Beautiful Boho. Rule-Breaking Interior Design.
Throw out the rule book and bring a little boho beauty into your home. Unshackled from trends, period styles and aesthetic perfectionism, the boho interior design style gives you the chance to mix and match to your heart’s desire. A little bit of what you want, from wherever you find it, and wherever in your home you feel like putting it – from the bathroom to the bedroom.
The word boho is, of course, an abbreviation of the word bohemian, which first found usage in the Victorian era to describe like-minded wanderers and adventurers with unconventional lifestyles, such as the writers, musicians, artists, actors and journalists of Europe’s major cities. Bohemianism was synonymous with radical politics and an anti-establishment approach to life and, in the 1960s, reached mainstream status as free love, free expression and civil rights became global hot topics. Ultimately, the bohemian style came to influence the way everyday people dressed both themselves and their homes.
So what is the boho style?
To be bohemian is to be nomadic. To travel around, never settling forever in one spot, always pleasing oneself. The original bohemians would collect things as they went along – trinkets, ornaments, pieces of furniture, rugs and so on. A bohemian home might, therefore, mix and match intricate, ornate Victorian vanity units with kilim floor cushions from Ankara, carved wooden tables picked up while passing through Delhi and decorative, floral washbasins found on the street markets of Fez. This freeform mixing and matching of wildly colourful interior design styles brought a vibrancy to bohemian homes that, over time, we regular people have learned how to replicate in our own homes to give them a little taste of that same boho beauty.
Boho bits and pieces
So is boho as simple as just going round all the shops and getting a bit of something from everywhere? Well, not really, unfortunately. You’re going to need a little bit of a more formalised approach. Ideally, you’ll be picking up pieces that literally come from all over the world. A reindeer rug from Northern Europe in the bedroom. A Persian rug in the front room. A classic, 19th C. French-style freestanding bathtub in the bathroom. Keep your colour scheme loose but with elements that nod to one another’s colours dotted around. Allow the eye to wander. You’re aiming for a hint of maximalism that fascinates and delights whoever walks in the room. Make your space sing!
Levels of bohemianism
Bohemian style is comfortably rooted to the ground and, so, boho seating tends to be of the low-level kind. Oversize floor cushions, leather pouffes stuffed with rags, low-backed sofas scattered with cushions and throws. Occasionally, a high-backed peacock chair will interrupt the sense of earthiness and low-lying coffee tables will occupy the same space as high-reaching plant stands. Bookshelves will occupy tiny corner nooks while others will reach the ceiling and run the entire wall. The bathroom may incorporate a sunken bathtub at one side of the room with toiletry stands that reach the very top of the window at the other. Boho interior design is a little bit like interior landscaping in that sense.
Boho botanicals
The ultimate finishing touch to a boho home is to fill it with plantlife. It’s an affordable way to create a stunning, relaxed atmosphere and the best plants with which to do it are of the tropical variety. Big green leaves in oversized plant pots. Spider plants hanging from the bathroom bay window, soaking up all that lovely moisture. Mixing and matching the size and scale of your plants will give your boho interior both a sense of grandeur and wonder – especially if there’s a lot of natural light coming into the room.
The takeaway from all this is to have fun. Bohemianism is anything but uptight. Let your imagination run wild and, if that doesn’t work, look for inspiration on Pinterest. There’s a whole world of beautiful boho interior ephemera out there, just waiting for you to pluck it from its natural habitat and give it a new home in your own lovely abode. Peace out!
Want to read more about it? Check out Porch.com's article Ultimate Guide to Create a Cozy Boho-Chic Home