How Ethnic Design Approach Can Spice Up Your Home Decor

Ethnic furniture has a rustic and visually captivating appeal. Today, you find ethnic furniture from different cultures and distant lands almost in all furniture stores across America. Additionally, ethnic furniture is being sold by online furniture websites.

The combination of unique artistic approach and uncommon color schemes make ethnic furniture popular. Designing your home’s decor by combining various ethnic themes, such as African, Moroccan, Asian etc, together will lend a highly appealing and warm ambience to your interior spaces. Whether you choose bright colors, daring patterns, and a combination of different variety of textures, your interior design project is bound to lend a new dimension to the spaces.

So what does ethnic furniture mean?

Ethnic furniture is basically furniture that has been created by indigenous people or natives from a particular area in a country or a region. In interior design, ethnic furniture is the amalgamation of different design sentimentalities, fabrics, textures, colors and some such (basically natural elements) as a representation of a the culture, tribe, or people you may wish to highlight in your home to define the decor.

Typically, ethnic furniture from Morocco, Africa, Middle East, and Asia is very popular. But you must not limit your imagination and search to just these regions. The world is huge, and you never know what furniture or decorative item can hold you mesmerized by its simplistic beauty and rich appeal.

When choosing ethnic furniture try to create an ensemble of patterns, fabrics, colors, and materials to create your own individual stylized look. You can use your own ideas, but here are some we’d like to share with you:

Moroccan Theme

You may ask, why Moroccan furniture? Our answer is, because Moroccan furniture is subtlety beautiful and earthy in nature and visual appeal. From intricately carved corner tables to beautifully henna lamps, to uniquely designed lanterns, Moroccan furniture is different, unique and individualistic. Besides good quality Moroccan furniture is now easily available, thanks, to the Internet. If you want to decorate your home in a design like no other, then Morocco’s ethnic furniture will help you create your own class perfectly. Artistic in nature, the furniture from Morocco has a rich cultural and historical heritage. You can choose Moroccan furniture that can seem mysterious or magical all at the same time. Today, the world has re-discovered Moroccan furniture, so what about you?

Asian Theme

The Asian theme allows many variations, the two most popular ethnic furniture themes are Japanese and Chinese. The Japanese theme is minimalist in nature and appearance, but it also tends to have a calming and peaceful feel. The most popular elements of a Japanese theme are futons and screens. Colors are natural and the focal points can be created by objects such as smooth stones, water fountains, and bonsai trees. Ethnic Chinese themes use bright and bold colors and elements such as lanterns, dragons, and artwork that depict landscapes and Chinese handwriting. Ethnic Indian theme is getting popular these days especially the desert look from Rajasthan, which is state of the Maharajas. India is a diverse country and hence there are many ethnic themes available from nomadic themes to the Himalayan villages and the party themes from Goa.

African Theme

What you see in your mind when you think of Africa? Stretching landscapes, wild animals, bright colors, earthy smells, and a rich, vibrant mood – African ethnic furniture theme is about all this and more. The main color schemes include natural colors such as beige, greens, browns, tans, in contrast with oranges, and bold splashes of reds. You can employ African theme anywhere like walls, floors, furniture etc. Some of the African artifacts you can use include drums, rugs, animal prints, rugs, masks etc.

How to get started

After having decided which particular brand of ethnic culture appeals to you, explore the various design options available such as magazines, books, and the Internet to spark your creativity and imagination. Work out which elements will go well together to create the look and feel you want.

Use trial and error method to design every space carefully. Work out the scheme for walls, ceiling and floors and build up on it. Here’s an ex: Should you keep the walls and ceiling surface rough or smooth? Should you use stone, wood, or tiles, or carpets for the floor?

Remember, ethnic furniture is a combination of looks and feels and the appearance of your home’s interior will depend on the theme you choose, and the elements you want to use.

About the Author: Moe Tamani is an importer of Moroccan Furniture and a designer of Moroccan Lamps.