Interior design, especially for homes, can be hard to nail down. One needs to find a style and piece together elements that make the place aesthetically and practically valid while also making it feel truly like home.

In the whirlwind of aesthetics, styles, features and trends, finding the right fit can be challenging. Often in the hubbub one may lose sight of the feeling that is most important in a house, the personal element, the sense that makes a place truly you and your retreat at the end of the day. 

Especially since the work from home culture is spreading and becoming a necessity, it is vital for our homes to be as comfortable as possible. Spending longer hours in the house can sometimes be overwhelming, which is why, looking at home interiors through a new lens might just work well. 

Pushing aside what’s trending, how about focusing on what radiates positivity? This is exactly what giving your home a touch of whimsy is all about. The idea is to make your home, a fun and lively palace to be in, to break free from rules and create something that is truly you! 

While everyone’s whimsical sense is different, there are a few basics that can help you create the effect through interiors. Here’s a few things to keep in mind: 

DITCH THE SCHEME 

The first step that one crafts for a space is the moodboard, picking elements and hues that work best. Where one would begin by picking a color scheme, to be whimsical is to bid adieu to the rules and be creative. Instead of sticking to a particular color scheme, you can freestyle it with colors of your choice.

Whether you wish to go for a bright monochrome, a fun contrast, a subtle look, it's all about what works best for you. You can pick and experiment with different colors, even across different rooms of a house and bring it together through the common area’s design. Although the idea is to be all about personalisation, including bright and bold colors define the whimsical form.

Brighter colors such as yellow, blue, green etc are known to radiate a positive effect on one’s mind making them a good pick to include in your palette in subtle or powerful ways depending on what works best for you.

You can also look into pastel tones that give a space the fairytale whimsy of our dreams. The bottom line is to care less about what might be most appealing to the outside eye and rely on your instinct and creativity the most. 

TURN TO PATTERNS 

Experimenting and having fun is what whimsical design is all about, and what better way to channel the fun vibe than to incorporate prints and patterns into your design. The world of prints and patterns is endless, from geometrical to abstract, from tropical to vintage, there’s a plethora of options to explore and try out.

Adding different prints and patterns can really enliven a space and give the room a character making it a fun and ideal pick. There are  a lot of different ways to go about adding prints to your design. For a bold approach, you could opt for a wallpaper/wall mural signifying a print or pattern for your pick.

You could also customize a pattern or even DIY it to make it truly unique. For more minimal ways to include the magic of prints, you could try going for patterned decor and furnishings. Even in the simplest of spaces, pattern and print ridden furnishings can act as standout elements.

You could opt for furniture that has a pattern etched/painted onto it, or go for upholstery with printed fabrics. You could also include smaller details like cushions, rugs, lamps, or even the utensils you put out to showcase the charm of patterns. 

TAKE CUES FROM NATURE 

Nature representation must be a key part to any interior design, and definitely good to have for a whimsy interior. Having elements or inspired objects from nature gives the effect of the presence or the feeling of being outdoors in touch with nature which can have a rather soothing effect on one’s mind making it an essential.

The simplest way to do so is to draw from nature’s elements in the most subtle ways to radiate the energy. To do so, you can begin by incorporating motifs and patterns that resemble nature. This could mean including floral prints in your design, or crafting a false ceiling in the shape of leaves, or simply adding a coffee table that resembles the bark of a tree.

Such objects help form the connection with nature and are rather simple to include. You could also channel nature’s form by including art pieces that depict scenic beauty of spaces like the forest, the garden, the flora/fauna or even bodies of water so as to reiterate the charm of the great outdoors while right from your home. 

NOOKS FOR NOSTALGIA 

To make a space feel truly like home, what’s better than channeling the nostalgic vibe in your home. For a space to feel like you, seeking inspiration from fond memories for design can prove to be quite fruitful.

This could entail the simplest things. Certain colors or designs might be a part of your memory, which you could incorporate subtly or boldly into the design that you create. Another way to go is to DIY from your belongings, whether it be old knick knacks or fabrics, anything that you could repurpose into a piece of your decor or furnishing can help embrace the nostalgia, especially if the objects have a memory attached to them.

Be it using your collection of shells or rocks to create a decor piece, or diy-ing an old blanket into a cushion, there are a lot of different projects that you could try out. You could also dedicate a corner, or certain corners across the house to displaying objects and pictures of nostalgic value.

A fun idea to try is to create a gallery wall which is a collection of pictures displayed in an abstract manner, making it a great concept to fit the whimsy of your home, making it feel like your own!

HAVE FUN WITH FURNITURE 

Unique and eclectic furniture pieces are a great way to give your home the whimsical touch. Having unusual furniture can make a space look more interesting and act as an element of surprise for viewers.

Upping the fun factor can be achieved fairly easy through the furniture even if you have kept the overall design sober. To get creative with furniture would mean incorporating either unique shades, materials or simply the quirkiest of shapes that make your furnishings truly unique.

For Instance, you could add a wicker or macrame swing that is comfy yet fun in your living space. You could also try out quirky furniture such as a painted trunk for a coffee table, or a scallop patterned headboard to channel the quirkiness in you the best.

You could also switch up things with materials that bring about a uniqueness such as tinted glass, terrazzo slabs, jute etc to bring in a change through texture and hues. 

To sum up, whimsical interiors are all about expressign and being creative, imprinting oneselves mind onto the design to create a space that is both meaningful and beautiful. Each person’s sense of whimsy is unique and that is what you must stay true to. Try out the above tips with your own little twist to furnish a space that is truly yours.