Bring the Soul: How to Incorporate Afro Bohemian Style into Your Home
Whether it's a studio or a three-bedroom flat, getting your first apartment is a big deal, and a major part of growing up.
And like everything else in adulting, matching your decor to your personality can be a difficult task, especially if you like a mix of elements. Rustic may be too brown for you, minimalist too little for you, and Bohemian just not enough. Well, if you’re still on the lookout for what decor style to try, how about Afro Bohemian?
An Introduction to Afro Bohemian Home Decor
As the name implies, Afro Bohemian home decor is the unique soulful style that merges cultural African elements with the free-spirited nature of the Bohemian home. In an Afro Bohemian-styled home, you can expect bold colours and rich stylish patterns (hence the Afro) along with potted plants, climbers, and household fabrics made with textured prints.
The beauty of Afro Bohemian home decor isn't just about how pretty and cozy it makes a room: it's also about how collaborative it is, with an eclectic mix of warmth, airiness, and playfulness. It essentially brings life into a space and can make your apartment or home a tad more joyful. Now that you know just what Afro Bohemian home decor means, how exactly can you achieve the look?
Keep reading for our easy guide.
Incorporating Afro Bohemian Style into Your Home
Afro Bohemian home decor is incredibly forgiving, but like every other decor option, it does have telltale elements that create the base for the style. These decor elements range from certain colour palettes to the use of natural materials around your space. Here’s how you can achieve the style at home, using these cozy elements.
Earth Tones as a Foundation
To achieve the soulful yet grounded look of the Afro Bohemian home, you need to choose a colour scheme that includes earthy tones and vibrant greens. These colours, from gold and emerald green to copper and tangerine, are essential for bringing in both the Afro and Bohemian aspects into your home. Additionally, the use of vibrant colours like reds and blues (our favourite is the ultramarine blue) can add elements of the desert and the ocean into your space, giving the impression of an oasis —which is what every living space should feel like.
From this base, you can then add other colours you like, like pinks and teals, but a scheme of earthy browns and greens is essential to achieving this home decor style.
Layering Vibrant Fabrics for Depth
When it comes to the Afro Bohemian home aesthetic, textiles are your best friend. Achieve the look with rich patterns that include geometric shapes, unconventional art designs, or African-inspired prints. Some of the best spots to use such motif-inclusive textiles are on your throw pillows, as a blanket, or even on your curtains and rugs. Using these bold patterns across your space further strengthens the eclectic and playful ambience you’re aiming for and makes for interesting yet functional focal points too.
Bringing the Outdoors In
Bring the Boho into your home by adding natural elements as you decorate. These could be potted plants, white pebbles to design certain spots, and even items made with natural fibres like wicker baskets or jute ropes. Our favourite ways to add natural elements in our space are by:
Hanging climbers across the windows or eucalyptus on the shower
Placing lidded storage wicker baskets and rattan room dividers in the rooms
Adding large plants in Afro-decorated pots, smaller herbs, and some pampas grass across the space
Placing a jute hammock as a reading or relaxation nook.
These natural elements also extend into furniture and kitchen items, like using wooden or rattan chairs and drawers while placing glazed clay cutlery or clay pots around the home. Add these elements together, and you’re well on your way to achieving the Afro Bohemian look.
The Power of Ambient Lighting
Lighting is such an essential part of Afro Bohemian home decor, and the way you utilize it can make or break the aesthetic.
Instead of harsh, white light, try cozier smaller light fixtures with ambient lighting like lanterns or string lights. As TikTokers always say, “never turn on the big light”. If you do in fact need the big light on, you can also try African-inspired bulb holders, or you can even try DIY-ing them in some colours that suit your original scheme.
Finishing Touches with Eclectic Accessories
Afro Bohemian decor allows you to be as free-spirited with your space as possible, and that equals including pieces and treasures that hold memories for you. These could be global-inspired artwork you’ve picked up during your travels, a beautiful tapestry you bought from a small fibre artist in your neighbourhood, framed photographs that are dear to you, or pottery and art pieces you made in your free time. It's important to add as much of your unique personality to your space.
Finding Inspiration for Afro Bohemian Home Decor
If you’re still stumped on what items to include while incorporating this style into your home, it might be time to get some fresh air and visit some local markets and shops in your neighbourhood. These could be flea markets or a designated local home decor store where you can find unique antique pieces. You never know what you might find.
