How to Achieve Organic Modernism
Reside in the comforts of nature.
Revive interiors with organic modern design, which fuses elements of nature with the best of modern design. Read below to learn about the foundations of organic modernism and how to achieve this look with ease.
What Is Organic Modernism?
Organic modernism is a design movement that focuses on the connection between the natural world and human-made interiors. The goal of organic modern style is to create a sense of unity between one's surrounding environment and interior spaces by using warm neutrals, earthy textures, simple silhouettes, and handcrafted forms.
The architect Frank Lloyd Wright first introduced this idea with architectural designs that incorporated the surrounding landscape, using local materials and sustainable building methods. Today, organic modern design combines Scandi's love of nature with boho texture, clean minimalism, and mid-century modern notes to create a bright, airy space.
How to Achieve Organic Modernism
Check out these steps to achieve a refreshing home aesthetic that's both modern and nature-inspired.
1. Look Outside for Inspiration
Take after Wright's architectural style when you use your surrounding environment as the focal point for an organic modern interior. Furnish your home with wood furniture made from the same wood species of trees in your area (think: oak, walnut, or pine) or mirror a rocky landscape with stone side tables. Bring the natural landscape inside by using its color palette for design inspiration. Cover your bed with relaxed orange bedding to connect to the colors of autumn outside your window. Work in rose gold or brass light fixtures to reflect the warm glow of the sun and golden leaves.
Achieve organic modernism with a simple but effective natural color palette. Bring in warm, earthy tones like cream, beige, caramel, burnt orange, golden yellow, or terracotta to create a relaxed, comforting ambience. Then you can start to work in cool neutrals like stark black, light or charcoal gray, crisp white, or forest greens for balance. Complement caramel wood furniture with a beige area rug. Brighten the room with white sheets, and add depth with a black floor lamp. Add natural color with sage green decor and an abstract print in red-orange hues.
Embrace natural materials in their rawest forms to mirror the sustainable materials found in modern organic architecture. Look for furnishings and decor made of recycled materials like bamboo, wool, concrete, cork, teak, hemp, wicker, or rattan. Transform a casual seating area with a pair of wicker accent chairs on either side of a concrete table – great for morning coffee. Create a visual flow with a pendant light in a rattan shade and a wicker basket to hold a potted plant. Complete the space with a wool area rug in neutral tones.
Pro Tip:
Looking for more ways to achieve a natural look? Infuse your space with wood furniture featuring natural grains or live edges. Incorporate steel and other metal details for a cool contrast to a muted wood color scheme, and create an earthy connection with stoneware and clay pottery.
4. Encourage Sleek Contrasts
Pair rustic wood panelling with sleek marble surfaces for a visual contrast of natural materials. Open up the room and create visual dimension with white marble surfaces and blond wood tones. Break up the neutral color palette with leather upholstered chairs in rust orange for a pop of color also found in nature (think: earthy clay or fire).
Combine clean minimalism with all the comforts of boho style when you mix texture with simplicity as a part of organic modern design. Rest a smooth concrete coffee table on top of an area rug with woven detailing and frayed edges to soften the table’s angular shape and relax the rug’s busy patterns. Maintain a clean, linear profile while still adding interest with a pair of modern wood chairs with woven cane detailing. Cozy up a neutral space with a woven throw blanket, textured pillows, or boho wall hangings.
Revive your interiors with organic modern furniture pieces. Organic modern furniture incorporates pared-back designs, handcrafted pieces, sustainably-sourced materials, natural elements (wood, clay, metal), and warm earth tones for nature-inspired interiors. Choose a wood dining table with a streamlined design, including a plank-style top and slab legs that allow the natural grain of the wood to show through. Pair a wood dining table with metal dining chairs and clay or glass items for a cool contrast of materials.
Elevate organic modern aesthetics by incorporating mid-century modern accents. Blend the look of a raw concrete table in a slab configuration with mid-century modern-esque S-shaped chairs. This combo works so well because both styles praise clean, simple silhouettes, which allows the contrast between nature and modernity to really stand out.
Enrich neutral spaces with organic modern decor. Prioritize handcrafted shapes, fun textures, and warm colors that pop against light creams, beiges, and earth tones (think: rust orange, mustard yellow, maroon, or copper). Hang a boho-inspired wall tapestry in a woven pattern to add comforting texture to bare white wallspace. Add color with smooth clay vases in pear-shapes and muted yellow stains. Showcase houseplants in olive green planters for a cool contrast to the warm tones. Bring in more comforting texture while also creating functional storage when you tuck handwoven baskets under a console table.
Embrace organic modernism with ease by bringing nature into your home. Place fresh greenery in a contemporary table vase made of stone of clay for a fusion or natural elements and modern forms. Display pebbles from a nearby stream in a decorative bowl on your coffee table. Use fallen branches or dried wild flowers to instantly elevate glass vases with grooved shapes or moody stains. These are simple but effective ways to incorporate nature into your modern home.
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