive. Cohesiveness is so important because it will help make the home feel united, rather than choppy, as if one room belonged to another house.
Design A Cohesive Home
Lets start by highlighting the characteristics of a home that do not make it feel cohesive.
- Every room seems to have a different style: (discover your interior design style with our comprehensive guide) From mid century modern, to traditional, to shabby chic, the home does not showcase a dominant style. The problem with doing this is that the spaces will feel detached from one another. Instead, opt to introduce different styles (if you're into that) in a subtle way. This could be done through a special piece of furniture, fabric or art, while every room in the home should feature this specific style, too. That's how you keep continuity.
- There's no apparent theme or feel throughout: We're not into themed spaces, not even for children's rooms, but we do believe there should be a subtle hint or theme throughout all the rooms of a home. A theme is simply a subject you want to showcase or a feeling you want to evoke (it could literally be anything) though this should be done very indirectly and in a sophisticated way. If you're into coastal design, you'll most likely use blues, whites and neutrals in a room and hope to create a relaxing atmosphere... so make sure this color palette and this "theme" is followed everywhere, even if it is subtly. The same goes if you were designing a mountain home; you'd select materials and finishes that go accordingly with the setting, be it warmer textures, or colors like greens, taupes, etc. The feel could either be warm and cozy or totally cabin like.
Characteristics of a cohesive home
- Use the same elements throughout the entire home: These include materials such as marble, brass, or fabrics like linen or silk. If every room manages to offer a similar foundation of materials, then the home will automatically feel balanced.
- Keep the distinct color palettes within the same saturation: We cannot stress this enough. It is very important, especially if you are going to utilize different color schemes in every room, that these colors all coordinate with each other, though most importantly, that they have the same saturation. The best way to describe this so that you may envision it, is to imagine neon pink and dusty, opaque pink. Both are "pink" but one is more bright and vividly saturated than the other. Keep in mind the saturations of colors used and if you manage to keep within the same "saturation family", despite the rooms not having the same colors, they'll still feel united.
Image found via Pinterest
You would think these spaces were in the same house, but they're not. They're designed by different design firms. What unifies these rooms is the obvious modern style, minimal use of color and the very similar use of elements such as the white walls and monochromatic color scheme. Another important point to consider is...
- Major rooms that open up to each other should coordinate: We love creating different design schemes for every room of the home, but we are less likely to propose something very "detached from the overall style of the project" in major rooms like living rooms, family rooms, dining rooms and kitchens, specially if they are directly connected / adjacent to each other. Hope to create a similar, unifying color scheme and feel within these spaces and if you like, reserve the more daring designs for other rooms of the home. These include children's spaces (although, we would most likely continue the feel even there, too), playrooms, basements or laundry rooms. See below what we mean...
These two rooms by Chango and Co. are found in the same house, but are separate from each other. By utilizing the same blue color on the walls of the living room and cabinetry found in the study, the rooms work as one. In short, the trick to a cohesive home is to make sure that similar elements are repeated throughout.
Do you have other tips that we may add on to the list? If so, leave us a comment below :)
