VERY DEMURE, VERY MINDFUL
Have you been thinking more about the term ‘Demure Design’ lately thanks to the new ‘very demure, very mindful’ trend? We’ve been championing Demure Design for years, but we have always called it ‘Relaxed Glamour’ or ‘Quiet Luxury.
Either way, Demure Design is our homeland , so here’s some tips on how you can get some of this mindful style going on in your home.
WHAT IS DEMURE DESIGN?
These days, luxury doesn't mean diamonds and designer labels. It is starting to mean quality and a sense of wellbeing. Demure Design is an understated, seemingly effortless elegance, which is never showy or intimidating. Demure Design is not about bank balance, but mindset. It is anti-bling and instead invests in high quality materials, timeless pieces, longevity and comfort.
WHAT DOES DEMURE MEAN FOR INTERIOR DESIGN?
Translated into interiors, Demure Design becomes more of a feeling than a look. It means making sure that everyone who enters the space feels welcome and not intimidated in any way. Even if you have the most expensive table, guests will feel the warmth of it, not the expense.
To us, Demure Design means that nothing is too 'glam', nothing shows off, nothing shouts but everything speaks to you, welcomes you in, invites you to sit down for a cuppa and everything feels right. It means investing in comfort and high-quality finishes. Guests will feel encouraged to walk barefoot, touch surfaces and objects and relax. The space isn’t designed to trigger home envy, it is designed to feel like your home.
HOW DOES DEMURE DESIGN LOOK AND FEEL?
Demure Design is not how much you spend or how shiny it is, it is how it makes you feel. A soft linen bed sheet that feels amazing after a hot bath, a comfortable chenille chair as you devour a book, the perfect light level in your living room for an evening relaxing with your favourite Netflix show - they are all quiet, none of them show off but they all add luxuries to your every day. Like wearing clean, soft, luxury pyjamas or well fitted suit without a tie.
It does not always look like a showroom but it always feels like perfection. Chairs and sofas are a good example of choosing function over form for ultimate luxury. Seats should always be genuinely comfortable. They are not ornaments; they are for comfort. Demure Design is about being able to sit with your legs up and be truly comfy and of course we make sure they are beautiful as our secondary test. It’s simple really, we always sit test anything we recommend, if it is not comfy it does not make the cut! In our homes you’ll find furnishings that are not about just looking good; it is always about function first.
HOW DO YOU CREATE DEMURE DESIGN AT HOME?
Bringing this feeling in can be incredibly simple and the way you style quality homeware adds a welcoming feel. Propped artwork taking the place of more 'put together' hung displays add a relaxed feeling to any space. Create a luxurious master suite but then pair it back with raw linen textures on the bed and mismatched cushions - We love the feeling balanced asymmetry brings to a space. Oh and always have side tables and coasters on a table to put your cuppa down – you've got to feel at home!
Encourage interactivity with the space. Use tactile textures and fabrics to encourage you to touch and feel. Mismatch quality items so that nothing feels too precious. Simple textures and layers in living rooms, throws that are literally thrown and not folded and placed reduce that sense of perfect and encourage you to simply enjoy a space. That enjoyment is your luxury, every day.
Adding texture to a wall is something special. Wallpapers don’t have to shout. Neutral, tonal shades of silk, linen or grass cloth textures add a soft finish but don't create a dreaded feature wall. It gives a sense of welcoming imperfection and while it is totally luxurious to have fabric wallpaper, it actually drops the glamour down a couple of notches and adds warmth. If you’re not ready for fabric wallpaper, opt for something with a really simple pattern which is interesting and adds depth without being dominant. We've actually created two fabric-effect wallpapers to do just this – check them out over at The Studio Dean Edit, they are called HALI and KAIRI.
Lighting is so important. My husband likes to call our light levels at home ‘perpetual dusk’. Try to create light levels at low, mid and high level so you can work and relax when you want to. Central pendants are functional but have to look as good on and off. Create rooms that work on lamp light only so you can properly cosy down in a room even in the summer. Use smart switches to creates ambience at the flick of a switch. Buy a beautiful lamp. We suggest that it is a bit old fashioned or an oversized, simple linen drum shade. Use a warm white bulb to get a diffused soft glow – this makes the room feel like heaven.
Finally, create the Demure Design atmosphere. Buy yourself a beautiful pair of luxury pyjamas that feel and look great, and match your interior. They must be calm, not quirky. Have a bath or shower, wash your hair, moisturise, pop on a lamp, snuggle under throw and read a book. Light a scented candle – must be musky and deep, no sweet smells. Go for ambers, tobaccos and vanillas. Enjoy!
WHAT COLOUR IS DEMURE DESIGN?
Demure Design feels like a hug as you walk through the door. Warmer tones feel welcoming, think stones and taupes rather than greys and whites. Things should look slightly imperfect; a brilliant white says something about the perfection of your home. An off white sets a relaxed tone, like a designer handbag that has been well used.
Demure Design is all about nature inspired colours, so steer clear of anything artificial. Look outside and see what happens through the seasons and bring it indoors. Take your surrounding colours and muddy them, tone them down. For example, pink would become a paint colour called Muddy York by Benjamin Moore which looks more like clay.
We love a dark tone. Don't fear adding darkness and depth - do it and own it. Darks should remain warm and you can achieve this by choosing the right undertone. Choose green and red undertones rather than blue and yellow.
Undertones set the tone for your home. Use the same undertone everywhere throughout your home for consistency – another hallmark of Demure Design. You can tell what the undertone is by grabbing a blue, red, yellow and a green and placing potential colours next to it, if they jar with the undertone colour, they don’t have that undertone. Even if you don’t like the base colour, they all have to work with that central undertone to be coherent.
Balance textures of colour. Paints should be low sheen – chalky walls are good. You can layer high shine fabrics on top – chenille for sumptuous luxury, and then wool. Avoid gloss at all costs - your home shouldn’t feel like an airport.
HOW DOES STUDIO DEAN DO DEMURE DESIGN?
Studio Dean’s style is more of a feeling than a look. We achieve Demure Design through our use of materials, which all tie together tonally and build a story through your home.
For us, Demure Design is all about longevity. We invest in your first choice of flooring, or sofa, the one you will love forever, not anything that will make do for a few years until you get the one you really want. You will regret a compromising choice within five minutes and will get rid of it eventually. We don’t do regrets and choose for a lifetime.
We always make a whole space feel cohesive, which is a sure-fire way to achieve a pulled together, interior designer feel. Once you are in a space and feeling calm and relaxed, you feel consistently calm through the whole house, not jolted from one theme to another. We do this with floor and colour palette and avoid threshold bars and changes. Instead, we find interesting ways to transition so that spaces flow. We do this by creating a masterplan when we begin a project, we know from the start we know what the overarching look will be so it all works together.
We use a lot of wooden and fuss free flooring. If we use carpets, we use wool or wool mixes and no shiny finishes. We love hard floors with large area rugs. Then we style to encourage use of the room, not to look showy.
WHICH BRANDS ARE GOOD AT DEMURE DESIGN?
Brands we use to achieve Demure Design are The Studio Dean Edit, Ted Todd floors, Cox & Cox, Benjamin Moore, Original BTC and Mandarin Stone. We use Mags sofas a fair amount in different fabrics. We also love vintage, and showcasing clients’ treasures so that homes look like owners’ homes, not ‘done’ homes.
Yours demurely,
