Zoe Clark With the ménage of animals that our world provides us, there are great opportunities to using these precious creatures in our home design. Animal inspired design is eclectic, subtle and sometimes inspiring. Showcasing a love for a particular animal or a region of animals gives visitors a view into your personality. Here are four tips on how you can incorporate animals in your home’s design and décor.
1. Focus on a Particular Animal Type
Deciding on a particular animal that will suit your current home design is one way to get the process started. If you have warm tones in your home, maybe using ranch style animals like horses or cows can bring in a classic animal design to your room. Warm tones might also give a cabin a rustic feel with moose, wolves, elk, deer and other native animals to a specific region that creates a specific style. Or maybe your home is brighter in nature and you want to bring sea animals or exotic animals into the design. Something that will stand out and get noticed when people enter your home, something like a penguin, a tiger or giraffes. Another option is to choose your favorite animal or pet and design your space around this specific creature.
2. Determine Your Color Palette
Once you have decided on your which animal is best suited for your home, now it is time to focus on what color palette best suits your home, your style and your favorite critter. Neutrals tones can add an elegance to a room and bring in classic pieces to support your style. Animals with brown or gray tones like seals, whales, lions or gazelles can enhance a room yet create this style of elegance. While bold colors like red and black could suit a striking animal like a zebra or a specific type bird like a toucan. Even adding colorful prints of your own pets can bring a room to life. A color palette will also help you create a sense of how you are going to add animals to your design. Too many neutral tones like brown and gray may not work well with sea creatures of a similar color as these animals may get washed out due to the very neutral on neutral color palette.
3. How Much Animal to Add to Your Space
Now that you know which animal family you want to incorporate in your room and what your color palette is, how much of the animal do you want in the room? Are you looking for one print on a specific wall to highlight the animal? Or are you looking for prints, throw pillows, accessories and table pieces to bring the glory of the animal into the room so that everyone knows this room represents one of your favorite living creatures? The animal you choose may keep you limited to your approach of how much animal décor to incorporate. Using the dramatic coloring of a panda may encourage you to keep the use of the black and white to a minimum. But the gentler palettes of a snow owl or a rabbit may give you more flexibility on how much of these animals to add to a room. The other task you will encounter will be how can you find pieces that suit your home’s style and yet add these animals to your space.
4. Whimsical or Stylish
When adding animals to a room by all means, have fun! Some rooms can inspire whimsy like dressing a children’s room with animals. Adding animal themes can add excitement to a child’s room. Using contemporary representation of animals on walls like white ceramic animal heads or octopus vases throughout the space can also add a whimsical touch to the room. Using a stylish and elegant approach in a main room can add a touch of regality to a room. Like adding champion horse prints to walls or a subtle throw rug to highlight a favorite animal using a unique print can create a stylish look.
Animals are some of the most beautiful creatures we have on earth and incorporating them into your home’s design can be a treat for all the animal lovers out there. For more animal inspired décor visit us at the HomeZada Pinterest site.
About the author: Elizabeth Dodson is the co-founder of HomeZada, a cloud-based home improvement and organizational software tool. HomeZada strives to educate and provide resources for homeowners in all areas of home management, including home improvement and design, home maintenance, home inventory, and property information.
