Quiet luxury is a style that is trending, both in fashion and in home design. However, at its core, it’s a classic aesthetic that many would consider a lifestyle. Quiet luxury is embodied by an aesthetic lacking logos and trends, with long-lasting materials and an elevated, understated elegance. It’s an authentic approach that is highly curated and edited. Read on for your guide to achieving quiet luxury in your home design.
Select timeless materials
Designing a home with living materials creates a foundation that will withstand the test of time.
Living materials look and feel luxurious without feeling over the top. Some of these materials include:
- Wood: Wood is one of a home’s most common natural materials. From hardwood floors, countertops, millwork, and wood accents, wood makes a home feel grounded, solid, and elevated.
- Marble: With regular maintenance, marble will last forever and can transform a kitchen. Its patina and etching tell the stories your home keeps.
- Wool: Wool rugs, carpets, and stair runners are a go-to textile in expertly designed homes. Wool is soft yet durable and is thought to give back living energy when you walk barefoot.
- Grasscloth: Grasscloth wallpaper can instantly create a space that exudes casual and approachable luxury. Its texture provides depth and dimension.
- Linen: Linen textiles are soft, comfortable, durable, and softer with every wash.
- Sisal and jute: Natural fiber rugs like sisal and jute are tried-and-true area rug options to anchor a dining table or as an entryway rug, a runner, or a living room rug.
Focus on warmth, not opulence
Quiet luxury means guests feel instantly at home instead of intimated when they enter your home. It means your home will feel inviting and comfortable yet still elevated. Being discerning with the items you curate for your home can help you accomplish this. Every layer and object that enters your home should be of the highest quality, have a distinct purpose, and connect to you and the other items in your home. Spaces should flow into each other, with a unifying element between rooms, such as a color or decorative item.
Pay attention to quality and personalization
A space that exudes quiet luxury is filled with items that tell a personal story. Walking into a home with a quiet luxury aesthetic makes an immediate impact, yet you can’t entirely focus on what’s driving the effect. This is because all the items in the space are made with expert craftsmanship and tell the story of those living in the home. These items can be sourced from talented craftspeople, travels and experiences, family heirlooms, and antique or vintage shops.
Know that details are the most important part
The details will take a plain and ordinary space to an area that exudes quiet luxury. Creating moments in rooms with vignettes or unexpected seating areas, making the common feel unique with your favorite hand lotion available to your guests in your powder bathroom, or creating unexpected delight by applying a treatment to your ceiling, such as millwork, wallpaper, or lacquered paint. When a room has a restrained color palette, a curated selection of sumptuous fabrics, natural materials, and edited sense-provoking decor, you create a beautiful space that whispers quiet luxury.
Have an editor’s eye
Often, one of the most challenging design efforts is restraint. Editing the overall scheme can be the key to creating an elevated space. Paring down and using discretion by refining the design selections and removing objects. Part of the editing process means juxtaposition to create balance, such as a modern chandelier with traditional furniture or filling a sleek marble room with natural accents like rattan furniture.
Appeal to the senses
When you walk into a space that feels truly luxurious, but you can’t quite pinpoint why, you’re likely having a sensory experience. Quiet luxury means appealing to all the senses.
- Sight: Having a unified color palette
- Smell: Delicately infusing your home with a subtle scent that isn’t overpowering
- Touch: Sumptuous fabrics that feel luxuriant to the touch
- Sound: A soft soundtrack to set the mood of the home
- Taste: An edited selection of artisanal bites and a signature drink
