Post from Martina Smilevska
Creating a chic home but still keeping it kids-friendly can be really challenging. How to display antique items so they’re safe? Should you avoid light colors because of all the spills and stains? We have a solution – decorate your home in Moroccan style.
Cozy, colorful, and welcoming, Moroccan style blends enchanting Mediterranean overtones with contemporary functionality. An attractive blend of finishes and cultures, this style will certainly take your home’s décor to a whole new level.
Bringing Morocco to Your Home
There’s something absolutely amazing about Moroccan design. It features complex geometric patterns and lots of colors in everything from pillows to floor coverings. Traditional Moroccan style is quite ornate, but it can be scaled down to create a perfect ambiance in your home. Bear in mind that fabric is crucial. Rugs, blankets, and curtains can carry the theme on their own.
Located in the northwest part of Africa, Morocco boasts a rich heritage as well as Arabic, Spanish, and French influences reflected in the architecture and interior design. The Morrocan style also features natural elements inspired by the varied geography of beaches, deserts, and mountains. So, if you want to bring a touch of Casablanca to your home, here are a few tips that will be helpful.
Cover the Floors
When it comes to floors, Moroccan rugs offer countless opportunities. With their strong geometric designs and bold color palette, these handwoven beauties have become popular among interior designers and private consumers alike. Each vintage Moroccan rug contains a slice of history and folk art that will make your home unique.
If you want to add a pop of color, choose Boucherouite rugs which are popular for their bright colors and are made from recycled materials. If you’re saving the more vivid colors for the walls or furniture items and want a more toned down floor option, opt for Beni Ourain rugs. These rugs are made of sheepskin by the Beni Ourain tribes in the Atlas Mountains. They’re traditionally beige with large lozenges, but you can also find Beni rugs in other colors like taupe or turquoise.
However, since there are kids in your home, we recommend choosing the more colorful and patterned options, which hide damage like spills and stains very well.
If rugs aren’t your thing, go with tiles with colorful mosaic designs.
Choose Color for the Walls
Being bordered by the Mediterranean Sea on one coast and the Atlantic Ocean on the other, Moroccan design abounds with vivid blue shades. There’s also the clear blue of the sky, the yellow of the shining sun, as well as the purple, pink, and orange from the breathtaking sunset. The mountains and the desert contribute neutral shades like gold, green, and brown.
If you want bolder-looking rooms, go for bright orange for all the walls and trim it with sandy brown. You can also bring the beach to your home by painting one wall blue and the other three in bright yellow.
Moroccan design also has Spanish-influenced elements and one of the most prominent ones is texture. If you want to add texture to the walls, use techniques like plastering and sponging. These techniques in combination with darker hues will hide your children’s wall artwork (you know, pencil and marker scribbles that shouldn’t be there) better than walls in lighter shades.
Find the Perfect Furniture
One of the main concerns when decorating with kids in mind is safety, so furniture that’s free of sharp edges is a must. Stylish leather hassocks known as poufs are the perfect solution for this reason. Kids can play around them without fear of sharp edges. They can also be used as extra seating, serve as tables (to place all those plates, trays, and cups for your little girl’s tea parties), or perform a footrest duty for tired football players.
You can also include a traditional Moroccan couch in the living room to serve as a daybed on which you will nap or read. Cover the cushions with boldly-colored fabrics featuring pink and green or toss on throw pillows in contrasting hues like pink, purple, and blue.
Add Ambiance with the Right Lights
Whether pendant lamps or lanterns, Moroccan lamps will bring a dash of magic to your home. No, because you’re with kids, avoid lanterns because they can be easily knocked over. Metal lamps are a classic Moroccan décor element seen in Morocco, but you can also opt for an onion-shaped chandelier made of leaded-glass and iron accents, and colored in a jewel tone like emerald or topaz.
Also, since Morocco is in the middle of a major cultural shift, the traditional vibe is blending with a new dazzling sensory hub of neon lights and designer logos. If you are looking for interesting ideas to help one of your home areas to look alive, you can try hanging up cheap neon light signs that can light up space and give it more mood and aesthetic. It’s a great way to change your surroundings within a reasonable budget, and decorating your walls is one of the easiest ways to do so.
Use Beautiful Accessories
It is possible to have beautiful accessories around your home without constantly stressing that something will happen to them. The secret is to avoid items like sculptures and focus on decorating the walls.
When you’re choosing accessories for your Moroccan style home, keep in mind that Moroccan décor is all about intricate patterns and vivid colors. Here are some ideas to help you add the best finishing touches:
- Display a colorful Moroccan rug on the wall as a piece of art.
- Scatter floor pillows in bold colors all around the living room for extra seating.
- Mirrors can boost the Moroccan interior by discreetly reflecting light while at the same time decorating the walls. Look for mirrors with onion dome-shaped frames, frames made of deeply sculpted wood, ornamental ironwork, metal or gem embellishments, or frames covered in small tiles in a mosaic pattern. If you choose a big mirror, position it opposite the windows to keep the Moroccan-style interior light.
- Choose curtains made of colorful fabrics and rich textures.
Final Thoughts
The Moroccan design concept is vivid and flexible and its intricate patterns and textures are simply irresistible. With its imaginative blend of Mediterranean, Arab, and African embellishing style, it is sure to bring the magic of the ‘1001 Nights’ to your home.