cozy living room with loft interior

How To Match Interior Fittings To The Architecture Of Your Home

Ian Mutuli
Updated on
Ian Mutuli

Ian Mutuli

Founder and Managing Editor of Archute. He is also a graduate architect from The University of Nairobi, Kenya.
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People tend to believe that a home’s exterior is the ultimate section that can draw in people. While that’s true, the inside of the house is just as important. If you can entice a guest with how your home looks from the inside, making them want to come back is due to the tasteful interior decoration that matches your home’s architecture.

Below are some tips on how you can meld interior charm with the exterior theme. 

1.Look To Your Decorative Style 

The first thing to consider is your way of decorating because it is your dwelling. How you want your home to look on the inside should say something that catches your eye and exudes your personality as well.

Your style isn’t difficult to determine. You can do so by simply looking at the pieces you’re drawn to, whether you’re looking at magazines or websites like Pinterest. Your decorative style is, and should always be, all ‘you.’

Your choice of home accents will also show your style, such as blinds that go with your glass windows and doors. You can shop by purpose and color at sites like makemyblinds.co.uk so that your home can be just as cozy as you want it to be, regardless of the style of your home. Shopping for accessories that would fit well in every room will help you pull off a look that looks great with your home exterior.  

 2. Use Decorative Pairings  

While your style is one thing, you can also look into matching the decorative exterior with the building's actual style. It can be tricky, especially because you need to find harmony between what you want and what looks good together. Your goal should be to create a space that you feel happy and comfortable in, and one that your guests will also like.  

There are specific decorating themes that can look good with different home styles. Take Victorian houses, for example. Homes with this style of architecture tend to have high roofing, wooden sidings, and dormer windows. Rustic, modern, and shabby chic styles will fit perfectly with Cape Cod architecture. 

On the other hand, modern houses with low roofing and glass windows would look good with minimalist, Scandinavian, and art deco pieces. Furniture and other decorative elements with clean, futuristic, avant-garde, or multiple functions can do wonders to a modern home.  

3. Try Contrasting Or Complementing 

There are many options to choose from when it comes to picking furniture for your home. But, you don’t have to limit yourself to matching styles because the fun in decorating also, sometimes, lies in contrasting styles that work.  

Most of the time, people tend to think that decorating a Victorian home only makes sense with Victorian furniture, but it’s not always the case. You can also incorporate modern furnishings along with Victorian pieces to create a well-integrated look. For example, you can still install electric water heaters in a Victorian home. It won’t affect the look if you choose to go rustic, but you’ll have a contrasting element that, still, fits. 

There are also other techniques that you can use in various rooms around the house, such as matching pieces in one room, then mixing French and modern furniture in the other.  

You can apply the same technique to colors and fabrics. Go for opposite colors, such as olive with orange or brown, or gray with pink and blue.   

4. Plan From The Biggest Room 

What’s the biggest and most important room in the house?  Some look at it as the most expensive or the most elaborate room. It may also be the room that has the most use or the most people gathering around. 

You can first decorate this room according to the architectural style of the house. If you’re dealing with Georgian architecture, you’d want to invest in colonial colors, such as browns, taupe, pale pink or peaches, and muted green. Georgian residences would have antiques in the most significant space, with an iron-wrought chandelier for the center lighting. Cherry, maple, and walnut furnishings would line up the receiving room. Georgian homes also have elaborate carvings and trims.  

Pick two to three rooms to follow up. They should be the following most essential rooms for you. Start with the second most important room and decorate from scratch. You can choose to go a transitional or transformative approach with a unifying element, such as a colored wall or furniture.  

5. Decorate According To Fixtures 

If you have a modern type of home, chances are you also have large, ceiling-to-floor windows. Most decorators go for unobstructed windows, meaning minus the shades and covers. Having these kinds of windows may mean that you’re overlooking the ocean, the woods, a clearing, or a spacious yard. It would serve you well to also have clear paths in front of the windows as a natural ‘aisle.’

If the tall windows, you can include equally tall muted curtains that you can draw to close or open. The addition of curtains could also depend on the positioning of the sun. Monochromatic furniture visible through the windows also contributes to the quiet and peaceful charm that minimalist fittings offer.  

6. Go Timeless 

Old-style houses, such as Victorian Gothic houses, still have their charm until today because they have traditional elements that can take you back in time. At the same time, when you go for the timeless way of decorating, you won’t have to worry about your home going out of style in only a few years.  

Victorian houses are better off sticking to natural elements, such as wood, cotton, and brick. Neutral colors can bring you back to a bygone era when applied to walls and fabrics. White, beige, and browns are great choices, as well as darker tones, such as blues and dark greens. 

Conclusion 

Your home should look and feel the way you want it because it’s your place of peace and rest. Making it beautiful should be primarily about what you want and adding furnishings that look good with your home's exterior. It may take a few considerations to make pieces work around your home, and you must also remember that you don’t have to buy expensive items to impress anyone, even yourself.

Following your heart's desire, plus having the willingness to compromise, is what makes a house a home. 

Ian Mutuli

About the author

Ian Mutuli

Founder and Managing Editor of Archute. He is also a graduate architect from The University of Nairobi, Kenya.