5 Ways to Use Fashion to Inspire Your Interior Design

How does fashion influence the world of interior design? How does interior design adopt elements of fashion before, during, or right after a trend hits the market? What do the two, fashion and interior design, have in common? And, how can they work together to make your home a comfortable, yet stylish place to live?

Fashion trends unknowingly alter interior design schemes

For some reason, trends in fashion make their way to the world of home improvement almost 100% of the time. In fact, it’s likely that fashion enters the designer world through the runway, but continues down the line and soon enough ends up in homes.

Typically, these fashion trends don’t come to the home before or during the popularity rise (but sometimes they do). On a regular basis, it’ll take anywhere from six months to a year for the fashion elements to make their way into your interior design.

What can you use in the world of fashion to inspire your interiors?

Accessories, accessories, and accessories

Accessories have an extremely wide range of options – you can accessorize using trinkets, vases, candles, books, artwork, and much, much more. It’s just like fashion! Except in fashion, you accessorize with watches, jewelry, hair ties, and purses/wallets, just to name a few.

One area of accessories I want to focus on is hardware in the home.

If you asked a fashion expert or interior designer what was ‘in’ for hardware about five years ago, you probably would have received a “nickel or stainless steel” answer. Now, things have changed.

If you’re looking to accessorize your drawer fronts or doors, inspire your interiors with brass and gold pulls, knobs, and handles. Splash some shine on them or ask for a rubbed out look – either way, the furniture pieces will look stunning.

Texture and material choices can spice things up

Fashion is all about picking and choosing the right design schemes that fit together perfectly; that doesn’t mean that the choices have to be boring, though.

How many times have you seen a woman or a man walk down the runway with a plain pair of pants on with a drastic leopard print shirt? Or, maybe a white, loose fitting shirt with bright and plump jeans? Even still, red leggings make a drastic yet fun appearance on a person paired with an intriguing striped shirt.

So, who’s to say you can’t mix it up with your interiors, too?

Use woods; pair them with metallic. Throw some subtle marble colors, one example of which can be seen here, in there. Be bold – add velvet! Velvet is perfect for a throw pillow design, just place them on your neutral sofa to give it the OOMPH it really needs to survive. Add geometric rugs to the room if you’re feeling daring.

Colors can be explored, just don’t overdo it

Color variation, in fashion, is highly acceptable. And it’s acceptable in interiors, too, just not so much of it.

If you want to wear a bright pink shirt, go for it; that’s perfectly fine. However, if you like bright pink A LOT and you want it to be all around your living room, let’s just say I wouldn’t suggest painting all four walls the color. It’s too much.

Instead, use color to your advantage; if you like the color pink, magenta, purple, or even orange, that’s A-OK. Add it into the room at about a 20% rate. In other words, pick neutral colors for your furniture and electronics, but add an area rug with your favorite vibrant colors. Then, throw the look together by adding objects around the room with those same colors present.

Area rugs are like the outerwear of fashion

Try and envision the metaphor in your head: Area rugs are like the hats, gloves, and scarves of fashion. You don’t need them, but they absolutely make the outfit look better.

If you have hardwood floors, you absolutely need one to pull a look together. If you have carpets, it doesn’t hurt to add one on top of a basic colored surface. Either way, you’ll achieve a look that promotes your idea of texture and that brings warmth to the room.

This is where you can let your character shine through your interiors, especially if you like to choose rugs with patterns and shapes present on them.

What’s more, is that you can change the area rug at any point throughout the year to focus on another design area or to go with the flow of the seasons.

Just like in fashion, your personality has a say in your interiors

Let it be a family heirloom, let it be a photograph, let it be some art work. Whatever the case may be, it will add a little bit of you to the interiors of your home.

Dig around the house if you don’t already have a few of these items out in the open. If you pair sentimental pieces with your new themes, it will make the house that much more homey.

As you can see, fashion and interior design can and do work hand in hand – in relevance to accessories, prints, colors, rugs, and personality, which you can see more of at FashionAdict.com.

Throw a little of each together, and I’m sure you’ll mix a perfect blend together for your interiors!