7 Effortless Organic Home Decor Styling Tips
Organic home decor fits seamlessly with many styles. It is something that has been interwoven into many design trends over time, but is just now becoming popular as a stand-alone design aesthetic. While it might sound like a style that is hard to take from lofty concept and put into tangible action, it’s actually quite simple. Today, we will learn 7 simple ways to bring the natural world inside for quality, comfort and beautiful organic home decor.
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Organic home decor
First, let’s start by answering the question, “What is organic interior design?” There are varying, what I will call “levels” of organic decor. Some take it to the full extent of it’s name and only use sustainable and eco-friendly sources in their design. However, this is less common than the simple addition of organic materials into your home.
For today’s post, we are going to focus on organic design as a style of decorating where we are bringing the natural world inside. This focuses on natural materials, textures, and lighting.
Organic modern decor
Within the organic design style, there are a few variations and mixtures of design aesthetic that you may have seen. Organic modern decor, or modern organic decor, (same thing said differently ;)) is very popular at the moment. This combines organic staples into a more modern design.
You can learn more about this variation in this post on my organic modern bathroom design.
Soon, I plan to detail everything about my transition to an organic modern living room as well, so stay tuned for that post!
If you’ve ever struggled to figure out your design style, make sure to enroll in my free e-course! This 3 module course will help you lay the foundation for your home design and give you a fresh mindset on creating a haven.
How do you decorate with Organic Style?
Organic home decor blends with so many styles. So no matter what design style you identify with, you can mix in organic home decor fairly effortlessly. Let’s learn 7 simple ways to bring the natural world inside for quality, comfort and beauty.
First, let’s start with your base style. Some of the trending design styles are:
- Modern farmhouse
- Boho
- Modern
- Contemporary
- Cottagecore
- Mid-Century Modern
- Minimalism
- Hygge
And now, organic home decor has taken center stage! While some want this to become their core design style, others will only want to intersperse it into their current decor. So here are 7 simple ways to add organic home decor to your home.
1. Wood (Especially Raw Woods)
The first main element of organic home decor is incorporating wood elements.
While this can be done with larger design elements like doors, flooring and large furniture, it is also easy to add with small accent pieces. In the above photo of my entryway, you can see a stack of wood bowls and a vintage peg rack help add interest, personality, and warm up the space quickly.
While any wood accent adds charm, raw woods are especially key to an organic feel. Rather than changing the natural color, and adding a high gloss with polyurethane, organic lovers let the natural beauty of wood shine. Raw wood also shows more character because of the natural pitting, denting and wear.
2. Plants and flowers
Is there really anything more organic than actual living plants and flowers? While faux flowers work well for those who don’t want to care for live plants, I always recommend adding a few houseplants if you’re able.
They really bring so much life and vibrancy to a space. If you’re new to indoor plant care, make sure to check out my tips in the posts below.
- Common Mistakes to Avoid for Indoor Plant Care
- Best Trailing Indoor Plants
- Growing Plants Indoors
- Easy Care Houseplants
In the image above, my kitchen styling incorporates these first two tips on organic home decor. We have quite a few wood elements, fresh flowers, a house plant, and our next organic element to include: pottery, stone and clay elements.
3. Pottery, Stone or Clay Terra Cotta Elements are organic home decor
Natural stones and earthy elements, like clay and pottery, are a huge part of organic home decor. Remember, organic design is intended to bring nature inside. What better way to do that than with natural stones like marble and granite, or items formed from the earth like pottery.
One of my favorite organic collections is vintage, or handmade, pottery. I love the imperfect textures, natural coloring, and old world charm that these pieces bring to my home decor.
Above, you can see several pieces of pottery layered amongst my wood accents, live plants and natural limestone accents.
My vintage paper mâché bowl is another example of using natural materials to create a high texture organic look.
4. Natural Fibers
Perhaps the easiest way to incorporate organic home decor into your space is with natural fibers. Jute and wool rugs, linen pillows, and cotton blankets are all very easy to come by.
And not only are they beautiful, but they will outlast synthetic fibers most of the time. Plus, they just feel good when you use them. There is nothing like bundling up in a blanket that is made of organic elements.
5. Woven Textures
The fifth organic element I want to point out is woven textures. This can come in the form of baskets, light fixtures, caned furniture, rattan pieces, tweed fabrics, and much more!
The main reason woven elements add to an organic feel in your home is because they are usually made of natural elements. Plus, they provide a high texture focal point.
Baskets are typically the main thing that people think of when they add woven pieces to their home. And they are a great option since they are functional as well as beautiful. But don’t overlook the impact of simple woven accents that are incorporated into larger pieces as well (ex: caned furniture).
6. Antiques and vintage items as organic home decor
Possibly my very favorite element of the organic style is the addition of antiques and vintage pieces.
In the image of my dining room buffet, the wood bowls, interesting architectural piece, small stool and pottery pieces are all antiques. These older pieces bring a ton of charm and character to a space.
One of the hesitancies of people bringing antiques into their home is that they don’t want it to look old fashioned or rustic. But antiques don’t inherently look old fashioned if they are incorporated into modern decor. Usually that comes from how someone finishes them: chippy paint being a big culprit.
When you let the natural beauty of these organic pieces shine, vintage and antique pieces add a lot of personality because of their hand made shapes and one-of-a-kind value.
7. Natural Lighting
Last but not least, natural lighting plays a huge role in organic design. While trends have leaned towards light, white, and bright over the last few years, the organic design style is embracing moody colors and shadowing.
A beautifully lit home in natural light is my favorite. Allowing the shadowing to highlight different areas of the home as the sun passes over is a wonderful way to enjoy the different looks a home can have.
While lighting tends to be more important when capturing interior photography, take a minute and look at how lighting impacts your home throughout the day.
You might find that certain areas would benefit from lighter paint colors to amplify the lighting in that space. While other areas can handle darker tones and cozy atmospheres.
Key Points to Remember For Organic Styling
Let’s summarize the 7 simple elements of organic home decor.
- Wood accents (raw woods especially)
- Live plants
- Natural earthy elements like stone, clay and pottery
- Natural fibers
- Woven textures
- Antiques and vintage finds
- Natural light
There is one thing I want you to take note of: You don’t have to change everything in your home, or even use all seven of these organic elements, to create an organic design aesthetic.
Use what speaks to you most. If you don’t love wood tones, then skip that element and focus on comfort with blankets and pillows. If you can’t keep live plants alive, then add in rich tones with baskets and high textured fibers.
The beauty of this style is that you can mix and match what YOU love. After all, you are creating your haven, not someone else’s.
You can shop some of the looks in my home with the below affiliate images. Just click the picture to be taken to the source.
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