hi everyone it's nick welcome and welcome back to my channel okay in today's video we are going to be talking about how to decorate maximalism so i touched on maximalism in my hottest design styles for 2022 video a little while ago that you all really really enjoyed and maximalism is definitely a design style that is on the rise it is becoming a lot more popular and this i think is interesting a lot of it is really to do with the response of we have seen so much minimalism over the last decade and that is where you are really kind of curating and editing your space to really just kind of to the essentials and i think a lot of people found that a bit restrictive and so maximalism is very different in the sense that it's really about this kind of storytelling and these big beautiful bold spaces that really sort of speak to the person that lives there i also think in a post-pandemic kind of world we're really looking for spaces that really reflect who we are and you really get that from maximalism so in this video i'm going to be sharing with you a little bit about how you can get this look in your own home so let's get started okay so the first tip that i have for you all is to really create a tight cohesive color palette so here's the thing maximalism is a very colorful style it doesn't have to be necessarily obviously you can make this your own but usually it is a very colorful and bold design style and so you want to be really clear on your color palette in order to have i think what is going to be a really successful look and not sort of a bit of a kind of hot mess where you've just kind of thrown a whole bunch of things in your house together and called it maximalism i think that that's really what is key here is getting that really tight cohesive color palette so first let's pay close attention here to like this photo right here because i want to hold on this for a little bit just to really show the different color palette that's involved so i mean you've got sort of this like orangey brown color which you've got sort of in those two pillows that you've got on the sofa as well as you've got in those two lamps on the side as well as that really gorgeous tan side chair then you've also got the wood in the window frame as well as sort of this really sort of light beigey brown sort of color that they've got in the rug and so you've got sort of these different touches of brown that are scattered throughout the room and i think that's a really great job of sort of kind of combining the color palette into something that's much more cohesive than if they just kind of brought in a whole bunch of different colors in the same room also you have to look at the different colors of green that they also have in the space right they've got the green curtains on both sides of the room as well as you've got those sort of green dressers that they kind of got on either side of the couch and then you've got these pops of teal and these pops of yellow so overall i think the color palette mixed in with these sort of cream tones just kind of act as kind of that neutral backdrop to the space i think they've done a really great job of keeping that fairly tight now here's the thing they don't just have like two colors here they have gone with several colors but they're still replicating those colors throughout the room in different areas to sort of create a color palette that still feels tight so notice that it doesn't have like a bunch of different items in there that are all completely different colors they have kept it to sort of a short list of kind of four or five and i think that's what makes this space really successful just to quickly go through another couple of spaces here i mean this one is really beautiful and i really just wanted to highlight that this wallpaper is this gorgeous color obviously it's giving you all these patterns and sort of interesting colors and just really really bold and really graphic which is so neat but also the colors that are in that wallpaper in that sort of jungle print is also being brought in and all those different other accessories in the space so i think that's what makes this space really successful as well i also just really quickly want to highlight this one because i mean this is obviously an incredibly tight color palette so even though i would consider this to be a maximal space just to incur terms of all the different patterns that are being used it's still very tight to sort of this coral red color as well as the sort of teal blue color even down to that sort of star wars print that they've got behind the couch that you can even see that there's little traces of that coral in the mouth of the storm trooper which i think is just kind of really neat and random but it's also tied in with the rest of the curtains as well as the two side chairs so you can really see now how tight that color palette is and how that works really well even in a space that has lots of pattern and lots of different texture and just it's there's a lot going on but it's just really succinct and tight in that color palette and that really works quite well okay my next tip for you all is to be really considerate of your patterns in a maximalist space so patterns are very very popular especially in mixing different patterns but that can sometimes get people in trouble because they tend to just sort of combine a whole bunch of different patterns in one space and sort of hope for the best but as we have said on this channel many times before hope is not a strategy so what we're trying to do is really tighten up those different patterns that you are using ideally treat them a little bit like you are the colors where maybe if you can find a few different places to put the same pattern i think that's really going to help to make it feel cohesive so if you are really going to go with something like an animal print you might just not want to put that in sort of one accent pillow but maybe bring that in in a few different places in the same room so that even though it is one pattern it's being brought in in multiple places so it looks really intentional also for patterns i would really consider mixing sort of really simple patterns with more complex patterns at the same time rather than just having all complex patterns all the time an example of a simple pattern would be something like polka dots or even like plain stripes i think those can work really well because they're very simple and sort of kind of non-threatening to the eyes so to speak like they're not really overwhelming they're just sort of really simple and basic and the eye can really kind of understand them quite quickly and then balancing that with something that is a little bit bolder and a little bit more complex like a botanical print or something like that would be an example of something that's quite organic and big and bold and that those can work really really well together because even though they are both patterns there's sort of one kind of allow space for the eye to sort of rest while the other one is a little bit bold and dramatic so rather than putting all dramatic prints all around the room consider really layering in some more simple prints at the same time also i would consider when it comes to mixing your patterns consider bringing in the like a background color to the pattern to be the same so you might have something like a light cream for example but then you might have different patterns layered in but the base color might still be that neutral might still be that cream color or it could be gray or tan or something else that sort of really is a great way to tie different patterns together and you can experiment with multiple patterns in the same space but they're still sort of tied back to that same sort of base neutral to kind of link them all throughout the space okay tip number three to maximalism is to be bold this is not a design style i think that is for really sort of shy people although again you can make it your own do whatever you want to do but i would say really consider being bold with some of the choices that you are choosing for your space i would really recommend considering some really bold kind of really cool funky colors right yes you can go for neutrals and i think they can still very much have a place in a maximalist space but you might want to consider having some really big bold dramatic colors to also bring in there instead of maybe using something like an accent wall because this is something i think that is sort of outdated advice that we're kind of leaving in like the trading spaces sort of days where you just kind of pick a random wall and go like yeah let's paint it yellow and then you just get all the yellow paint and go to town that's less of what i think is really important rather i would say what you should do is yes you can be bold if you love that yellow go for it pick those really bold colors that's cool but i would first of all really look at what is the focal point for the room so really understanding you know in a living room is it that fireplace wall right is it the space where you maybe have the television is it the place you know with the fireplace maybe you got the television above it right controversial i know but maybe you've got that really kind of big space right in the center that is the focal point for the whole room you know putting some big bold dramatic color on that wall makes more sense than painting some other random sidewall a bright blue color and hoping for the best and also when you're being bold in addition to kind of making sure that you have that focal point is also like i kind of touched on earlier but this time doing it more with bold colors is don't just incorporate it as sort of like a one-shot deal like where you just like take something hot pink and throw it in the center of the room and go to town maybe consider saying you know what maybe there's a few other places that i can bring in that hot pink to sort of again really help with the cohesive you're going to find me saying cohesive a lot in this video and that is because i think it's really really important in a maximal space because inherently it's going to have a lot going on right so if you're going like with a scandinavian space which is more of a minimalist design style you're pretty much sticking to that cohesive color palette because there's not a lot of color oftentimes that's really happening in those spaces and it's easier to do that in a minimalist space but when you're dealing with maximalism and you've got a lot of books and games and flowers and accessories and all those different things it's going to be even more important that all those pieces are tied together and color is really important to do that also when you are mixing in these bold colors don't just stick them all in the same place consider putting them around different areas of the room to really help you draw the eye around the space because that you know hot pink for example is really going to dry your eye around the whole space rather than just kind of that one corner where you plopped it in the center okay and then tip number four is going to be to group items together so i think grouping items at a maximalist space is important because you are looking at having lots of different items in the same room sort of competing for attention so i would say grouping items especially items in groups of three five or seven because the human eye really does love odd numbers you know one consumers look a little bit lonely a little sad but like two can sometimes just look a little paired in a little stage but if you're looking at using three five and seven odd numbers feel really balanced to us and they also really feel really interesting and unique in addition to that when you are grouping things ideally in sort of odd numbers i think does work really well consider also mixing different shapes and different sizes so you might have something that's sort of smaller and then something that's a little bit meet medium size maybe a little bit thicker or chubbier and then you've got something that's a little bit taller just to sort of really give sort of a range of different sort of items it's gonna make the space feel a lot more interesting but you are still grouping them together um in a way that i think makes it look a lot less cluttered so instead of just kind of sticking a whole bunch of stuff all over the place really grouping them and tightening in those groups in different areas of the room i think is going to really help make the space feel a little bit more successful than if you just sort of have a bunch of stuff floating around the place and it just kind of voids the place feeling really cluttered which is a very common mistake in a maximalist space okay and then my next tip for you all is to be to tell your story so sometimes you've heard me say things when i'm referring to maximalism that it's about storytelling and i think that is really important is that the space tell a story to the people that are in it so when someone arrives in your living room it's about your story it's about you know who you are and what you do and that i think is something that was oftentimes missing from minimalism or a lot of people's perception of minimalism was that they felt like these were curated museum-like spaces that didn't really feel like they reflected who they were and they sort of sometimes felt that they weren't able to put their own kind of stamp on things their own belongings their own things that they really enjoyed which i think is a very strict view of minimalism to be honest but i do think for maximalism that is sort of an attractive element because it's sort of kind of baked into what maximalism is all about is bringing in pieces that really reflect who you are so maybe you have things that you've made yourself maybe you've got some diy stuff that you've made that sort of really you're proud of and you want to show off maybe you found some local art that you found when you were traveling in i don't know barcelona or something right maybe you found some maybe things that have been passed down to you right maybe things that your grandma gave you or that you know your dad had to down or whatever the case may be things you found at a thrift store or you maybe found it like a garage sale or an estate sale or something where you you know found something really interesting and you can sort of tell the story of how you sort of found that piece or how it sort of came into your life and now you're able to show it off to the people that you love that are you're sharing your home with or people that come into your home i think that's a really wonderful part of maximalism that sort of really makes it feel uniquely you and this is like a space that isn't just found on instagram this is a space that you just can't find anywhere else because it really reflects who you are and where you've been sort of tells a little bit more of your story and it's not just about the story of your life necessarily but it's also that the room itself is telling a story so rather than maybe you know you can find all these pieces and it could just be the story of your life i think that's fair enough so if you're really into sort of you have like a specific hobby or something that you really love maybe something in your career or something that you just really really enjoy and you kind of want to share kind of express yourself and sort of different aspects of you know the hobby that you really enjoy and you want to sort of show that off in your space i think that can be a really great way to do it i will say the one thing to be careful about with that though is that i would avoid it coming across as a little bit beamy because sometimes you know maybe if you're really into a specific sport and you want to make that feel like you know you want that to be reflected in your living room it can sort of feel a little bit like you're at a sports bar and so you know if you don't want to avoid the kind of sports bar look i would maybe bring in sort of specific elements that make sense but then mixing it in with a bunch of other items as well so it doesn't feel quite as themey okay and then my next tip for you all is to accessorize so this as i said maximalism is a space where you're curating kind of a lot of different goods and things that you've picked up whether that's hobbies that you love telling your story places you've been whatever sort of bringing that all into one space that's a big part of it so really taking that into account when bringing in those different accessories i think makes a big difference this is the time to sort of show off some of the things that you love but i would also be careful to not sort of overdo it because sometimes it can come across as a little bit too heavy-handed if you sort of bring in too much of something and it sort of feels a little bit weird an example of this would be like you know maybe you're really into collecting like vintage dolls that's fine like good for you like that's a great hobby i'm sure bringing in like three thousand dollars into and attaching them uh to your living room on different bookcases can come across a little bit creepy and overwhelming and so i would say things that maybe you know you've accumulated second hand that have been passed down to you i think that's really really important because there is sort of kind of a soul in some of these pieces that people have had for a long time and if you're a maximalist i think you'll understand what i mean by that right just because it's a maximal of space doesn't mean you need to bring the maximum amount of things into the space because then it feels a little bit cluttered feels a little bit overwhelming and doesn't really feel all that comfortable so i would say like in the same way i mentioned that minimalism is being really intentional with what you're bringing into your home maximalism is still very similar i still think you want to be really intentional with the accessories that you're bringing in to make sure you're bringing something that yes reflects who you are but it still feels really curated so that it still feels comfortable at the end of the day okay so in terms of where to shop for places uh for a maximalist that's usually what i do if you're not familiar in these how to decorate videos is i usually try to tell you sort of some retailers of where you can find some things that i think would really work for maximalism for maximalism i'll be honest this is actually quite tricky because i do think that the best pieces are probably ones that you've inherited that you've found that you know a thrift store or an estate sale or been passed down to you or all those different things or being gifted to you by a friend that you love or you know maybe you went on a trip and you're bringing some stuff back that you really really enjoyed and you want to sort of um show that off in your space i think that's really where maximalism is at its best rather than necessarily finding it at a shop i would say that if you are looking at artists to be able to bring in some really cool sort of pieces into your home i would recommend obviously etsy is the one that a lot of people talk about but i also think that amazon handmade is a really great place to pick up stuff if you actually do go click in the description i have a link to a bunch of amazon handmade items that i think are beautiful and these of course a lot of people think of amazon and they think of course of you know really mass market goods which of course it is but there's also a lot of handmade pieces that are quite similar to etsy as well which i think you could maybe enjoy and that also can really work for you so those two places are really great i think if you're looking for getting kind of an artist touch to bring something into your space that doesn't feel as mass market so that's it for me for today you guys i'm gonna link here to my playlist for interior design styles i go through a whole bunch of different design styles in some of the videos mixing design styles as well as i do some of these deep dives for a bunch of different ones i've done scandi mid-century modern art deco a whole bunch of really cool uh design styles and you can take a look at those videos and i will see you on the next one thanks bye