Tropical home décor is one of the trendiest vogues today. It comprises of warmth, comfort, and an exotic touch, using natural texture, gorgeous colors, and jungle themes.
The tropical home decoration style uses traditional themes interspersed with touches of fresh appeal. Tropical décor for your home does not mean creating a multi-hued jungle look that you might use in a kid’s room. Rather, it is more about creating a minimalist look with lush overtones, because it involves mixing intricate patterns and plenty of texture with a few large sized accessories along with simple details.
Tropical Home Décor Motifs and Colors
Some of the common tropical home décor motifs are: rattan furniture; grass-cloth; leather; palm trees; animal prints; monkeys; tropical fish; sea shells; and broad leafed banana plants.
As far as colors are concerned, the tropical ambiance is achieved by using neutral tones. For instance, the basis of a tropical themed look is formed by color like pale yellows, mellow gold, dark brown, tan, camel skin shades, beige, and ivory. Overlying these muted tones are greens that range from olive green to jade green to bottle green to bluish green to yellowish green. Accents are created by using dull reds, black, and mahogany brown.
This kind of tropical decorating themes can not only be used in family rooms and living rooms, but also looks great in bathrooms and even in master suites.
Tropical Home Décor Furniture
One of the basic elements in a room decorated with a tropical décor theme is upholstered, comfortable furniture. Horizontally oriented long lines emphasize a casual ambiance, adding to a restful environment. While a grand scale is achieved by using taller elements like screens, artwork, or plants. While furniture made of lighter wood are great to great that tropical look, but when they are combined with lamps and dark tables.
Accent pieces in rattan, wrought iron, bamboo, and wicker are also a must. In fact, rattan furniture and dark wood are a great combo for a tropical style of furnishing. Rattan furniture really creates a natural look because it is made from a tropical tree, which grows in jungles of South India and Sri Lanka. They can be used as decoration pieces beside writing desks, or tropical style computer cabinets. It is durable and flexible, with wrapped knobby joints.
Wicker furniture pieces are also an integral part of tropical décor. Wicker furniture is created by weaving together strands of vine or grass. Bamboo, which is a thick kind of grass that grows in tropical forests, is also used to make furniture. All these natural materials are woven or fashioned into sofas, chairs, tables, divans or backless couches, cabinets, and various other accent pieces. Not only are they beautiful, but are also lightweight, durable, easy to maintain, and are also eco-friendly.
Rattan, wicker and bamboo furniture and accent pieces can be combined with furniture made from tropical wood like teak, mahogany and ebony. Exotic hardwoods like koa and rosewood also make very beautiful tropical furniture. Furniture made from this kind of wood are given extra tropical tones by having motifs like palm leaves, tropical flowers, trees, and pineapples carved on them.
The fabrics of the upholstery should be neutral colored chenilles or any other natural fabric like khadi, a coarse homespun cotton made in India, or even raw silk, especially for the major pieces of furniture. While chairs and ottomans can have upholstery with leafy designs and jungle prints.
Tropical Décor Accessories
Since you will be using large leafy prints and animal prints fairly extensively it is best not to overdo the accessories when using tropical décor in your home. However, here are some accessories that you can use:
Wicker vases with artificial tropical flowers
Wall tapestries with palm leaves, flowers or palm trees
Tropical style table lamps
Palm plant (artificial or real), or other tropical plants
Indigenous art and artifacts
Seashells and conches
Paintings or pictures of tropical trees, animals, or landscapes
Decorative wooden or bamboo screens
Throw pillows with palm leaf or floral patterns
Tropical shower curtains for the bathroom
Jute rugs
Tropical Garden Furniture
If you have the tropics inside, then why not take it outside too. You will find plenty of tropical garden furniture made of molave wood, bamboo, wicker, rattan, and wrought iron, and even hardwoods that are stylish as well as able to withstand the elements. Look for bamboo benches, bars, lounge chairs and patio sets.
