North Carolina Discount Furniture
Styles
The next important decision in your furniture selection is style. Think about what style best represents your tastes and your lifestyle -- are you going for a formal or a casual look? Are your tastes more traditional or contemporary? Be careful with the latest or trendiest styles – just because it looks amazing in the showroom doesn’t mean it will match your home’s style now or in a few years. Choose pieces that will reflect you and your style for many years to come.
To help you narrow down your style selection, we’ve defined some of the most common styles along with some identifying characteristics.
The casual style is characterized by a feel that is warm, inviting, comfortable and homey. Details in a casual style are kept simple by using neutral and earthy colors. Texture is added to casual rooms by fabrics, accessories and soft upholstery, like overstuffed sofas. Casual designs also tend to avoid perfect symmetry for a more relaxed feel. Furniture is sometimes placed at a diagonal in casual rooms to break up hard corners.
Contemporary rooms are denoted by sharp clean lines, bold colors, sculptural elements and neutral elements like wood and glass. A contemporary room should be appreciated for its simple use of lines and form, and not for accessories. Each element should have its own space, giving the room an uncluttered feel. Recently, animal prints have become a common accent to a contemporary room.
An increasingly popular style is the French Country, reminiscent of none other than the French countryside. Warm and inviting like the casual style, the French Country approach is more old-world and rustic. Colors that would be found in the countryside are used in these rooms, such as bright sunny yellows, grassy and deep greens, and even oceanic blues. Stone is a common element in this style and many fireplaces have been laid with stone to achieve a true old-world feel.
Unlike the casual style, the formal style relies on symmetry as one of its signifying characteristics. Architecture is another key component of the formal style. High ceilings, moldings and hardwood floors are common. Formal furniture uses dark, high glossy woods to complement the expensive period furnishings and antiques that are essential accessories in any formal room.
Rooms decorated in a rustic style feature beautiful woods, logs and even twigs, among other natural elements. Texture is a key element in any rustic room. A large battered and weathered-looking dining room table with plenty of wood grain and natural markings would be right at home in a rustic room.
A traditional style interior has a very similar feel to a formal style room, but is typically less grand. Orderly and sometimes predictable are terms that have been used to describe the traditional style. Elegant and classic are also often used to describe a traditional room with characteristics such as damask and cherry or mahogany woods.
