Unlocking Maximalist Style: Expert Techniques for Bold Home Interiors
Creating a truly impactful interior space requires significant vision and imagination to transform a room from ordinary to extraordinary. For Benjamin Reynaert, a magazine editor, contributor to prestigious publications like Elle Decor and House Beautiful, and the stylist behind the popular Instagram account @aspoonfulofbenjamin, the philosophy is clear: more is definitely more, with abundant creativity.
The Instagram Inspiration Behind a Debut Book
Reynaert's Instagram feed showcases interiors saturated with vibrant colour, splendid backdrops, beautiful artwork, and luxurious fabrics. This aesthetic resonates powerfully with his 126,000 followers, making it inevitable that he would compile these artistic flourishes into his first book, The Layered Home. In this publication, Reynaert steps inside the spaces of his favourite tastemakers, exploring how they achieve their distinctive styles.
Inside India Holmes' Colourful North London Home
One featured space is the north London home of designer and textile expert India Holmes, where she has made her signature mark. Reynaert writes, "Holmes has lived in a world of colour, pattern, and play since she was little. It's built into her outlook on the world, and expressed through her work as a designer and creator." He notes that Holmes views rooms as spaces for embracing change and fostering purposeful inquisitiveness, constantly seeking fresh options for her home's appearance.
Art plays a crucial role in her decor, with many pieces gifted by friends and all cherished deeply. Holmes prioritises recycling and reuse, a philosophy reflected in her commitment to working with a community of conscious buyers, designers, and artisans. For instance, sofa cushions with playing card designs were crafted from her childhood bedroom curtains, showcasing her innovative approach to repurposing.
Creating Magic on a Budget: The Entrance Area
Reynaert highlights Holmes' entrance area as particularly amazing, deserving all the attention it receives. "For this space, she had good 'tent' reference points and was able to create something magical on a bit of a budget," he explains. Holmes excels at capturing the essence of an idea and executing it herself with signature wit and whimsy, often at lower cost.
Described as strikingly theatrical, the room evokes the spirit of a homemade circus. The ceiling features a treatment of red and white stripes radiating across it, while the walls are drenched in a vibrant blue-green shade. Disparate patterns, stripe widths, and chromatic tones unite largely due to tasselled bunting, which serves as both a visual distraction from the bold ceiling and a quiet harmoniser for the busy space. Holmes remarks, "It ties everything together, when most of it wants to clash!"
Decorative Details and Personal Philosophy
These small yet substantive decorative details hold similar sway in every room Holmes designs, constructively bringing order and alignment where colour, pattern, objects, and textures massively converge. Holmes shares, "Like a magpie drawn to shiny objects, I have an insatiable love of decorative objects, ceramics, paintings, fabrics – anything and everything handmade or just beautiful to look at." She admits to being a total sucker for souvenirs and trinkets, often ensuring half a suitcase is free during trips abroad to accommodate new finds.
As creative director at design studio Pelican House, Holmes advocates for the staying power of furniture and objects within living spaces. "Once something has served its purpose, I often resell it and buy what needs to go in its place," she explains. Where possible, she likes to sell and rebuy within the same price point, creating her own cycle of free design, often involving secondhand or antique objects.
Pattern-Mixing and Colour Guidance
Reynaert underlines that Holmes' personality plays out in the heavy influence of colour and pattern that imbues each space. "The default is layering patterns, a reflex that is informed primarily by gut feeling and a penchant for taking chances," he notes. For those looking to loosen up their pattern-mixing skills, Holmes advises using colour as a reference guide. "If you know you love a pattern and every time you look at it, it makes you happy, the likelihood is it will fall into place with the rest of the patterns in your house," she suggests.
Extracted from The Layered Home: Inspiration for Creating Cosy, Collected Rooms by Benjamin Reynaert, published in hardback by Mitchell Beazley and priced at £35. Photographs by Manuel Rodriquez, the book is available now, offering further inspiration for maximalist home styling enthusiasts.
