5 Ways to incorporate Quiet Luxury in your home and as a lifestyle
Duplex by Axel Vervoordt in Kanaal, Belgium, Photo by Jan Liégeois
What is Quiet Luxury?
Quiet luxury is described as another new interior design trend emphasizing understated elegance with a focus on high-quality materials, beauty, functionality, and timeless appeal. It's a movement toward warm minimalism that prioritizes comfort and simplicity with soothing gentle hues, organic neutrals, and earthy browns. These soothing color palettes create serene and calming spaces that feel sophisticated and luxurious without ostentation.
However, I consider quiet luxury as more of a lifestyle than a design trend. To me, it’s not about displaying wealth, showing off high-end brands, or what an influencer says is “hot” right now. It’s about selecting quality items tailored to your aesthetic and how you live, such as natural materials, but more about living a luxury lifestyle. And, luxury means different things to different people. For some people, that means detailed craftsmanship from a beautiful custom walnut dining table while for others it is exclusive and personalized experiences such as traveling that provide emotional fulfillment. When I think about quiet luxury, I think about embracing a simple luxurious lifestyle that holds value and meaning for an individual versus a trend. Here are 5 tips for incorporating quiet luxury not only in your home but also as a long-standing lifestyle.
1. Comfort
Comfort is essential when it comes to quiet luxury in your home and also as a lifestyle. It’s not only important to have comfortable furniture, but also comfortable materials that encourage relaxation, ease, and conversation. This might include plush cushions, velvet upholstery, soft rugs, cashmere throws, and cozy bedsheets. Adding items that have tactile elements such as textured hand towels or faucets and fixtures in the bathroom, create a truly warm and inviting atmosphere. Being comfortable in your home with natural materials you value, but more importantly, being comfortable in your skin and honoring your true self is what I consider luxury. It’s all about priorities and comfort is at the top of the list.
2. Natural Materials
Raw materials from nature, such as wood, stone, natural fibers, certain metals, and glass to name a few lend to comfort and luxury. These organic elements provide a timeless, natural look and bring a sense of warmth and comfort to any space. Embrace materials with subtle textures such as marble with soft veins, grasscloth wallpaper, or a beautiful wood table displaying natural grains for calm and sophistication. When you make conscious decisions about the materials you use in your home and every facet of your life, you live more responsibly which has a direct positive impact on you as well as the environment. Quiet luxury is about the whole experience and not just a specific item.
3. Simplicity
Keeping things simple leads to less stress, improved well-being, and more productivity and creativity. The more you focus on simplicity, the more you clear away clutter (both physically and mentally) and the more you gain clarity about what matters most. When it comes to making decisions, you lean towards quality items with clean lines and minimal decoration to create a sense of harmony and balance. Rather than concentrating on brand names or incorporating the latest trends, you care more about the craftsmanship, story, and sustainability credentials behind a product. Your attention shifts to flowing with life with effortless ease rather than against it. It means making intentional decisions about the placement of items such as kitchen utensils or spices in a pull-out cabinet next to the range making your life easier and simpler.
4. Quality Pieces
As you focus on simplifying your life, you naturally start investing in quality pieces that will last versus purchasing mediocre items that you most likely will have to throw out after a few years which will negatively impact the environment. Quiet luxury is about mindful living and conscious decisions. It’s not about displaying what’s trendy or what an influencer says is “hot” right now. It’s about selecting quality items tailored to your aesthetic and how you live, such as natural materials like plush leather, a handmade wool rug, rattan dining chairs, or high thread-count cotton sheets. Most importantly, it’s incorporating quality items where the craftsmanship speaks for itself. These specific pieces hold meaning and value for you that are worth spending your hard-earned money on to live a luxuriously simple lifestyle.
5. Soothing colors from nature
Comforting colors, particularly those that remind us of nature are not only warm and serene, but also visually appealing and peaceful to the spirit. Soothing colors from nature provide a sense of calm, relaxation, and emotional assurance that evokes quiet luxury. Understated color palettes like organic neutrals, soft light hues, and earthy tones create a peaceful atmosphere that aids in relaxation and promotes warmth. People want to create soothing environments that help shut off the noise from the external world and gentle colors such as soft greens, blues, beige, creams, and earthy browns from nature do the trick. Colors from nature create an oasis of calm amid chaos.
Quiet luxury in every facet of your life from your home to your wardrobe to what you eat is about quality over quantity. It’s not just the value of an item, it’s the story behind the product that makes it what it is and creates the overall experience. It’s about being mindful and deliberate of each decision you make, and how that impacts not only the quality of your life but also the environment. By incorporating natural materials, prioritizing comfort, focusing on craftsmanship, and embracing simplicity, you can create a life with mindful intention, thoughtfulness, elegance, and joy where you can unwind and recharge in your sanctuary and enjoy the benefits of this refined design aesthetic and lifestyle. If you want a designer’s touch to help guide you to transform your space and are ready to jump in with your design project for the summer, please contact me for a 30-minute discovery call. To schedule your call, click here. In the meantime, happy decorating!