Also known as the Valley of the Sun, Phoenix, AZ boasts year-round sunshine and the mesmerizing beauty of the desert. However, it is also a booming metropolis, complete with modern architecture, resorts, golf courses, and historical sights.
It is home to various species of cacti, desert animals, and 4.7 million people. Naturally, the living spaces here have been adapted to reflect the elegance and timelessness of the deserts of Arizona. Here are some of the most popular decorating styles and motifs from Phoenix homes.
1. Desert Colors, with a Hint of Creativity
Phoenix homes often set the tone of the ambience by embracing the palette that the desert provides – shades of brown, beige, and orange. The dazzling orange and indigo hues of the Arizonan sunrise and sunsets are a great addition to the home’s aesthetic, too.
But it would be remiss if homeowners did not add bright colors that bring out the desert feels even more. Some tinges of green here and there elevate the overall look of the room. But desert cacti are not only green; their flowers come in a range of colors – from sharp reds to sunshine yellows, from hot pink to dazzling purple. With that in mind, interior designers encourage homeowners to introduce wild prints and pops of pattern and colors on top of the earthly and neutral tones that dominate the Phoenix home style.
2. Bringing the Outdoors In
Introducing plant life to liven up a room is a constant in modern interior design, especially in Phoenix homes. Besides the obvious benefit of cleaner air and oxygen, plants add a more natural source of color into an artificially designed space.
However, not every plant can withstand the Arizona weather, so homeowners often turn to succulents and other low-maintenance plants that are resistant to constant sunlight and the dry, arid air from the desert. Palm trees are also prominent in Arizona, so adding some small, potted versions of it around your Phoenix-themed home is a great idea.
3. Native American Decor + Sustainable Material
Arizona is also home to various Native American communities and reservations, so it’s only natural that most Phoenix homes feature American Indian-handcrafted furniture and decorations.
Most of these are made from sustainable materials, of course – clay, wood, stone, and even animal hides and bones. Sustainability has become a major consideration of modern interior design in this age, so paying homage to Native American design and ingenuity is hitting two birds in one stone.
Phoenix residents have decorative pieces in their homes like authentic Kokopelli wall art, dreamcatchers, medicine wheel, throw blankets, ceramic statues, Navajo pottery, and woven baskets.
4. Desert-Themed Art
Aside from Native American decor and furniture, Phoenix homes also have various artworks that depict the lives of American Indians, as well as picturesque desert sceneries. In some homes, they swap out the sideboards with a dresser and create a vignette, adding desert-themed figurines and accents to frame the wall art above.
A brilliantly-framed piece of art goes a long way, whether as a centerpiece to admire or as a conversation starter for you and your guests
5. Quirky Wall Designs
Phoenix homes have also been recently experiencing a resurgence of quirky wall designs through wallpapers and wainscoting.
The most common wallpaper designs include floral patterns – both in muted tones and loud, colorful ones. Other designs include animal patterns, nature, food, landscapes, and architecture. A tip: try putting a desert-themed wallpaper with cacti and desertscape prints.
Wainscots, on the other hand, can transform a room’s aesthetic simply with wood panels, paint, and the right creative thinking. One can consult an interior designer for this, but if you want an easy way to add dimension into your rooms, try making a monochromatic wall. With a simple wainscot design, paint the two sections of your wall with different shades of the same color.
6. Energy-Efficient Designs
Back to the topic of sustainability, it’s not only through environment-friendly products that homeowners in Arizona achieve it. Sometimes, even the way their homes are built help a lot.
Energy efficiency helps reduce a homeowner’s carbon footprint and their environmental impact on natural resources. That’s why most, if not all, Phoenix homes have high-quality windows that are insulated properly to help regulate the home’s temperature. Moreover, efficient window placements allow natural light in and reduce the need for artificial lighting within the house.
7. Work-from-Home Aesthetics
This is a fairly new trend in the interior design space, but one that’s highly significant. With the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, numerous companies went into lockdown and employees were forced to shelter in place to continue working. While several people who have generally been working from home were fine with it, a major part of the global populace struggled with adjusting to their new work setup.
Several years later, the WFH aesthetic has become a significant design consideration for modern homes, especially in Phoenix. The main thing to remember about this setup: it has to be video-conference-friendly. Since most WFH employees nowadays use tools like Zoom and Skype to contact and meet with coworkers, a beautifully designed, well-lit and well-ventilated room would make a great background to these video conferences. Plus, a work area without eyesores and stressors does wonders to productivity and mental health of the modern employee.
8. Multi-Functional Spaces
Quarantine life has also changed how people use their spaces at home, and homeowners in Phoenix are no exception. Now, multi-functional spaces are one of the more common interior design trends in Phoenix.
Some examples include a library that doubles as a home office, or a living, dining, workspace area all-in-one. In general, this design style does two things: (1) allows people to maximize their time in doing what they need to do, and (2) reduces the space they need to do them. This is a great design option for people with limited spaces and those who like to maximize the space they’re working with.
Homes in Phoenix, AZ are a testament to the beauty of a desert landscape. Sure, it can be harsh and arid, but deserts have their own kind of elegance underneath its sweltering surface. It’s up to the homeowner’s creativity how they want to highlight that and make a cozy, desert-themed space.
Want to try your hand at designing your home a-la-Phoenix style? Check out The Local Flea in Phoenix, AZ for furniture and decor pieces to adorn your Phoenix home!
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