Fashion meets home design

Fashion and design are intrinsically entwined as both are functional yet fun, can contribute to our well-being and share a relationship that can be easily explored.

Fashion and design are intrinsically entwined, as both are functional yet fun, can contribute to our well-being and share a relationship that can be easily explored. 

Many people have an innate sense of style that is apparent not only in their fashion sense but in their home décor as well. Industry executives are well aware of this and capitalize on trends in both areas, looking for ways to cross over. Less easily defined are styles that transcend trends. I have worked with many clients over the years and the most satisfying are clients who have a unique way of looking at style and design. Often, we influence each other’s idea of home and living, but in the end the client’s home looks exactly like her own personal style. I love that.  

Currently, there is the rage for style influencers. When their sense of style captures a large audience, then industries are quick to capitalize with their marketing savvy, creating design trends for both fashion and home.

One example of crossover style is the boho look in both fashion and home décor. Beautifully designed pillows, bedding, lighting and more are bringing in that feeling of the exotic and fantastical. An example of a past trend was the southwestern fashion look and home style. For a while everywhere you looked in both fashion and home there were pieces of western clothing and jewelry, cowboy boots, southwestern rugs and warm desert colors. That style mostly remains regional now and if your home has desert colors painted throughout in the Northeast, then your home is dated.

There are even more subtle ways of fashion and home décor intersecting. At our beach house in Montauk, I keep an oversized clam shell by the front door. It’s a handy, chic container for beach hats, flip-flops and sun tan lotion. The beach hats, which are fashion items, have now become home décor when casually tossed in the shell. They make a charming statement about beach-style living. Although they were not an intentional design decision, they have nonetheless become a style statement. I can’t tell you how many guests love the giant clamshell filled with easily grabbed items for the beach.

Another fashion item that easily crosses over to home décor is a shawl. I often leave one draped over a chair or at the end of the bed. A cool late-summer evening makes it easy to grab one and use it before returning it back to its place to become home décor once again. One of my favorite fashion-to-home décor tips is to take an old fur coat and make pillows or a throw out of it. Who doesn’t love the luxury of a fur and recycling it gives it a longer lifespan and a way to enjoy the “coat” a little longer. Adding a backing in a beautiful silk color gives it an extra boost. 

Color is the fastest way to keep up with both fashion and home décor. Color trends can easily update both your wardrobe and home. In summer we wear both lighter colors and fabrics and it’s a great way to freshen up your home, too. 

Outdated colors can make both your sense of fashion and home feel hopelessly stale. 

For example, if you are trying to sell your home, using colors that were trending 20 years ago can affect a prospective buyer adversely. Twenty years ago, warm colors were in and everyone wanted to nest in a cozy way. Today colors are cooler, grayer, neutral. I am starting to see the shift again back to color but the color mix is fresher — cinnamon, gold and gray or emerald green, black and white. Certain geographical areas have a color shift in both their fashion and home décor choices.  

It’s fun to look around and see the intersection of fashion and home décor and to create a few of your own. Enjoy the upcoming fall and the feeling of a cozy cool night wrapped in a warm sweater and blanket in the same hue before your fireplace. Both you and your home will feel current and stylish. 

For more, visit camidesigns.com.

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