HOME

QUIZ

Which trendy home design style are you?

1. There is an empty wall behind the sofa in your home. What do you do?

a. Thrift picture frames, paint them in candy colours, print out multiple pictures and create a gallery wall.

b. Add a floral print wallpaper and floating shelf topped with a candle and your great-grandmother’s portrait.

c. Move the sofa forward, place a bookshelf behind it and add a few plants to the selection of hardcover books.

2. If you could redo the floors of your house, what would they look like?

a. All the Persian rugs in the world and a concrete screed floor under them.

b. Chequered tiles in the kitchen and bathrooms, herringbone wood in the bedroom, and fluffy rugs everywhere else.

c. Light-stained hardwood floors throughout with the occasional sisal rug.

3. You have a few guests over for antipasti and wine. What are you serving these in?

a. An eclectic mix of second-hand and heirloom glasses and serving plates, bread in a basket.

b. Embossed wine goblets and hand-painted ceramic platters you probably made yourself.

c. Gold-lipped crystal glasses, earthy toned Wonki Ware plates and a mirrored tray.

4. Let’s say you have a ground-floor apartment with a small yard. How would you style/landscape it?

a. Hang a bunch of parasol umbrellas, add patterned cushions to furniture pieces and paint plant pots in different colours.

b. A wrought-iron garden set as the centrepiece, daisy lawn and lots of creeper plants for greenery, and fairy lights to tie it all together.

c. At least two citrus trees in large pots, a cobblestone walkway to a macrame hammock and a birdbath and feeder.

5. Good lighting is everything. How do you approach lighting in your home?

a. Plenty of floor and table lamps with warm white bulbs. The fluorescent light in the kitchen is surrounded by hanging plants to dapple the harsh light.

b. As much natural light as possible, supplemented with a vintage chandelier, sconce lights, and candles for after dark.

c. A lava lamp, multiple pendant lights hanging from the ceiling, floor lamp with a leopard-print shade, and a neon sign with a quirky saying for good measure.

Scoring:

1. a-1, b-2, c-3. 2. a-3, b-1, c-2. 3. a-2, b-1, c-3. 4. a-1, b-3, c-2. 5. a-3, b-2, c-1.

5 - 8 points: Maximalist

More is more for the maximalist, where eclectic design styles from multiple influences converge. You are not afraid to play with colour and patterns, and you are a master of making things, which would otherwise not be put together, look as if they belong. Maximalism is the new minimalism, and thank goodness, because you live outside the box, and thrive in organised chaos.

9 - 12 points: Cottage core

Bringing the countryside to the city, cottage core celebrates the rustic charm or rural life with lots of vintage elements, natural tones and textures. You love making your home feel cosy with florals, candles and perhaps a cat on the sofa, striving to create a rustic yet comfortable space that transports you to a cabin in the woods. Bonus points for fresh flowers on every surface, picked from your own garden.

13 - 15 points: Urban Oasis

Bohemian meets dark academia in the urban oasis aesthetic. Your vibe is all about blending the pleasures of modernity with the homey feel of wood, foliage and velvet. It is an elevated take on the 70s naturalist look, where organic shapes and neutrals combine to create a literal oasis feeling. Your home is your sanctuary and your plants are your children.

Home-Makers to follow on Instagram

For the Maximalist

@joshandmattdesign

This Melbourne-based creative duo have amassed a following of over 800k on TikTok for their eclectic approach to decorating their home. Their stunning house is a manifestation of their creative minds put together, showcasing lots of colour, texture and a mosaic of influences. Josh and Matt share every bit of the ongoing process of making their house a home, including plenty upcycling and thrifting content. The duo is fun to watch, and their eclectic house, with a cute Cavalier King Charles Spaniel on the sofa, is ever evolving into the ultimate maximalist space – including a spectacular garden.

@taybeepboop

The DIY queen, Tay, is a young interior decorator based in San Francisco. Her style is whimsical and colourful, and has attracted a few clients who have given Tay free reign on their home interiors. The result is a constant supply of fresh DIY content from her work and her personal home, with loads of tips and tricks that a girly maximalist can follow. A lot of her content is focussed on renter-friendly solutions, making her profile the go-to for young people who maybe can’t afford to buy homes, but still want to make an apartment their own with cost-effective and reversible decor.

For Cottage Core vibes

@lonefoxhome

Another DIYer, this time with a more classic and minimalist style, Drew, lives in a beautiful Spanish-style home from the 1920s. Over the past year he has been revamping and injecting his own branch of cottage core into the space, and the result is a moody, cosy and earthy-tone masterpiece. Drew is a fantastic inspiration for the novice home decorator who lives on Pinterest, but has no clue (or budget) for finding designer coffee tables. This home-maker’s style is equal parts wicker, wood, marble and leather.

@whittneyparkinson

Interior architect and designer based in Indianapolis, Whittney’s Instagram is a consistent feed of beautiful farmstyle inspired kitchens, dark wood and floral wallpaper. Her take on cottage core has a darker, moody twist making for incredibly cosy spaces that make you want to buy a holiday cabin on a swamp. Whittney’s approach to crafting spaces for her clients include preserving the heritage and soul of older architecture and fittings, like doorknobs and light-fixtures, while updating it with fresh design elements that compliment and elevate old-world charm.

For Urban Oasis inspiration

@where.ismyroom

Jordi is a vintage and interior design lover who re-posts found images. He tags and credits the designers or home-owners, making the account a sultry stream of urban oasis curated homes, without having to follow seven different people in the hope they post more pictures of their house. The magic of the images he shares is all in the lighting, be it a stunning shadow from a French window or the warm glow of a living room with only one light on. Plants take pride of place and furniture is truly thoughtfully considered. It is dreamy and calming, and undoubtedly a design aesthetic that has staying power.

@benji_plant

Central to the urban oasis home decor style are, you guessed it, plants. Benji Lee, based in Los Angeles, is a plant and design content creator (yes, it’s a thing, apparently) who mindfully tends to a variety of foliage in and around his very aesthetic home. He parents plants you might have never heard of before as well as a Chihuahua named Theo. Japanese minimalism meets Scandinavian functionality in Benji’s home that features floor to ceiling windows and large bookshelves. He also regularly shares client homes where he has designed oasis-style gardenscapes for interiors and outdoor living areas.

Charene Labuschagne