Maximalist Decor Inspiration: Achieving BIG DECOR ENERGY in Your Small Space
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Want some maximalist decor inspiration for your small space?
I don't know about you, but when I walk into my apartment and look around at my interior styling choices, I want to feel that Big Decor Energy. You know? I want my style to be big even though my space is small. 🤏 Just self-assured styling, bold choices that express who I am; Big Decor Energy. 😏
Just because your space is small, doesn’t mean your personal interior style has to be!
In this post, I’m sharing 3 key things to focus on when decorating your small apartment or small home in the maximalist home decor style, so that you can create a beautiful dramatic space without it feeling cluttered.
Also, I’ll be featuring some gorgeous maximalist Instagram accounts along the way, so get ready for some serious maximalist interior design inspiration. 🤩
And you’ll see that living in a small space doesn’t disqualify you from enjoying maximalism!
Because we all know, it’s not the size that matters, it’s how you decorate it. 😉
Would you rather watch than read? Here’s the video! ↓
Personality & Maximalism
I'm kicking things off by talking about what I think is the most important aspect of maximalism: personality. Because your specific personality should be at the center of all of your maximalist styling choices. Before you think about how you'll eventually arrange things or about how you'll avoid clutter in your small space, put your personality front and center first!
What do you love? What do you geek out about? What makes you you?
I've given this tip countless times on my YouTube channel, but it's more pertinent than ever when talking about maximalism. Because you don't want your maximalism to be hollow—just a bunch of pretty things that mean nothing to you.
I mean, if you want to talk about clutter, being surrounded by a bunch of things that hold no meaning to you is clutter.
So put yourself at the center of your styling choices!
And one Instagram account that really exemplifies personality-driven maximalism is @enchanting_the_haus_.
Her styling is exactly what I’m talking about when I say Big Decor Energy. I mean, look at how unabashed she is! I look at her space and I think, “This is a woman who knows herself, who doesn’t try to fit herself into societal norms”.
Her space is beautiful, yes, but there’s an air of defiance to it that I love. And every inch of her space tells me something about her. I mean, I’m not going to claim to fully know her because of her decor, but when you have a skeleton Girl With a Pearl Earring and a neon sign that says “Save a Vampire, Give Blood”, that tells me some things!
And her goth take on maximalism can totally work for a small space. From what I can tell, her space is pretty small—she lives in a council home in the UK, so I don’t think she’s working with an abundance of space.
So here’s what you can take away from this:
Clutter won’t feel like clutter to you if you put your personality at the center of your styling choices and then mindfully arrange things from there—like @enchanting_the_haus_ has done.
She has a lot going on in her space, no doubt about it, but I can tell that every single item in her home has been placed with care and intention.
Also, let her home be a lesson in how dark walls and an overall dark vibe can actually be great for a small space. I don’t care what you hear—this whole thing about darkness making a room feel smaller? That’s a myth.
It’ll only make a room feel smaller if you don’t want your room to be dark, which is just a matter of preference, not fact.
And in the case of @enchanting_the_haus_, her darkness is accented with bright pops of color, which adds dimension and depth to her space.
So, if you want some stunning inspiration for more of a goth, rock-and-roll take on maximalist decor—with a side of perpetual Halloween—go give @enchanting_the_haus_ a follow and really take in the ways she infuses her personality into her home. Then think about how you can do the same with things that are unique about you!
Maximalist Wall Decor
So, okay—maybe your apartment is so tiny that you physically cannot fit enough items into your space in order to convey maximalism. That’s completely okay! Because the majority of your maximalism can totally take place on your walls—no extra floor space or surface area required.
This is where wallpaper, a gallery wall, or any kind of wall-oriented statement can come in and do the majority of the maximalism heavy lifting for you.
I'm personally partial to a big peel-and-stick wallpaper statement wall, which is what I have in my living room.
I mean, if you look around my living room and imagine it without the wallpaper, it's really not super maximalist. There's drama, sure, and frankly I think drama, personality, and attitude play more of a role in conveying maximalism than physical stuff does.
But my living room doesn't fully get into maximalist territory without this wallpaper. And obviously, zero additional square footage was required to do this!
So, when decorating your small space in the maximalist decor style, after considering your unique personality first, look to your walls. What can you do with them?
You could go absolutely balls to the wall with your wall decor—so to speak—like @ellashausofcolour does!
I mean, she looked at her walls and said, “Not a single inch of these walls will see the light of day again” haha. And I love that. We have another woman here who approached her space with that Big Decor Energy and said, “I know who I am. I know what I like. And I’m here to play with pretty things.”
Anyone who does a wallpaper statement wall and a full-blown gallery wall side by side is someone I probably want to be friends with.
And her gallery wall is anything but cluttered. It’s a lot, and it may be too much for a lot of people to do in their own homes, but you cannot say this gallery wall is clutter. It’s arranged with, like, mathematical precision. Think about the amount of planning and strategy that had to go into it—she basically completed a puzzle on her wall, and each piece is a piece of her.
It’s a wall-mounted autobiography that tells you things about her, which brings us back to the personality aspect that’s so important for this style.
I'm a huge proponent of decor as autobiography. We can use decor to tell our stories and say things about ourselves without words.
That’s one of the things I love so much about interior styling, especially as an introvert. Sometimes, I just really don’t feel like talking—so I let my decor do the talking for me.
And @ellashausofcolour is doing a lot of talking, including conveying her sense of humor—which maximalism is so great for as well! Like her neon sign that says, “I’ll get over it, I just need to be dramatic first.” It’s hilarious. And a little bit too relatable for me. 🙃
All in all, think about your walls as precious real estate in your small space, where you can express yourself and your sense of humor—without dealing with the constraints of limited square footage.
And as you can see with @ellashausofcolour, her maximalism mostly takes place on her walls, not as much throughout the floor space she moves through. And she does this masterfully! So, I highly recommend you go give her a follow.
Color Theme & Maximalism
Now, in addition to expressing your personality and focusing on your walls, the third thing I'm going to talk about is color theme.
Not just color palette—color theme.
In past videos, I've suggested picking a primary color and an accent color to repeat throughout the space in order to bring cohesiveness to it. This approach is especially useful for maximalism in a small space because it helps you control the visual chaos that can easily happen with this style.
Of course, you can totally use color with reckless abandon when it comes to maximalism. The beauty of this interior style is in its freedom, so you can go as crazy with color as you want!
But in a small space, we usually have to be a bit more strategic with our styling choices. We want the freedom and boldness of maximalism, but we don't want to feel like it's suffocating us. So sticking with a color theme can help us maintain peace amidst it all. And a perfect example of this is @violetmayhome!
She has such an exquisite blend of patterns, art, textures, and objects throughout her space—but does it feel chaotic? I don’t think so. And I attribute this largely to her color theme.
See how her has a lot going on yet still feels cohesive? It's because of her green and black color theme. Sure, there are other colors involved—I'm not telling you to be, like, psychotic about sticking to only two colors haha—but it's all unified by the dominant presence of green and black.
And if you think about it, pulling back in this one way with color ends up allowing you a lot more freedom to play with other creative decor choices.
Look at her wallpapered ceiling, for example. First of all, absolutely stunning. Second, see how it plays perfectly into the color theme yet also gives us a little something unexpected? It's predominantly green and black, and then you have a bit of a muted rosy color in the flowers. Her colors harmonize together, and any moments of dissonance feel intentional—like jazz.
And aside from color theme, I want to take a moment to appreciate the disco ball sparkle fairies she employs. If you're doing maximalism, a disco ball is always a good idea. Especially in a small apartment, where sparkle fairies take up no additional space, yet they provide a big, bold moment of pure prettiness.
Now give @violetmayhome a follow if you want to dive deeper into her use of color—she does it beautifully.
So, those were 3 important aspects to focus on when doing maximalism in a small space!
Of course, there are many other things to consider when it comes to maximalism. It's a very multi-faceted style. I could probably write a book on it. But these 3 things are a good starting point!
And just remember—no matter how small your space is, you can do maximalism. It may have to be your own version of it, but I've said this before, and I will say it again: Maximalism is about attitude, not just stuff.
No matter what size your space is, it's all about approaching your styling with that Big Decor Energy. 😉
And if you want some more maximalism inspiration, I recommend you watch this video of mine next! It’s all about achieving maximalism in studio apartments specifically. But my tips really can apply to any kind of space, so whether you live in a studio or not, there's plenty more maximalist tips and inspiration in this video!
