How to give your home a Designer Showroom Vibe

Do you ever go into a store or showroom and think… I could totally live here? I certainly have.

It’s always the showrooms that are light, bright, and perfectly set out that make me eager to pack my toothbrush, gather up the cats and move on in.

If you’re in the same boat and want your place to feel clutter-free, carefully curated, and with an impeccable designer edge, today I’m unlocking the secrets for you. And these images from the In Bed Showroom are going to do a lot of the work for me (you should totally check out their website after this read, btw!).

Showroom Vibes are Light and Spacious

There’s a sense of space in a showroom, and a lot of the furniture pieces are streamlined in a way that gives the impression of air moving through them.

This means that open shelving systems like the one above are your friend, but other pieces of furniture adopt this approach too. Sofas are lifted off the ground on thin legs, as are coffee tables. Lamps have shades that aren’t overly imposing, and dining tables & chairs also feel equally lightweight.

An open plan home is the best type to channel a showroom vibe, but if you’re in a closed-in space you just have to be mindful not to over-fill rooms with pieces. Steer clear of chunky legs and arms on the furniture you choose, because they’ll weight down the room and make it feel heavy.

The colour palette is subdued but not boring

Of course, not all showrooms are the same, but if you want to emulate the one in this post, you need to keep the colour palette muted.

As you can see, there are no bold moments here in the way of colour. It’s all quite calm as white dominates, light oak tones shine, and grey and black feature heavily. This forms the foundation palette, while muddy olive, tan and oatmeal shades (and some dusty blues) left to punctuate.

Often people wrongly assume that a clean or minimal feel is best achieved by keeping everything white, but that’s not true. A sense of calm comes from the tones used in a space, not the amount of colour you use (more on the best colours for calm in a home here). In this showroom, there are tonnes of colours. They’re just muted or muddy or dusty.

Often people wrongly assume that a clean or minimal feel is best achieved by keeping everything white, but that’s not true. A sense of calm comes from the tones used in a space, not the amount of colour you use

The devil is in the detail

Good showrooms have an impressive merchandising team, and boy do they know how to display stock perfectly. This is the key to getting your own place looking curated and designer.

Carving out little vignettes (pointers on how to style them here) is really important, and the two images at the top of this post are a great inspiration point. You’ll notice that even a simple stack of towels feels anything but boring; elevated by placing an exquisite brush on top. And notice it’s in a colour palette that ties with the rest of the space too.

That’s another key takeaway here…

Even the smallest accessories have a colour and texture that ties in with the surroundings. By choosing an open plan shelving system (you can get cheap ones like this from IKEA), it allows you to have pre-defined squares to style within. So the only challenge you’ll face is having the restraint to keep the colours and textures cohesive.

The coffee table above is also a nice idea; the books are laid out in a grid pattern which feels minimal, clean and orderly. Notice how the plants are also in a muted green tone?

Avoid the shimmer and shine

Stunning spaces like the In Bed Showroom you see here always feel high end. Every piece on a shelf or table has a handmade, designer feel to it. The decor has character, and doesn’t feel mass produced.

That’s often because the pieces are not mass produced. But there is another secret to getting your own place to feel this carefully curated and expensive. And that’s to avoid shimmer and shine.

Matte homewares always feel more refined

You’ll notice as you scroll through the images here that most pieces don’t feature a heavy gloss finish. I can’t explain the origins of this thinking. But I can tell you this: a gloss finish almost always feels cheaper than a matte finish.

You also want to veer toward rough surfaces in vases and vessels. Ceramics with a sense of rustic tactility always produce more interest and intrigue in a space.

Are you feeling the Designer Showroom Vibes?

I’d love to know if a curated designer showroom is the kinda vibe you’re digging for your own home. Drop me a comment below.

I’d also love to know: do you have any style secrets that have made your space feel less cluttered.

Andf you didn’t get a chance to explore the In Bed Showroom website yet, you can do so by clicking here. They sell loads of the products you see in this post and I am absolutely smitten with them.