A cohesive home, one that tells the same story throughout, can be achieved through a combination of the 3 concepts below — (1) using the same color pallet, (2) using complimentary lighting styles, and (3) mixing the same styles in each room.
1. Use the Same Color Pallet Throughout Your Home
Using the same color pallet throughout your home is a powerful way to create cohesion in your home. It tells the brain that the rooms are related through the colors you’re using.
When selecting your color pallet, I recommend choosing at least 3 colors. In each room one color will be the primary color and the other 2 accent colors. But you don’t have to choose the same color of the 3 to be the primary color in each room. For example, if your color pallet is white, green, and beige, you might choose white for your primary wall color in your living room but green for your primary wall color in your office.
While I recommend you choose at least 3 colors for your color pallet, I would recommend choosing no more than 5 colors so that it reads as an intentional pallet. Too many colors and your selections no longer look intentional.
2. Use Complimentary Lighting Styles
When your lighting tells the same story it goes a long way to making it feel like your whole home tells the same story. This does not mean that all of your lighting has to be the same style, the same finish, shape or size. This just means that your lighting pieces need to look related. For example, in my home, I used open, angular lanterns, cylindrical lanterns with glass, a large pendant with a glass cloche, a large chandelier with the same style candles as the lanterns but no glass, and opaque shade sonces, all in the same finish (in the non-bathroom rooms). The use of the lantern style and playing into the glass and no glass, all made it feel cohesive.
Similarly, a client asked me to select fans for her upstairs bedrooms and lighting for her upstairs landing. I selected 3 different fans, all with a similar feel in black, brass, and black and brass finishes. They added a modern twist to their otherwise eclectic New England cottage with mid-century sensibilities — a true mix of the couple’s personal styles. Because the pieces all felt related, it worked. And it told the same story throughout the upstairs of their home.
3. Mix the Same Styles in Each Room
Finally, mixing the same styles throughout your home creates visual cohesion. This doesn’t mean you have to mix 50% traditional with 25% Rustic and 25% Modern in every room. It just means that by using the same styles in each of your rooms (it may be mostly traditional in your formal entry with hints of rustic and modern styles but much more rustic with hints of traditional and modern in your sunroom, for example) you’re again telling your brain that these spaces are all related — telling parts of one cohesive story throughout your home.
Why Is a Cohesive Home Important?
We feel most comfortable, settled, in a cohesive home. Our brains are always trying to make sense of things. That includes our surroundings. When our space is cohesive, our brain can relax because it’s easier for it to understand what its encountering visually.
