Boho Décor Essentials: Everything You Need to Get the Bohemian Look
What is boho home décor? And is it the style you’d like to curate in your living spaces? If you’re a fan of fanciful, wayfaring design, the bohemian aesthetic might be ideal for your interior (and exterior!) décor. But how exactly do you achieve this travel-inspired vibe in your home?
At Ashley, we know you might not have the luxury of enjoying a glamorous, globetrotting existence, but that doesn’t mean you can’t curate a unique, internationally inspired interior design all your own. And when it comes to expressing this unique and lively style in your home, we’re here to help. Whether you’re seeking bohemian color palette tips or boho furniture and décor recommendations, we’ve got great tips to help you achieve the design of your dreams.
What Is Boho Style in Home Décor?
Eclectic, unconventional, and carefree, the global-inspired boho aesthetic blends the colors, patterns, and textures you’d find in natural settings around the world. This unique and intercontinental style layers warm, inviting neutral hues with bold, vibrant colors to create a contrasting yet harmonious and whimsical aesthetic that pays homage to both Eastern and Western designs.
As a melting pot of creative influences, boho home décor is undeniably international at its core yet uniquely personal in its expression. While Moroccan, Indian, Turkish, Indonesian, Aztec, Persian, or Asian might loosely describe elements of boho décor, blending one culture’s design with another’s is the crux of bohemian style. Playfulness and freedom characterize the boho aesthetic to a T, so if you’re looking to curate a boho vibe in your home, think wayfaring and fancy-free.
Decorating With a Boho Color Palette
How do you make your home look boho or boho chic? To start, you’ll need to pick your color palette, as that will inform all of your design choices. And to create that signature boho style, you’ll want to choose a few bold hues that truly pop. While boho home décor typically involves a fair amount of neutral shades, it also includes more vibrant pigments that liven up and internationalize a space.
Boho Colors: Neutrals + Pronounced Pigments
Bohemian home décor is inspired by the elements of nature you’d encounter when traveling the globe. So as you’re preparing your color palette, think about the organic hues you might see when roaming the world. Neutrals like browns, tans, beiges, creams, grays, and shades of white should form a base that’ll allow vivid shades of blue, green, yellow, pink, and red to pop.
How to Get the Boho Look
Once you’ve chosen your colors, you’ll want to select décor pieces featuring patterns that showcase those hues. Boho room décor incorporates lots of global-inspired styles, which centers around fun textures and motifs often associated with both ancient and modern international cultures.
The key to achieving the boho look is layering. Blend textures, fabrics, materials, colors, and patterns that suit your unique, free-spirited style. Be bold here — create character that might even feel a bit chaotic at first. Ultimately, you’ll want to layer natural elements (such as plants, hand-woven fabrics, and wood-based pieces) with rustic, modern, and even classic pieces that complement one another. Overall, you want to create an aesthetic that pays homage to interior design from around the globe.
How do you do that?
Ditch conventional interior design rules. Mix colors and patterns with abandon. Contrasting hues, as well as natural prints mixed with geometric and floral patterns, are totally at home in a boho-themed space. If bright hues aren’t your thing, choose a collection of more subdued pigments like shades of rust, cognac, sage, moss, biscotti, and indigo.
You’re not looking to be matchy-matchy here — you’re looking to seamlessly blend what would normally seem like clashy design elements into one seemingly effortless expression of global-inspired flair. Emphasize culture, incorporate international accents, choose comfortable and inviting fabrics, and layer contrasting textures. Ultimately, you’re looking to get eclectic. Your boho-inspired home should feel undeniably unique, artistic, natural, and free-spirited — just the like core of who you are.
Boho Décor Ideas
Need some inspiration to get started with your bohemian interior or exterior design? You’re in luck, because we’ve got boho décor ideas for several areas of your home!
Boho Bedroom Ideas
Style your sleeping area with a blend of colorful patterns and textured fabrics to achieve an effortless bohemian vibe. A wooden, rattan, or metal bedframe will lend a natural feel to the space, and a neutral-hued comforter will add an inviting and comforting vibe.
Toss a colorful, patterned throw on your bed to easily impart a pop of vibrancy to the space, and then layer a few patterned throw pillows to tie your sleeping area together. A patterned rug is also a great addition that’ll lend a more comfortable, inviting feel to your boho boudoir.
Boho-Inspired Living Room Décor
Colorful boho wall décor and textured home textiles are great for infusing bohemian style into your main living areas even if you’re not quite ready to totally overhaul your space.
Layering colorful boho rugs is an easy way to add global flair to your living room or den area, and tossing a few patterned, bright-hued, or tasseled throw pillows on your furniture will help, too.
Greenery — both live and faux plants work equally well — is also an excellent addition for creating a more lively, organic, and natural bohemian feel in every room of your home.
Boho Outdoor Décor
Create a boho-inspired porch or backyard space that’s perfect for serene solo time or a relaxed get-together by opting for outdoor seating that prioritizes comfort. Then toss in some plush, vibrant-hued throw pillows and a colorful, patterned outdoor rug to tie the design together.
A fire pit table is perfect for creating a cozy, inviting vibe, especially if you love evening entertaining. And some outdoor lighting, such as string or pendant lights, will help create an alluring aesthetic that neither you nor your guests can resist.
