Interior design is just like music. The trends are constantly changing, growing, and blending into one another.

So, if you are looking to update your home and need to hire an interior designer, it can be difficult to explain the type of design style you are looking for.

Many homeowners will compile images of design styles they like and show them to their designers. Some will even buy the latest interior design magazines and create a scrapbook of looks.

But if you really want to speak the same language as your interior designer, it’s important to know the different names of interior design styles. That means knowing how to recognize them, and the characteristics that define them.

Here are the names and definitions for the most common interior design styles in Malaysian homes, with example photos of completed homes. Once you know the right terms to use with your interior designer, you can create the right look for your home!

 MoDERN

Modern architecture and design, including interiors, is a broad umbrella term for design styles united by a common intention – a celebration of material, technology and composition through authenticity, transparency and efficiency.

Modern Style

Inspired by the Modernist art movement that preceded it, the Modernist style, born at the dawn of the 20th century, reinvented our relationship with space and aesthetics to bring us closer in touch with it. A building was more than an inhabitable shell; it was now a machine for living in.

Modernist interiors are therefore often a complex overlay of functional programming, careful compositions, and clearly articulated lines and geometry.

The inherent materiality of a form is an integral part of the design language here, as is an emphasis on visual and functional simplicity.

 JAPANDI style

Japandi style blurs Japanese minimalism with pared back Scandi cool. The Japandi trend, adopted by design lovers for it's minimalistic and harmonious style, offers simplicity and function and a timeless design aesthetic.

Searches for this look have sky-rocketed over the past months, and the style is still growing in popularity.

Alick Burnett, Business Development Manager at Blooming Artificial, says: “For 2021, we expect to continue seeing minimalist styles featuring neutral, earthy hues and lots of mood-boosting greenery.”

a contrasting living room with light-colored wood, black and white furniture

a comfy living room with a white backdrop and wooden furniture of various stains - darker and lighter ones

a beautiful kitchen in graphite grey and white plus light-colored wood and black lamps

 Industrial style

Industrial design has become popular since the 2000s, but its origins go much further back to the industrial revolution in the 1700s. As old factories and warehouses became converted to living spaces, the existing framework of piping, exposed brick walls, high ceilings and raw concrete became an aesthetic style in its own right.

Industrial design homes are getting quite popular in Malaysia, whether for homes or offices. To create the look of an industrial home, you need glossy surfaces, metal elements, with rustic cabinets and high ceilings.

To achieve an industrial feel, a natural color palette is most commonly used. A mix of grays, neutrals and rustic colors can be seen in these spaces. These simple colors allow for the use of furniture and other accessories to help liven up the room. Also, having the walls a neutral color allows for open areas like lofts to feel bigger and more connected while giving furniture the opportunity to help create a natural flow of the room.

Modern industrial terrace house interior design

 COTTAGECORE STYLE

As many of us took to cleaning, decorating, and re-decorating our homes last year, there's one interior style in particular that soared in popularity: Cottagecore.

“Cottagecore” searches have increased by a huge 5950% from 1000 searches in January 2020 to 60,500 at its peak. While the aesthetic is a far cry from Livinget'c love of all things modern, Scandi, and minimalist, there's no denying that this interiors trend is comforting, nostalgic and homely – things we all craved a little more of this year.

Cottagecore draws inspiration from the countryside—think lush botanical motifs, flouncy florals, and natural materials such as wool and linen.

The trend stretches into fashion too; Pinterest has seen an 80X increase in searches for ‘cottagecore fashion’, with people craving floral prints and straw hats, alongside their gingham blankets and chintzy tea cozies.

 Cottagecore Style

 VINTAGE STYLE

Antique, repurposed, salvaged and retro pieces all have their place in a vintage scheme. Contrary to popular opinion, vintage style isn’t about recreating a flea market in your home; not everything old has vintage charm.

Instead, this style pays homage to the 1940s and 50s, wherein in the aftermath of WWII people mixed and matched, working with whatever was available, to rebuild their homes and create warm, loving spaces. It is this ‘mix and matches aesthetic, largely brought alive through the timeworn and tested, that sets vintage interiors apart.

Colors in vintage style interiors are therefore usually in light and neutral tones, with vivid color used only for impact. In fact, the décor in a vintage interior relies on this strategy to elevate the aesthetic and bring refined elegance to it.

The key is to reference the look rather than slavishly reproduce it, using strong colors, favorite pieces, and a less-is-more approach for a vibrant, cohesive aesthetic. The key to this approach is to provide plenty of contrast.

Build up a vintage-style scheme gradually. It’s the kind of look that needs layering so choose pieces over time that means something to you. Add a few luxe elements such as rich fabrics and statement lighting to create a modern note.

Modern Vintage Style

 Modern Vintage Style

Hexa 6 Design is an Interior Design company in Johor Bahru 

We will study customers’ existing lifestyle and living habit before design. Having a proper space planning and determine the design concept is the preliminary step of turning dream home into reality. We are providing customise house interior and exterior design to clients in order to build their dream home.

We are work closely with builders and homeowners from the early planning stages of each project through to completion with attention to detail and time-efficiency with no hidden cost.