Flower Love
You can live miles away from the staggering cost, but that doesn’t stop you from realizing a slice of summer paradise at home. What tropical style represents is comfort, relaxation, and welcoming feelings. Therefore, we believe that tropical home decor can relieve stress and evoke positive emotions in residents.
Take a moment and look at the ideas beach bar, cocktails and ukulele rhythms in the comfort of your room. Wonderful, isn’t it? All it takes is a little creativity.
Tropical elements “spice up” the harmony in your home and remind you of warm sand, nasty sea waves and a pleasant breeze. It doesn’t take much to adapt your space to these casual ideas, and natural materials are absolutely cut for this purpose.
Image source: 41 West
You can use bamboo, seagrass, wood, abaca, teak, or many similar materials that are actually found in tropical settings. When you’re really ready to introduce a tropical branding, we recommend using plants, ceiling fans, folding chairs, or even palm trees. Carefully selected fabrics can also help. So don’t hesitate to shop for sea colors and patterns, jungle wallpapers and sand decorations.
In this regard, the style on the seaside is very similar to that on the coast. You should be observing coastal areas (e.g., Northern California or the East Coast) and looking for outdoor ideas that can bring the outdoors into your home.
Image source: Kurtz Homes
Tropical home decor is not exactly an idea from our time. It comes from the British colonial style which brought various exotic aspects and Caribbean influences to the old continent. The Indian and Caribbean traditions have inspired the British Empire since the 19th centuryth Century, creating both tropical and Caribbean styles as the most formal of their kind. If you want to be more specific and create an island setting, you can turn to the South Pacific style or the even less formal, Asia-inspired Balinese style.
Image source: Neal Communities
In contrast to the neutral palette of the British colonial style, tropical living ideas (in their current form) incorporate many bright and bold tones and patterns. The colors can mostly be associated with sand, sea, food, or hot breezes and can include almost any color that will remind you of summer time. The colors play an important role in adding meaning and soul to your decorating plans.
The materials are neutral or light colored, but can also be freshened up with sharp tones, houseplants or wooden accessories.
COLOR SCHEMES
The tropical palette is as good as it gets to resemble real tropical colors. Therefore, you should choose strong shades of blue, terracotta, yellow, green or brown. Here and there, you can add some of your favorite tropical fruit colors. Don’t forget that each of these colors has a specific meaning and will add to your decor in a specific way:
Image source: Austin Patterson Austin Patterson Disston Architects
- Sand, beige, light brown – the ultimate color of the coast
- Yellow – brings in the brightness of the sun, and tropics cannot be imagined without it;
- Green – reminiscent of nature, plants and freshness;
- Red and terracotta – dry, scorched ground;
- Baby Blue – opens your space and resembles the sky;
- Brown symbolizes wood;
- Dark shades of blue – the only ones that can be compared to the ocean.
As you can infer, every element is closely related to nature.
Nothing can be as decorative as tropical green
A real plant or bold wallpaper is the perfect tool to guarantee the success of tropical home decor. Think of large-leaved plants, oversized banana fruits, fronds, or glossy green. Your originals can easily be replaced with well-made accessories and fabrics and can be used in any room of your home (even outside).
Image source: Ami Saunders, MLA
LIGHT
Tropical style light is a very important issue. You should make sure that you are using neutral, natural colors and that you have enough smooth textures to help diffuse the light. Man-made light should come from small light kits, palm-like ceiling fans, or wicker / parchment paper. Low-positioned lights, tropical-made pendant lights (made of bamboo, rattan, or abaca) or traditional chandeliers are also great ideas. By the way, remember to choose positive motifs such as umbrellas, monkeys with bananas or pineapples.
Image source: Amoroso design
WINDOW
Your windows must resemble the feeling of freedom and closeness to nature. An authentic tropical interior design should include wide, uncluttered windows with wooden shutters instead of classic curtains. The material should also remain as natural as possible (e.g. bamboo).
Image source: Mercedes Corbell Design + Architecture
When fabric covers are essentially important, choose light and pastel colors. They give you a feeling of freshness.
FROM THE CEILING TO THE FLOOR
Before you start connecting the exotic “moments”, you should think about the suitability of your space. To achieve a tropical home, you need to customize your walls, ceilings and floors. Without it, the tropical landscape can never be complete.
Image source: Tervola Designs
How you do that? First remove carpets. They have nothing to do in a tropical picture. Choose fuzzy laminate floors that can resemble a sandy beach as you walk.
Last but not least, walls. Pastel shades are welcome again, provided you don’t buy cheerful wallpaper. You can also decorate the beige walls with small elements painted in sharp blue, terracotta or green. Textures are very much appreciated!
ACCESORIZING
A tropical scene encompasses a variety of beautiful elements – wavy oceans, trembling palm leaves, burning sunsets, or noisy birds. Handcrafted accessories made from these elements are affordable and easy to find, and are an important feature of your tropical living ideas. If you’re not passionate enough about tropical hunting and bringing home originals, you should Consider natural bamboo rugs, rubber starfish, seagrass decorations, or even rainforest motifs. You can also add a tribal feel to it with tiki totems and masks, deformed stones, or indoor fountains. If you put a fruit (coconut, pineapple, etc.), bouquet of tropical flowers or aromatic oil burners on the table from time to time, you will feel more relaxed than ever.
Image source: Niall Hastie Photography
You can choose from many other accessories such as:
- Animal pictures – beautiful and wild among monkeys, butterflies, parrots, elephants or even lions;
- Overwhelming green – lots of plants and flowers;
- Batik;
- Ethno / traditional wood carved;
- Animal jewelry in real time;
- Animal prints on the fabrics – especially on throws, pillows or bed linen;
- Bowls of piles of tropical fruits;
- Few interesting shells.
FURNISHING
In terms of decor, tropical is natural. You have two options: dark, plain wood (walnut, mahogany) and ornate, warm iron. These materials are great for solid but warm and inviting furniture.
Source: Pavilion
The sea of tropical motifs
Green, plants and vibrant colors – it’s a short description of “how to get more tropical”! Your tropical home decoration can never be complete without large palm trees, bananas, bamboo, or umbrella plants. The liveliness of the room can be enhanced by strong, pleasant flowers such as bromeliads, birds of paradise and orchids. Such motifs are also successful when they appear on fabric accessories (bed linen, curtains, throws or carpets). If you’re really passionate about it, you can buy a pair of “aquarium pajamas” and see the tropical picture complete.
Image source: Rikki Snyder