Decorating Guides
Decorating Styles
So Your Style Is: Romantic
Sweet but not saccharine, romantic design style celebrates the idealistic side of life. Find out if it's the look that makes you swoon
What it is: Just as the name implies, romantic style has a certain softness and fanciful appeal that's as hard to resist as a surprise box of sweets. It harks back to the Victorian era, a time of courtliness and old-fashioned decorum, though it's simple and fresh faced rather than musty and fusty.
Why it works: Let us count the ways. Romantic interiors are heartfelt, personal and the merest smidge decadent. They emanate warmth and sincere sweetness, and they frame life through an idealist's lens. Is it any wonder that people who fall for this style fall hard?
You'll love it if ... Your garden brims with moss-tinged statues and sweetheart roses. Eyelet pillows dot your bed. Your annual Valentine's Day parties are legendary among your friends. You savor candlelit dinners for two — or 20. You truly believe in happily ever after.
Why it works: Let us count the ways. Romantic interiors are heartfelt, personal and the merest smidge decadent. They emanate warmth and sincere sweetness, and they frame life through an idealist's lens. Is it any wonder that people who fall for this style fall hard?
You'll love it if ... Your garden brims with moss-tinged statues and sweetheart roses. Eyelet pillows dot your bed. Your annual Valentine's Day parties are legendary among your friends. You savor candlelit dinners for two — or 20. You truly believe in happily ever after.
Style Secret: Smoky Mirrors
True romantics are no more in touch with reality than they have to be. Use mirrors with a distressed or antiqued finish to bounce light in a gentle manner and to add a slightly mysterious edge to your reflection. You can either buy bona fide antique mirrors or treat the backing with a chemical mixture to lend the illusion of age.
Subtle sweetness: Enhance a mirror's tarnished charm with a handful of reflective accents that spread the sparkle around a space. Layer in a pair of mercury glass lamps or top a console with a silver tray that holds a grouping of simple crystal vases.
True romantics are no more in touch with reality than they have to be. Use mirrors with a distressed or antiqued finish to bounce light in a gentle manner and to add a slightly mysterious edge to your reflection. You can either buy bona fide antique mirrors or treat the backing with a chemical mixture to lend the illusion of age.
Subtle sweetness: Enhance a mirror's tarnished charm with a handful of reflective accents that spread the sparkle around a space. Layer in a pair of mercury glass lamps or top a console with a silver tray that holds a grouping of simple crystal vases.
Style Secret: Gentle Weathering
Furnishings, surfaces and accents with a touch of patina hint at days gone by. They evoke the nostalgia of the past with understated elegance. Blend lightly sanded or chipped woods and metals with fabrics that suggest a sheen of age, and sprinkle in a few well-chosen vintage accents.
Subtle sweetness: The key word is "gentle." Pieces that are too heavily distressed look more appropriate for a style such as industrial. Although romantic interiors share a bond with the shabby chic look that was popular a few years back, they'll appear fresher if you limit the shabby and stress the chic.
Furnishings, surfaces and accents with a touch of patina hint at days gone by. They evoke the nostalgia of the past with understated elegance. Blend lightly sanded or chipped woods and metals with fabrics that suggest a sheen of age, and sprinkle in a few well-chosen vintage accents.
Subtle sweetness: The key word is "gentle." Pieces that are too heavily distressed look more appropriate for a style such as industrial. Although romantic interiors share a bond with the shabby chic look that was popular a few years back, they'll appear fresher if you limit the shabby and stress the chic.
Style Secret: Soft, Flattering Colors
Anyone who's ever owned a Color Me Beautiful book knows to pick out clothes and makeup in hues that set off their natural skin tone. So why should interiors be different? Paint your walls with colors that flatter you, and you'll look as though you have a dewy, romantic glow. The right hues will vary depending on your coloring, but pinks and roses of every shade, subdued coral and apricot, pale terra-cotta, and rich plums and violets are almost universally becoming.
Subtle sweetness: Barely-there blush-pink walls, cut with deeper pinks and neutrals, prevent this bedroom from feeling cloying. Keep color schemes monochromatic to make the romantic look as sophisticated as possible.
Anyone who's ever owned a Color Me Beautiful book knows to pick out clothes and makeup in hues that set off their natural skin tone. So why should interiors be different? Paint your walls with colors that flatter you, and you'll look as though you have a dewy, romantic glow. The right hues will vary depending on your coloring, but pinks and roses of every shade, subdued coral and apricot, pale terra-cotta, and rich plums and violets are almost universally becoming.
Subtle sweetness: Barely-there blush-pink walls, cut with deeper pinks and neutrals, prevent this bedroom from feeling cloying. Keep color schemes monochromatic to make the romantic look as sophisticated as possible.
Style Secret: Soft Lighting
Nothing snuffs out the flame of romance like harsh fluorescent overheads or megawatt track lighting. Cast a glow with fixtures that spread and diffuse light, such as wall-mounted sconces or elegant chandeliers. Crystal pendants add a touch of diamondlike sparkle, but there's nothing wrong with simpler profiles and less opulent materials.
Subtle sweetness: Choose lower-wattage bulbs for a romantic glow. You can even buy the kind that's tinted pink, which gives off a warm ambience and imbues skin with an attractively flushed look.
Nothing snuffs out the flame of romance like harsh fluorescent overheads or megawatt track lighting. Cast a glow with fixtures that spread and diffuse light, such as wall-mounted sconces or elegant chandeliers. Crystal pendants add a touch of diamondlike sparkle, but there's nothing wrong with simpler profiles and less opulent materials.
Subtle sweetness: Choose lower-wattage bulbs for a romantic glow. You can even buy the kind that's tinted pink, which gives off a warm ambience and imbues skin with an attractively flushed look.
Style Secret: Candles
There's a reason so many love songs and poems mention candlelight: It fosters a sultry, bewitching mood and sets a romantic scene. Candles add an authentic dimension to layered lighting that no bulb can duplicate. Arrange them in graphic groupings: a few sculptural candlesticks in staggered heights, a row of votives along the mantel.
Subtle sweetness: Stick with candles that are all one neutral color, such as basic white or cream, for the most tailored effect. And if you choose a scent, keep it subtle — nothing strikes an off note like an overpowering aroma.
There's a reason so many love songs and poems mention candlelight: It fosters a sultry, bewitching mood and sets a romantic scene. Candles add an authentic dimension to layered lighting that no bulb can duplicate. Arrange them in graphic groupings: a few sculptural candlesticks in staggered heights, a row of votives along the mantel.
Subtle sweetness: Stick with candles that are all one neutral color, such as basic white or cream, for the most tailored effect. And if you choose a scent, keep it subtle — nothing strikes an off note like an overpowering aroma.
Style Secret: Feminine Furnishings
Romantic furnishings have a dreamy, delicate sensibility and graceful, fluid lines. They draw their influence from the elaborate pieces that characterized the Victorian era, small in scale and highly decorative.
Subtle sweetness: Balance a selection of dainty pieces with cleaner ones for a more updated take on the romantic look. And don't go overboard on the decorative embellishments — a gently curving slipper chair or a simple white-painted iron bed convey the look just as effectively as an ornate dresser or heavily carved four-poster.
Romantic furnishings have a dreamy, delicate sensibility and graceful, fluid lines. They draw their influence from the elaborate pieces that characterized the Victorian era, small in scale and highly decorative.
Subtle sweetness: Balance a selection of dainty pieces with cleaner ones for a more updated take on the romantic look. And don't go overboard on the decorative embellishments — a gently curving slipper chair or a simple white-painted iron bed convey the look just as effectively as an ornate dresser or heavily carved four-poster.
Style Secret: Coziness
Romance is all about nestling in and snuggling up. Extend that feel to your rooms with cushy, enveloping furniture, warm and creamy colors and room arrangements that invite tête-à-têtes.
Subtle sweetness: The dimensions, more than the trappings, give this kitchen its snug feel. The pendant lamps over the island pull the already low ceiling down visually and create an intimate mood. The crowning touch? Simple floral curtains, which lend a note of dainty softness.
More:
5 Ingredients of a Romantic Bedroom
Romance is all about nestling in and snuggling up. Extend that feel to your rooms with cushy, enveloping furniture, warm and creamy colors and room arrangements that invite tête-à-têtes.
Subtle sweetness: The dimensions, more than the trappings, give this kitchen its snug feel. The pendant lamps over the island pull the already low ceiling down visually and create an intimate mood. The crowning touch? Simple floral curtains, which lend a note of dainty softness.
More:
5 Ingredients of a Romantic Bedroom
Roses are red, violets are blue — you know the rest. Flowers, with all their romantic connotations, are as closely intertwined with this style as trailing ivy climbing a trellis. The secret to updating the floral look? Stick with items that fall in the same color family, such as a grid of framed iris prints and a pile of wisteria-patterned throw pillows. Or choose just one standout floral element and allow it to dominate: an overscale fabric, a vibrant wallpaper, a chic flowered rug.
Subtle sweetness: Instead of smothering your space with fussy floral prints, set it abloom with a simple vase or pitcher of real blossoms. Pluck flowers that feel soft and old-fashioned, such as peonies, hollyhocks, lilacs and, of course, roses.