5 Maximalist Interior Design Ideas

By definition in the arts, ‘maximalism is a reaction against minimalism; an aesthetic of excess and redundancy’. It’s an expression of personality and a decorative style that doesn’t really have rules. At its height in 1970s culture, maximalism was a direct response to the mid-century art and design prevalent in the homes of the 1960s.

Maximalism is often associated with someone being a hoarder but just because maximalist interior design often includes a wide range of styles doesn’t mean your space has to look cluttered or over the top. Here’s our five top tips on how to get the maximalist look as well as our favourite styles that embrace maximalism.

Colour is one of the most important elements of putting together a maximalist design scheme. Again, we repeat, there are no rules, but knowing what works together will certainly help to bring a cohesive and statement room. Create a moodboard of the colours starting with a basic colour palette that you like and build on it. Highlight accents included in your furniture or wallpaper and play around with what works. Dark colours will need to be contrasted with bright accents and neutral colours will act as a base for a loud wallpaper or statement furniture. Utilising a statement wallpaper along with your bold colour choices will really create an impact. If you’re comfortable with experimenting you can even paint your ceiling or opt for a bold mural to really get tongues wagging.

AUTHOR’S PICK: The Reign Collection

Remember, maximalism is all about a “more is more” approach to design, and this extends to the way you style your home as well as the things you choose to style it. Maximalism is all about mixing styles with colours, patterns, and textures, ultimately resulting in something loud and eccentric. Mix and match fabrics, different patterns, textures in your throws and rugs, furniture styles and colours. As long as there is a way to connect each style, it will work in the space. For example, you could bring a room together by coordinating a bold wallpaper such as our Mary Wallpaper with similarly coloured accessories like our Henry velvet cushions.

AUTHOR’S PICK: Neo 13 Velvet Fabric

A gallery wall is a superb way of adding impact to a room and creating an impression. It’s also a great chance to show off your personality even more within your home. AUTHOR’s secret to making a maximalist gallery wall work is to include as many styles as possible. Forget what you were told about buying matching frame styles and fill the wall with many different types and sizes of artwork and frames. Do take care to measure and space your artwork properly – wonky artwork is never a good look. Decide on a measurement between each frame and use that as your guide. If a gallery wall isn’t your style, you could also consider some large format artworks to take centre stage (we recommend our Falling Flowers silk piece). Either way, express your artistic style and feature the work that speaks directly to you.

AUTHOR’S PICK: Balloons in a Blue Sky Oil Painting

We’re personally for mixing and matching old and new furniture to create an interior design scheme with layers – your favourite vintage furniture and accessories, specifically those from Victorian and Art Deco eras, can fit easily into your maximalist space. Again, maximalism is all about excess so don’t hesitate to pop your vintage Eames chair side by side with a unique coffee table.

AUTHOR’S PICK: Mary Velvet Chair

Maximalist interiors should spark joy. If you’re a lover of objects, it’s important to keep all of these things around you. Hoarding should be an asset to your home and knowing how to style accessories such as books, sculptures, trinkets and knick-knacks will help to keep your maximalist interior design curated. Choose the things you love that have strong visual appeal and display your collection in the right way by incorporating shelving or making a feature out of a fireplace. Group them together in groups of three or five and make them into a little family of objects. It’s important to note that these collections should be seen but shouldn’t get in the way of functional living.

AUTHOR’S PICK: Handblown Glass Decanters