Quiet Luxury: 5 Ways to Bring Thoughtfulness and Calm Into Your Home

May 18, 2023

Design: Ariane Design Co. | Render: Cindy Krauklis

One of the latest trends in fashion and home design isn’t actually a trend at all. Quiet luxury is about designing your home with minimalism, quality, and thoughtfulness. It’s not just a style you choose for your home; it’s about synchronicity with your personal lifestyle and desire to purposefully choose quality items for your home without flaunting your wealth. 

While quiet luxury can speak to fashion, home decor, and design, we’ll focus on its applications in home design.

The fluid definition of quiet luxury

Quiet luxury isn’t a clearly defined style like coastal or Mid-century modern. The best-designed homes done in a quiet luxury style usually go unnoticed and just become part of the space. Some might describe it as everything flowing nicely together, without any one piece standing out from the crowd. It’s not about drawing attention to yourself but rather choosing pieces made of high-quality materials designed to last. 

It goes slightly beyond the basics but functions in a similar way. Just like the little black dress is a basic staple in a wardrobe, in quiet luxury, that dress would be made of premium or sustainable fabric. In home decor, it’s about buying quality items that don’t overwhelm yourself or the space.  

Other ways people describe quiet luxury in home decor include:

• Creating a space of serene calm. 

• Using understated colour palettes (usually inspired by organic, natural, and soft colours)

• Designing for minimalism but adding in touches of warmth

• No competing looks in the space (such as stunning veined marble countertops that stand out too much)

• Creating looks made from sustainable materials and processes when possible.

5 ways to bring quiet luxury into your home

While your definition of quiet luxury is unique, here are some common themes in quiet luxury you can incorporate into your home to bring in the calm. 

1. Invest in Quality Materials

Be thoughtful about what furniture and decor you bring into your home. Finding the right pieces can be a lengthy process, but it’ll be worth it. Choose quality materials over cheaply made ones. When investing in materials for your home decor, source items from ethical companies selling ethically-sourced and manufactured products. 

Part of the genius of quiet luxury is the “luxury” part is not flaunted. It’s all about understated elegance that makes you feel good. 

2. Embrace Neutrals

Subtle luxury isn’t about bold colours like shiny gold, sparkling silver, stunning reds, and bright blues. Embrace the neutrals. Naturals and light earthy colours create a sense of natural calm in a space, one of the hallmarks of quiet luxury. You can add dimension to a primarily neutral-coloured room by investing in pieces with unique textures or layering your artificial and natural lighting (we’ll talk more about this in step 4 below). 

To help you get started, choose a colour palette for your room and look for pieces that fit those tones. Choose beiges, whites, and neutrals. In quiet luxury, you don’t need to choose a bold accent colour for the space (unless you really want to). Remember, your room should exude calm, and if a bold-coloured throw pillow doesn’t help you feel relaxed, don’t use it.

3. Don’t Overwhelm the Space (or Yourself)

Quiet luxury is not about drawing attention to you or your space. It’s about creating a space without clutter, distractions, and stress. Quiet luxury isn’t about packing your room with furniture and decor. 

For example, if you’re creating a family room where you’ll entertain guests for a quiet afternoon tea or relaxing with a book and a cup of hot cocoa by the fireplace on Sunday mornings, you likely don’t need a work desk in the corner. You’ll need some purposefully-chosen seating and a small side table (for your beverages). A simple plant can add some nature to the space. 

In a bathroom it may seem intuitive to have lots of shelving, cabinets and storage in the bathroom itself. However, if you want quiet luxury, consider a pedestal sink and toilet with an elegant mirror and a small hand towel rack on the wall. You can store your bathroom items in a tidy hall closet instead. 

Don’t overwhelm your space with items and furniture you don’t need. The extra “clutter” can cause you stress and overwhelm you. Keep it simple, and choose the quality pieces you need for the function of the space. 

4. Layer Your Lighting to Add Depth

Layered lighting can add depth to a neutral space. First, work with natural light sources from windows or skylights, then layer lighting where needed. Lighting is a great way to add warmth to a space (consider how a fireplace glow instantly adds real and perceived warmth to your living room). 

Each room in your home should have three layers of lighting: 

• Ambient Lighting: This can help provide an overall glow to your house; you can achieve this by using surface-mounted fixtures for the night and natural sunlight during the day. 

• Accent Lighting: Provides your home with a decorative touch and works more in favour of visual appeal and beauty rather than function. 

• Task Lighting: Brings focus to specific areas of your home (such as a reading chair, kitchen table, or desk).

5. Layer Quiet Luxury With Your Lifestyle

Having a home designed with quiet luxury in mind is the first step. Incorporate calm and quiet luxury into your lifestyle for the greatest benefit. This could include: 

• Being mindful of your clothing purchases to avoid overbuying or buying cheaply made items.

• Incorporate calming routines into your day (such as yoga, meditation, reading, or a quiet hobby).

• Purchase produce from sustainable, local farms and only buy as much as you need (to avoid waste).

Where to find Vancouver-based interior designers who can design ‘quiet luxury’ homes 

Since 2020, Ariane Design Co. has been the interior designer of choice for new homeowners inspired to elevate their space. When Ariane’s team helps you bring quiet luxury into your space, you'll notice the difference in your home and yourself. 

Browse our portfolio to see some of our favourite past projects, or book a discovery call so we can discuss decorating your dream home.