17 Essential Design Styles Everyone Should Know

When it comes to interior design, in recent years we haven’t crafted homes to be perfect representations of a specific style. In fact, it’s very usual to mix and match styles to suit our spaces and personal taste. That said, you can’t pull from the huge variety of design styles at your fingertips without knowing what they are. Check out this useful guide to the 17 essential design styles everyone should know about!

01. Modern

Galliano Snooker Suspesion Lamp | DelightFULL

Modern décor may be one of the broadest and most adaptable essential design styles. Elements of this style can be found in many others, including midcentury, Scandinavian, art deco and transitional. Still, modern design has a few basic elements that define it. Modern spaces are typically streamlined, with crisp lines and edges. They’re often understated and use color palettes of either complementary hues or shades of gray, black, and white. Both natural materials and metals have a space in modern décor, depending on how they’re applied.

02. Midcentury Modern

Coltrane II Wall Lamp | DelightFULL

Furniture channeling this style tends to be low to the ground and compact, and the overall look features futuristic tendencies and solid colors. This style prizes functionality, is hyper adaptable, and plays well with elements of other styles, which allows midcentury modern features to be incorporated easily into nearly any space. Midcentury modern design is set apart from modern design by its broader use of color (particularly pastel pinks, earth tones, and primary colors) and softer, more rounded silhouettes.

03. Art Deco

Katia Table Lamp | Karim Rashid & DelightFULL

Popularized in the 1920s, ’30s, and ’40s, this essential design style is characterized by geometric patterns, symmetry, bold colors, and metallic finishes. Though often pared down a bit to appeal to modern sensibilities, Art Deco feels retro, playful, and visually interesting.

04. Transitional

REENA SOTROPA

Transitional style is a blend of traditional and modern or contemporary design elements. It capitalizes on the beauty and familiarity of traditional design—using traditional layouts, materials, or silhouettes—and then incorporates modern features to keep spaces feeling fresh and casual. Think a classic, mantled fireplace balanced out by a contemporary curved sofa. While it’s technically a balance of the two styles, transitional style can lean more traditional or modern, depending on the space and the owners’ tastes.

05. Minimalist

Coltrane Suspension Lamp | DelightFULL

While the style is technically rooted in the 1960s art movement of the same name, modern takes on minimalist style are all about simplicity, neutral color palettes, and straight, clean lines. Minimalist design spurns clutter and excessive tchotchkes and prioritizes functionality. Minimalist homes are not infrequently all-white, though plenty of minimalist spaces now include the careful inclusion of color and natural finishes.

06. Wabi-Sabi

DESIGN: SHANTY WIJAYA, ALLPRACE HOMES, PHOTO: JENNA PEFFLEY, STYLING: KIRSTEN BLAZEK/@A1000XBETTER

Inspired by the Japanese philosophy of the same name, this design style is more about an attitude or overall approach than specific décor features. It celebrates slow living, the beauty of nature, and imperfect but aesthetically pleasing items. Spaces following the wabi-sabi approach are uncluttered, soothing, and unassuming, with clean lines, natural materials, and restrained color schemes.

EDITOR’S CHOICE

Brubeck Wall Lamp | DelightFULL

07. Scandinavian

Goodman Suspension Lamp | DelightFULL

Scandinavian design is closely related to minimalist design, though it’s set apart by plush textures and a dedication to coziness. Spaces decorated in this style are often layered and full of natural light. Color palettes tend to be monochromatic, with plenty of shades of black, white, and gray and wood textures to keep the atmosphere warm.

08. Maximalist

MAX HUMPHREY

This style celebrates abundance, boldness, and the mixing of colors, patterns, and textures. Common maximalist features include busy wallpaper prints, bold floor coverings, full gallery walls, and displayed collections. Maximalism draws on many different design styles, but applies any design rules or features as loudly and boldly as possible.

09. Eclectic

MICHELLE GAGE

With its mixing, matching, and layering mentality, eclectic design is very similar to maximalism—except eclectic spaces typically balance out their signature blend of multiple design styles with neutral bases. Eclectic design celebrates that more is more—and then tempers that mentality with neutral walls or unobtrusive flooring.

10. Farmhouse

AMY BARTLAM

Farmhouse design has an enduring charm and welcoming feel that’s difficult to resist. It’s often warmer, more modern, and more colorful than rustic design. It inspires nostalgia and is characterized most typically by open shelving, exposed beams, mixed finishes, natural woods, and, of course, shiplap accents. Industrial details, subway tile, neutral color schemes, and open floor plans are also popular elements of farmhouse design.

11. Modern Rustic

RIKKI SNYDER

Modern rustic décor relies on raw and natural materials to create spaces that are spare without feeling cold. More subtle than the much-loved farmhouse style, modern rustic design melds distressed, textured, reclaimed, or refurbished surfaces and items with the clean and simple lines of modern design. Spaces decorated in this style will typically have neutral color palettes, original and/or exposed architectural details, and a careful balance of rustic and modern features.

12. Antique Farmhouse

BESPOKE ONLY

Antique farmhouse décor is less polished than modern farmhouse design and more curated than rustic design. Antique farmhouse décor leans into genuine antiques and items with true signs of wear, rather than new pieces that are distressed or painted to look aged. This design style often features chipped paint, metals with well-earned patina, and worn-in upholstery. Upcycled or repurposed items such as crates, canvas bags, milk jugs, and the like are also popular in this style.

13. French Country

DESIGN: ALISON GIES

It has the same lived-in, antique-loving approach as rustic and farmhouse design, but French country–inspired spaces have a faded opulence and subtle sophistication about them that perfectly channels the feel of an aged but lovingly maintained countryside chateau. Colors used in this style tend to be nature-inspired, timeless, and warm, and furnishings are often mismatched, restored, and full of character.

14. English Cottage

CHERRY VINTAGE HOME

Rustic, cozy, and homey, this style is relaxed and accessible. Common elements of this design style include wood and brick surfaces, pastels and other muted colors, lush greenery, and natural accents. As with farmhouse design, exposed beams, raw finishes, and wall paneling are popular in English cottage style, though this style leans more quaint and cozy, while farmhouse-inspired spaces tend to be larger and more open.

15. Modern Coastal

BECCA INTERIORS

More high-end beach home than rustic seaside cottage, modern coastal décor leans heavily on elements of modern design to channel a relaxed, beachy attitude. Spaces using modern coastal décor are often by the shore, sure, but they pay tribute to their location subtly, with touches such as seagrass rugs, upscale driftwood accents, and the like.

16. Mediterranean

DESIGN: CORNER HOUSE CREATIVES

Mediterranean design uses texture—often in the form of plaster walls—to channel a more rugged feel than modern or minimalist décor and uses archways, little to no wall adornment, and plenty of natural finishes and details to further set itself apart.

17. French

TOM STRINGER

French décor is undeniably elegant. It tends to lean into opulence, though the popularity of vintage and antique accents in this style keeps it feeling refined, not flashy. Color schemes associated with this style are often muted, allowing large-scale focal points—such as a dramatic, traditional four-poster bed, an eye-grabbing chandelier, or an oversized gilt mirror—to shine.