• John Wilson
• February 15,2022

If you’re sick your mishmash decor looking like every other “eclectic” space you’ve ever seen, maybe a more streamlined hybrid design is what you need. While combining different design aesthetics in one space is not a new idea, limiting yourself to only two can be a bit more challenging with a greater pay off. Here are five new decorating styles that are a hybrid of two existing aesthetics to get your creative juices flowing and inspire your best home yet.

’80s + Bohemian

While the definition of bohemian style is somewhat vague and unattached to any particular era, many associate its layered tapestries and abundant plant life with the hippie movement of the 1960s and ’70s. For a fresh spin on bohemian decor, swap out sleek mid-century modern furniture and earth tones with modular ’80s deco shapes and bright colors, like Sarah Sherman Samuel did in this room (above).

The above above, via Domino, is from the Los Angeles home of actress Megan Ferguson , who chose to add an ’80s flare to her Bohemian home with a wicker shell chair and pastel hues.

Zen + Egyptian

This hybrid style could be reduced to drawing hieroglyphs in the sand with a rake. Here, meditative concentric lines and natural materials are layered with Egyptian textiles and primitive pottery. The above lounging nook designed by Jason Tauritz is earthy, primal, and effortlessly chic.

This earth-toned, monochrome Egyptian pottery vignette from Neustadt Studio with a freshly-potted plant is the perfect combination of relaxing zen and raw primitive materials.

Japandi

It seems only natural that the minimalist aesthetic popular in Japanese design would merge with the simple functionality of Scandinavian decor. Both aesthetics favor furniture built smart with raw materials. There are only a few slight variations in the two styles, one being that Scandi style favors blacks and bright whites with the occasional pastels, while Japanese minimalism prefers neutral earth tones. The above design from Coco Lapine combines both color combinations with a linen kimono as the focal point.

Here, GlobeWest has added some Scandi pastel and black pops into a foundation of wood tones and neutrals. Of course, a limited color palette, minimal styling, and clean lines are a Japandi must.

Gothic Hygge

Hygge (pronounced hue-guh) is basically the Danish word for that cozy feeling you crave indoors on a cold wintery day. It’s about reveling in simple pleasures like sipping hot cocoa, curled up under a blanket. Design-wise, it’s cozy, but clean and uncluttered with slightly disheveled blankets in calming natural hues. Plenty of high quality, snuggle-worthy materials and beams of natural light. Oddly enough, ornately gilded gothic-revival pieces (in very small doses), like the mirror above featured on Asasalo’s Instagram feed, are the perfect addition to a soft hyggelig room.

A similar situation from The Socialite Family features a bedside table with a casually propped mirror and neat-but-not-too-neat (aka hygge) stacks of books with one pop of gothic revival in a gilded candle wall sconce mounted above.

Goth + Bohemian Greenhouse

It’s moody, it’s dark, and IT’S ALIVE. In this style mashup—of which this home from Elle Decoration , above and in the lead of the post, is a perfect example—flourishing, vibrant plant life is juxtaposed with brooding, bold blacks for a one-part Justina Blakeney , one-part Edgar Allan Poe vibe that is not unlike the inside of an overgrown coffin (in a good way). But really, what we’re saying is that NEVERMORE will you have to hunt for a new design crush, because this one is killing it .

Perhaps the king of goth plant haven, instagrammer Hilton Carter has over a whopping 140 indoor plants in his Baltimore Cotton-Mill-Turned-Loft and, while his watering schedule is strictly regimented, his green thumb has paid off.

While this is not a comprehensive list of hybrid design options, let it be an inspirational jumping off point for you and your creative design brain. What two designs would you like to see together?