Create an Exotic Global Style Living Room with a Gorgeous Blue Rug
Bohemian style celebrates warm earthy colors, metals and jewel tones. Bohemian decor often uses deep browns, greens, grays or other neutral colors for base colors, then accessorizes with saturated purple, fiery orange, and electric blue and other jewel tones.
Bohemian style lovers are often carefree, dislike rules and want to follow their heart’s desire!
Do you like vintage furniture and light fixtures, globally inspired textiles and rugs, and love displaying your collections of cool things found at markets. thrift stores and in your travels?
I bet you like glamorous fabrics, lighting and accessories with well-worn items, antiques or cool pieces from other styles. Anything goes if it makes you happy. More is more!
Bohemian style is a global design style. Global styles are all about your worldly adventures and telling your story! They are usually very colorful, rich in bold designs and natural textures, patterns, colors, and arts and crafts of various cultures.
Get the Look and Celebrate Your Favorite Color- Blue!
A great way to get the look of Bohemian style is with a beautiful area rug. It can become a focal point for your room and help guide the color scheme and your choices for accents and accessories such as throw pillows, art, lighting, and more.
Celebrate your favorite color by picking a rug that highlights it and build the rest of your room around the work of art you picked for your floor.
One of my favorite colors is blue, so here are some examples of my favorite blue Bohemian or global style rugs.
My Favorite Blue Global Style Rugs
I changed the look of the following living room by changing the rug and sometimes the paint color. See how the room changes its look and feeling just by changing the pattern of the rug and shades of blue in the room, while still using the same art, furniture and accessories.
CRAIL AREA RUG
I love the colors and the abstract modern watercolor design of this rug.
Edesign by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design
BARN AREA RUG
This rug has a Transitional, Bohemian, Vintage vibe.
Edesign by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design
THOUSANDSTICKS AREA RUG
Love the rich teal colors in this Bohemian, Vintage rug made in Turkey.
Edesign by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design
BEVERLY AREA RUG
Love the colors and the textured look of this more contemporary design.
Edesign by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design
KENMARE AREA RUG
One of my favorites, I just love the design and colors of this Bohemian, Vintage rug.
Edesign by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design
And for those of you a little scared of so much color, you can still get your blue fix with the rugs, furnishings and art and go neutral on the walls.
Edesign by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design
LIMESTONE AREA RUG
I love the vintage look of this area rug, and it is a great rug if you love darker blues.
Edesign by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design
KAI Area Rug
Here is a beautiful Bohemian-style rug that you could use with a dramatic blue room or a more neutral room. I have also used some of my fractal art, called Bioluminescence in this design.
Bohemian Style Living Room Edesign by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design. Bioluninescence Framed Fractal Art Print by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design. Bioluninescence #2 Framed Fractal Art Print by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design. Bioluninescence #3 Framed Fractal Art Print by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design. Edesign by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design
Let’s Create Your Global Style Design
Are you ready for your house to go to the next level where your house looks great, feels great, and supports you to be great?Imagine that.
What’s it like when you are living in the perfect space for you?
My philosophy of great Interior Design, which I call Aligned Design, considers three key factors; art, science and energy. The intersection of the three is where the magic happens.
Creating a space that envelops you in your vision of beauty and color, while fine-tuning the energy of your space to promote wealth, health, love, and perfect self-expression aligns you with the universe, allowing you to live your best life so you can make a positive impact on the world.
Global style Interior Design is part of the art of great design and one of the things you are really going to love about creating the perfect space for yourself. Are you ready to immerse yourself in rich beautiful colors and truly tell your story?
Curious about your Interior Design style? Take the quiz and find out.
Edesign by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design
One of my favorite reasons is that Global style design is great at bringing the outside in to your designs, to help you feel connected and relaxed by surrounding yourself with the beauty of nature.
What is Global Style?
Global style tells the story of your life and adventures with things you have collected in your travels and local adventures. Highlighting unique, colorful, and beautiful art and crafts is a wonderful way to create your perfect space.
Each piece tells part of your story while creating a rich tapestry of color, texture, art, and history. And you get the added benefit of supporting local and international artists and their communities.
How Global Style Brings the Outside In
Global styles are very connected to their natural environments. They often take their color palettes and design elements from the landscape, plants, and animals of the area.
Art, accessories, and rugs highlight colors and motifs based on natural and unique features of the culture.
This has the effect of creating the feeling o bringing the outside in, or making your interior space feel connected to the outdoors.
For example, I wrote a series of articles showing how the colors and patterns of different global styles were related to their culture and landscapes.
Here are a few examples. They contain affiliate links which means I may make a small commission for sharing with you at no additional cost to you.
Indian Style
Indian style design creates inviting, informal, relaxed spaces filled with bright colored hand spun fabrics with paisley patterns, floor cushions around colorful rugs, intricate mandala motifs and nature-inspired themes with flowers, birds, animals
Indian Style Living Room- Edesign by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design.
See an example of the natural landscape that inspired the design and some of the design elements I used below.
Mexican Style
Mexican interiors are full of color, are welcoming, warm and there is often a sense of playfulness and whimsy. A mix of colorful, exotic Spanish and Indian handcrafted items and practical things add old-world charm. The colors are bright. Red is common and Yellow is also used heavily in shades ranging from bright lemon yellow to deep earthy golds. Terracotta is common. Blues are commonly used in art and accessories.
Mexican Style Living Room- Edesign by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design.
See the landscape that inspired the design and some of the design elements I used below.
Moroccan Style
Moroccan homes use bright colors, such as red, blue, orange, turquoise, pale ocean blues and green mixed with gold.
Moroccan Style Living Room- Edesign by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design.
See the art of the landscape that inspired the design and some of the design elements I used below.
Turkish Style
Turkish style is warm and inviting, earthy and exotic. There is an abundance of warm earth tones with pops of beautiful color. The colors and textures of the land have inspired much of the art, colors, and culture.
Turkish Style Living Room- Edesign by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design.
See how the colors in the landscape inspired the design and some of the design elements I used below.
Greek Style
Greek Interior Design is simple and elegant, inspired by nature, and looks light, bright, airy, and clean. Imagine lots of white with beautiful vivid blue, green, fuchsia, and gold accents, and a clean, de-cluttered, rustic look,
See how the colors in the landscape inspired the design and some of the design elements I used below.
Colors of Greece by Dimitris-Kiriakakis on unsplash
Bohemian Style
Bohemian style tends to be more general, selecting elements from many places and mixing and matching them into one glorious, colorful but harmonious whole. In other words, make it your own!
Bohemian style celebrates warm earthy colors, metals and jewel tones. Bohemian decor often uses deep browns, greens, grays or other neutral colors for base colors, then accessorizes with saturated purple, fiery orange, and electric blue and other jewel tones
Here are some examples of pieces I used for this design. Elements of the outdoors are incorporated in my fractal art inspired by bioluminescence in the ocean, pillows with plant motifs, bird accessories, lotus plant light fixture, and more. Learn more about this design in my article, Get the Look- Global Style- Bohemian.
What Story Does Your Landscape Tell?
Look around. What are the colors, shapes and inspiring things about your landscape that you can connect to your indoor spaces?
What are the main things you see from the windows into your main living areas?
Consider your surroundings. Do you live in the mountains, a forest, on the ocean or in a city?
What is your view?
What are the prominent colors and how do they change with the seasons?
Some of my Landscape Stories
Here are some of the colors, shapes, and inspiration from my landscape here in Seward Alaska that shape what I try to bring indoors into my space and my designs.
View from my window.
The colors of summer, with lots of beautiful fireweed.
How Can You Bring the Outside In?
It is easy to get started by picking art or accessories that have nature-inspired designs. Look for things that reflect the area you live in or a place you love to go. Maybe you are inspired by the scenery, water, plants or animals. You can also use your selection as an inspiration piece to build your color palette.
Art and Accessories Inspired by Water
Live near water? Here are some pieces of art inspired by the ocean or other water bodies you might like. Try a watery color scheme of greens and blues.
Art and Accesories Inspired by Plants
Live near a forest or have trees and shrubs in your yard? Try lighting, art, or accessories based on plant motifs.
Art and Accessories Inspired by Animals
Abstract Art Inspored by Nature
Before I became a designer, I was a wildlife biologist in Alaska for 20 years and 10 years before that in Arizona. I was always fascinated by the beauty of nature, the colors, the patterns of the landscapes, plants, and animals. Whether it was the amazing patterns I could see of the section of a plant under a microscope to the big picture view of doing wildlife surveys in a plane, those experiences influence the fractal art I create today. It is all related to nature in some way. Check out some of my fractal art below and visit my stores on Society 6 and Vida to see more.
Why Connecting with Nature Matters
As humans, we want to be connected with nature and other living things such as people, animals and plants. This longing for “connection” with other life forms is called “biophilia”.
As humans, we have always been connected to nature, for survival, sustenance, spiritual renewal, and inspiration. Mother nature is the best designer there is, with her endless abundance of beautiful color palettes, shapes, patterns, and textures. Spending time in nature is good for our health and wellbeing.
Look at your surroundings and find the colors and inspiration from the outdoors that it meaningful to you, and bring some into your space.
Ready to Connect to Nature in Your Home?
My philosophy of great Interior Design, which I call Aligned Design, considers three key factors which are art (creativity), science (color), and energy (connection). The intersection of the three is where the magic happens.
Connecting to nature and biophilia is part of the energy of great design.
Start with an Aligned Design consultation to create a plan to create your perfect space.
Examples may contain affiliate links, meaning I may get a small commission for sharing them with you if you buy something, at no additional cost to you.
Celebrate Unique Art and Artisans while Telling Your Story with Global Style Design
One of my favorite reasons is that Global style design celebrates unique art and the artists that create it while telling your story.
Tell Your Story
Global style tells the story of your life and adventures with things you have collected in your travels and local adventures. Highlighting unique, colorful, and beautiful art and crafts is a wonderful way to create your perfect space.
Each piece tells part of your story while creating a rich tapestry of color, texture, art, and history. And you get the added benefit of supporting local and international artists and their communities.
Show the World What Moves You
Art is very personal. The art you select to show the world reflects who you are and what moves you.
If nature is what inspires you, select art that brings the outside in and represents nature in its theme or materials. Consider purchasing eco-friendly art that will be healthy in your home.
For example, in the Edesign I did for this Bohemian style living room I was inspired by nature and used art to inspire the design. I created my own fractal art called Bioluminescence which was inspired by the beauty of that in the ocean. The pillows have nature-inspired prints and colors. The decor on the table highlights plants and birds. Here are some of those products to get the look in your own home. These and others below contain affiliate links, meaning I receive a small commission for sharing if your purchase, at no additional cost to you.
Bohemian Style Living Room Edesign by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design.
Buy Handmade
Global style art is often handmade by local craftspeople in areas that you travel to. These items are beautiful and tell a great story not only about your travels but about the artists who created them.
Buy Eco-Friendly Art
Global style art is often eco-friendly and made from natural and sustainable materials. So buy art you love, it’s good for you!
Global Style Living Room by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design
Support Artists
The artists you select to support by purchasing their work make a statement about who you are as well. Do you support local artists rather than buying art from a big box store? Do you purchase from local artists while traveling to support those communities? Every community usually has some extremely talented artists inspired by the place they live.
“Mystery” Fractal Art by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design Deep Purple Fractal Art by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design. Modern Global Style Edesign by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design.
Ready to Celebrate Art in Your Home?
My philosophy of great Interior Design, which I call Aligned Design, considers three key factors which are art (creativity), science (color), and energy (connection). The intersection of the three is where the magic happens.
Beautiful art is part of the art of great design.
Start with an Aligned Design consultation to create a plan to create your perfect space.
Examples may contain affiliate links, meaning I may get a small commission for sharing them with you if you buy something, at no additional cost to you.
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Create Magical Ambiance and Illuminate Your Story with Global Style Lighting
There are a lot of reasons to love Global Style Interior Design. One is that it is all about you, and telling the story of your life, adventures, the things you love in your space. It is a total expression and celebration of you. Does that sound selfish? It’s OK, it is your house. Of course, it is about you!
Each piece tells your story. Celebrate your treasures, old and new. modern and vintage, from various parts of the world.
Create a rich tapestry of color, texture, art, and history.
In a previous article, I talked about 10 reasons to love global style design. Let’s talk about my favorite reasons in more detail, which is the magical lighting!
I love the lighting in global style designs. Much of it is handmade with intricate cutouts in metal that create magical patterns of light in a room. See examples from different global styles below, and learn more how to create magical effects with lighting by layering in my article How to Make Magic Happen in Your Home with Lighting.
Modern Global Style Edesign by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design.
Bohemian Lighting
Bohemian style combines many of the specific styles from different cultures noted below, and often includes modern colorful and artistic lighting options. Go wild!
Moroccan Style Lighting
The magical lace-like quality of traditional hand-sawn brass allows many Moroccan lights to cast captivating patterns of shadow and light across the room.
Moroccan Style Lighting Tangiers Pendant
Indian Style Lighting
Indian style lighting can have traditional Indian design prints as some of the lamps below, or try something fun like the lotus-shaped chandelier.
Greek Style Lighting
Greek-style lighting can be simple and often uses the color of the sea, the Greek key pattern, or labyrinth pattern that comes from Greek mythology.
Port 68 Cameron White and Gold Porcelain Table Lamp with Greek key pattern.
Mexican Style Lighting
Mexican style lighting often looks more rustic and folkloric, and uses wood, iron. pierced metal or ceramics.
Mexican Style Living Room Edesign by NOrthern Lights Home Staging and Design. Hand Made Manantial Lantern w/Frosted Glass Onyx and Iron. Castillo Collection Double Table Lamp Clay Wall Sconce
Turkish Style Lighting
Turkish style lighting often has pierced metal or beautiful colored glass.
Ready to Add Colorful and Exotic Design to Your Space?
My philosophy of great Interior Design, which I call Aligned Design, considers three key factors which are art, science and energy. The intersection of the three is where the magic happens.
Fantastic light is part of the art of great design.
Start with an Aligned Design plan that considers the art, science and energy of your home together. Merging creativity, color and connection, we can work together to create your perfect space.
Examples may contain affiliate links, meaning I may get a small commission for sharing them with you if you buy something, at no additional cost to you.
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Cyber Week Deals on Home Decor and Interior Design
Looking for some great holiday gifts online so you don’t have to go shopping in the stores and can socially distance?
Interested in giving the gift of something beautiful with one of a kind art or some design help to someone you care about?
You’ve come to the right place!
At my store on Society 6 I have some great Cyber Week Deals going on with 50% off my wall art, 40% Bed, Bath and Home Decor and 30% off everything else!
50% Off Wall Art
My wall art is available in framed prints, canvas, metal art, wood and wall hangings.
40% Off Bed, Bath and Home Decor
My Bed and Bath department has a variety of bedding, shower curtains, pillows, towels, rugs and more. For Home Decor, check out my curtains, pillows, wallpaper, clocks tapestries and more.
30% off Everything Else
What is everything else? One of my favorites are face masks. How often can you give a gift that can save someone’s life?
Check out my eco-friendly fashions at my store on Vida. Get 15% off everything with the code JOYOFSMALL.
What is Fractal Art Anyway?
You may be wondering what the heck fractal art is? It is a captivating art form with the brilliant colors, intricate designs and perfect symmetry that I create on my computer!
Creating fractal art is like traveling through a kaleidoscope that has no beginning or end. When traveling, you find a place you want to stop and stay a while. While there, you can manipulate the color, texture, light, shine, spectrum, hue and other elements around you until you have created the perfect place, and then you save it as an image. It is impossible to ever find that place again if I did want to replicate it…it would be like finding a single drop of water within the ocean. That is why each piece is one of a kind.
Here is an example of what I mean. Let’s go on a little journey together through the “kaleidoscope”.
Ready to create your perfect space and do something amazing with your new art and home decor? For Cyber week get 1 extra hour of design time for free, worth $125 on this 5 hour consultation that includes an online wholistic Interior Design and Color Consultation for your whole house. Receive this extra 1 hour when you order by 12pm Alaska time, December 5. Learn More.
Global Style Interior Design is all about telling the story of your life and adventures through your decor. Each piece has a story and becomes a conversation starter. Treasures, old and new are displayed from various parts of the world and layered in a rich tapestry of color, texture, art and history. Here are 10 great reasons to love and try global style with some examples of decor items to get the look.
One of the thing I love about global style Interior Design is the rich bold colors as in this Indian style bedroom Edesign I created. Colors of a particular country are usually based on their landscapes, plants, spices, symbols, national flags and more. They are rarely “neutral colors”. In this design of an Indian Style bedroom, the color scheme came from this beautiful handmade Indian rug and other decor elements based on the color of Tumeric, a common spice in India.
Get 5% off with code NLS5 at checkout.
Global style is filled with interesting and unique art, reflecting the rich colors or cultural elements of various countries. This Bohemian style living room was based on my own fractal art to celebrate the rich colors and textures of Bohemian style.
Fractal Art by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design Apache Mirror Fractal Art pillow by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design
I love that most global styles, are very connected in their colors and patterns to the natural environment. This Greek style living room I designed or example, is a coastal style that is in tune with the colors of the sea, sky, rocks and native plants of Greece.
Turquoise Sea Throw Pillow
Global style loves mixing interesting textures and patterns. From soft silks, to textured wools, carved wood, metals with intricate embossed or cut out patterns and beautiful cultural patterns on rugs, pillows and art. All these things can be artfully layered to create a rich and diverse design filled with interest wherever you look as in this design for a global style bedroom.
Global style is all about telling your story, whatever it is! Whether it is Bohemian or more streamlined, vintage or modern, colorful or neutral, tell your own story with global style elements that appeal to you as in this modern global style living room.
Get 5% off anything at Bryar Wolf with code NLS5
Global styles celebrates the culture and history of the countries they originate from. or it can combine elements from many countries. Try including decorative elements that are unique to a particular culture. An example is this design of a Turkish style living room. Turkey is known for their Kilim rugs and decorative coffee sets. Below are examples of a vintage Turkish Kilim rug, and a pillow made from a vintage rug from Kilim.com, as well as a traditional coffee set. Get 5% off anything from Kilim.com with code nls2019 at checkout.
Vintage Kilim rug from Kilim.com.Get 5% off with code nls2019 Traditional Design Brass Cast Turkish Coffee Set Vintage Kilim pillow cover. Get 5% off with code nls2019
I love the lighting in global style designs. Much of it is handmade with intricate cutouts in metal that create magical patterns of light in a room, such as in this Moroccan/Turkish living room. Beautiful lighting is also a hallmark of Turkey and Mexico. See these great examples of Moroccan lighting below.
Global style easily mixes new and modern materials with vintage decor or antiques as in this Vintage Boho Office. Often heirlooms like Moroccan rugs are passed down through generations. Mix historical or cultural artifacts and family heirlooms with modern elements to tell the story of your life and your family.
I love the way Global Style Interior Design celebrates your adventures by displaying treasures you have found in your travels. An example is this Mexican style living room which highlights wooden masks, copper furniture and hand made lighting from Mexico.
Global style is very eco-friendly and primarily uses natural materials. There is an abundance of wool rugs, metal lighting and accents, carved wooden furniture and wall art, leather, rattan, natural stone and pottery. In this example of a Moroccan style living room, the focal point is a gorgeous traditional wool rug. Moroccan rugs are like a work of art for your floor. Learn more about the Magic of Moroccan Rugs in my blog article. Get 20% off these gorgeous, authentic Moroccan wool rugs below or any non-sale item at Atlas Weavers with code “northern lights” at check-out!
Get 20% off any non-sale item at Atlas Weavers with code “northern lights” at check-out! Get 20% off any non-sale item at Atlas Weavers with code “northern lights” at check-out! Get 20% off any non-sale item at Atlas Weavers with code “northern lights” at check-out!
Examples may contain affiliate links, meaning I may get a small commission for sharing them with you if you buy something, at no additional cost to you.
Follow me on Pinterest for daily Inspiration on Global Styles.
2019- A Colorful and Exciting Year
Now that 2019 is in the rear-view mirror, I decided to look back and see what I did with all my time, what I accomplished and consider what’s ahead. Have you done the same? I hope the last year was all you hoped for!
What the Heck I did with my time
For me, 2019 this was especially meaningful as I retired last December 31st from a 33-year career as a wildlife biologist. Although I started Northern Lights Home Staging and Design five years ago, I had more time to work on my design business in 2019. A big change was the decision to offer Edesign, or online Interior Design, online color and home staging consultations and virtual staging. Living in small town Alaska, I have a limited market and thought this would be a great way to expand my ability to help more people. So 2019 was a year of learning how to do Edesign and work with clients in a new way.
Colorful Projects
The year was filled with home staging, virtual staging, color consultations, local design projects and Edesign. When doing consultations or working with people taking their time to implement their design or staging, I don’t always get to see the “After” photos. Here is a video of my favorite projects where I did see the result. It was a very colorful year!
Cool Things
Some other exciting things that happened in 2019 were that:
I won the “Best of Houzz” for Customer Service again for the 4th year in a row.
I was awarded Best Interior Designs of 2018 and noted as an Interior Designer to Watch in 2019 in an article by Searchmetry.
One of my Edesigns was published in an international magazine! See the article, 5 Things You Need to Know About Edesign by JoAnne Lenart-Weary on page 50, and my design on page 55.The picture below is my design. More on how it came together in a future blog post. (shown below).
Edesign in Vision Magazine by Mary Ann Benoit of Northern Lights Home Staging and Design.
So Much Writing!
In 2019, I posted articles and tips on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest daily and wrote weekly blog posts compared to monthly in 2018. I did my best to provide information that you might find valuable on Interior Design, Color and Home Staging. I hope you will follow me and find some information helpful to you.
Here are some of my favorite blog articles which I think really tell the story of what I can do to help you.
In discovering Edesign, I also discovered some things about myself.
I LOVE color. Well, I already knew that, but Edesign gave me a chance to indulge my love of color, challenge myself and delve deeper into using the art and science of color I learned when I became a certified color strategist.
I LOVE global style and the layering of textures, handmade and exotic art and decor, eco-friendly materials, the history and culture, magic of lighting, rich colors and so much more!!
I LOVE eco-friendly, sustainable design. I realized how important it is to our health, well-being, and our planet and how easy it is to create beautiful and unique designs with eco-friendly elements.
I LOVE Edesign. It’s fast, affordable, unique and opens doors to working with anyone with a computer (is there anyone without one?).
What’s Next?
Now that I know more about the things that make my heart sing, and hopefully yours too, I plan to do more of the things I love! The current design trends are embracing color, global styles, eco-friendly design and new ways of doing things such as Edesign and I am ready to spread the love! Are you ready? Check out my blog article, Re-Invent Yourself and Your Home in 2020 to get inspired!
I just entered an office design in a edesign contest. I hope you will stop by and vote for me here! Voting closes Monday at 12pm EST.
The Contest
We were given some photos of an empty room and some measurements and asked to design an office for our ideal client. My ideal client for this design loves color and a vintage Bohemian style. I found the beautiful desk and designed everything around it and included vintage accessories and some really cool wallpaper to add to the vintage look. Here are the before pictures.
Before Photos
After Photos
Vintage Boho Office Concept Board by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design
Vintage Boho Office Render by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design
Vintage Boho Office Floor Plan by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design
Coming soon, I will write a blog article about this project, describing how the design came together, the vintage and other items I chose for the design and why it was perfect for this “ideal client”.
Thanks for reading and for your support!
Want to learn more about global style design or get help with your project? Take the quiz and check out my Edesign and Online Services.
