African Style
Main Properties
Different colors, powerful expressions, dynamic appearance, striking contrasts, and originality are some basic features of the African style. Sometimes, the decor is simple and easy; however, other times, it is complicated. The textiles and accessories feature color contrasts with excellent brightness. The interior uses natural colors and materials to depict the world’s image. Also, there is a wide variety of African art.
Brown, orange, brick, green, and yellow colors are commonly used to display the bright sun, dark jungles, or the sandy deserts in the interior. Consider brown and yellow as the primary colors to show these areas perfectly. Along with excellent warmth, the colors used in the design should also have hotness like that in Africa’s air. A mixture of red and black shades is perfect for the animal’s skin color or the fire scene. For bold and vivid scenarios, using blue shades is also possible.
Main Elements
Warm tones and colors are the most prominent feature of African decor, which you can quickly get in your home using ochre, brown, red, yellow, buttermilk, and various other pleasing shades. Using pleasant decorations and art pieces enhances the African style of decor. You may also go for statues of leaders, locals, animals, or whatever you want to elevate the appearance of your tabletops. Adding intense paintings or pictures on the walls attached to some tribal weapons is also a great decor idea. You can use simple and heavy pottery products, figurines, or masks to achieve a pure African feel in your home. African women have been weaving fabrics and carpets for centuries to achieve unique and creative looks. The zebra and leopard prints are in high demand in the textile industry and also suit well for carpets.
Characteristic features
African outdoors are always warm-colored; you should replicate that characteristic in your home: yellow, orange, ocher, burgundy, red, brown, buttermilk, etc. Wooden carved statuettes and masks are mystical sacred objects in the living of African tribes; plus, there isn’t any African furnishing without them.
Statues of:
- notable tribal leaders,
- full regalia,
- animal figures,
- warriors.
These items can be positioned on shelves or tabletops, as well as
- dramatic paintings,
- photographs,
On the walls, surrounded by:
- tribal masks,
- weapons.
Weaving carpets and textiles have been practiced for centuries by African women, who constructed unique designs each time. Leopard and zebra patterns and prints are best for textiles and upholstery and usually for rugs since such carpets form a mood. Two impressive items, Kuba Cloth and Mudcloth, are classic African textiles displayed in some of the most exclusive residences. The Kuba people of the Congo created Kuba cloth. They generate the fabric by taking the leaf of the Raffia tree hand cut and dyeing them using:
- mud,
- indigo,
- other natural resources.
The fibers are weaved into strips to make the fabric using an embroidery technique that’s very time-consuming and laborious. The world of high-style interiors has embraced Africa significantly. Some of the world’s most influential interior designers use traditional African textiles and home patterns for design inspiration.
To purchase the book:
Go to Amazon.com…..Search for ‘66 Styles for Interior Design’….Volume 1 A-C