I remember when I was little, we’d visit my parent’s friends houses and I’d love walking around looking at all the decorations in the rooms. I loved seeing how people decorated and what kind of art they had hanging and rugs they had spread out on their floors. I loved the coffee table books and potted plants in the corners and the curtains hanging from the walls. I loved everything about it and for many years developed an obsession with HGTV and Extreme Makeover Home Edition and was convinced I wanted to be an interior designer.
I remember asking my mom why we didn’t have little glass knick-knacks on our coffee tables or big glass vases in corners. She told me that with my little toddler sisters running around it was not only dangerous for them to grab ahold of things, but it didn’t give much of a shelf life to the items themselves with my sister’s sticky little uncoordinated fingers. This of course made sense at the time, but I vowed to myself that when I finally got my own place, I’d cover my tables with little glass plates and kitschy figurines, and all the fragile vases in the world and promised to cover my apartment with decorations from head to toe. And that is one of the promises I’ve been successful at keeping to my younger self.
What is maximalism?
I am possibly the biggest fan of the maximalist style. The general idea is that “more is more” and spaces that are decorated in this style tend to feature many different colors, patterns, textures, and shapes. Walls are typically covered in art whether or not printed wallpaper is present, and even the small things like pillows and lamps tend to be intricate and eye catching. To each their own, but I just cannot even comprehend someone preferring a minimalistic style over a maximalist one. I think it makes me feel more human in general to be surrounded by different kinds of things and I feel more inspired and excited to surround myself with things that are beautiful and exciting to look at. And while maximalism is sometimes defined as an “aesthetic of excess” I like to think about it as little treasures that are too nice to sit in drawers and closets.
It’s getting to the close of the end of my lease on my first ever apartment. I have a roommate and we (thankfully) were able to split the cost of furnishing the place and both were able to add in our own taste into the items we contributed. I’ve got about two months to find my next apartment and am already digging through thrift stores for kitchy things to decorate my tables and walls. I’ve relied on Pinterest for inspiration for years and have boards full of ideas of how I’d like to turn the white walls into colorful ones full of prints and exciting things to look at. Below I’ve included some of my favorite finds I’m drawing inspiration from for my new place.
As excited as I am to decorate this new apartment as close to those photos as I can, none of it even compares to the way I imagine decorating my first actual home. While that’s years and years away, it’s still exciting to think about all I can do one day when I’m actually allowed to paint the walls (or even use wallpaper) and change appliances, flooring – everything! I’ve always loved old houses – both interior and exterior. They just don’t seem to recreate the same architecture that they used to – fancy molding, intricate brick work, colorful tile, elaborate light fixtures. I’ve included some dream home inspiration below.
So until the day comes where I am able to fully deck out an entire home with bright colors, funky lamps, and ridiculous carpets, I will settle for an apartment with too much art on the wall and all the thrift-store knick-knacks I can find. Looking forward to a post in just a few months with plenty of pictures showing how my new place turns out!
And here is a bonus picture of my bedroom in my current apartment that shows the little bits of maximalism and color I’ve tried to add to throughout the past year. It’s not much now, but I’m getting more and more inspiration for when I move out in September – stay tuned!
