Decorating with prints is a great way to take your home’s decor to the next level. In order to do this, you have to make sure that the patterns you choose don’t clash with the rest of your decor and can fit in your home’s aesthetic seamlessly. There are a number of prints you can use in your home, with the following being South African favourites:
1. Traditional prints
South Africa is a diverse country with 9 ethnic groups that each have their own traditional garb and patterns. Using African prints as decor is not a new trend, as many ancestors of the various tribes of South Africa not only wore traditional printed clothing but also had items of significance painted or decorated with various patterns in their homes.
Ndebele prints
Ndebele prints are a great example of this. The Ndebele tribe of South Africa is known for its beautiful colourful geometric shapes. These are painted on their houses, with Ndebele artist Esther Mahlangu popularizing Ndebele art by decorating cars such as BMWs, Rolls Royces and other contemporary items.
Can you imagine having Ndebele art statement pieces in your home? Add vases, rugs, painting, or placemats that are decorated with Ndebele art. This will add pops of colour, and give your home an African artsy vibe.
Seshoeshoe Sotho prints
The Sotho tribe of southern Africa wears traditional clothing known as seshoeshoe (pronounced seshweshwe). Seshoeshoe comes in an array of patterns and colours, although blue, brown and red are the standard colours.
One way to decorate your home with seshoeshoe is to buy a traditional Sotho blanket (known as a seanamarena) and use it as a throw on your couch. The patterns will add to your decor, and you can even pick a blanket that matches your home’s colour scheme.
South Africa is such a diverse country, so if you’d like to explore other traditional prints to use as decor in your home, you can also add decor prints from the Zulu, Tsonga, Venda, Pedi, Swati, Xhosa and Tswana tribes.
2. Animal prints
Animal prints are a decor trend that may never go out of fashion. Decorating the home with animal hide has been an African tradition for centuries, and seeing how visually pleasing animal hide rugs look, it’s no surprise that this has carried over into the modern world.
If having the hide of a dead animal on your floor isn’t your kind of thing, you can always purchase a faux hide rug. It’ll give you the same look that a real one would at a significantly lower cost. There are also other faux animal printed objects to use as decor in your home, such as printed pillows, throws, paintings, lamps, tables and many more.
Remember that when it comes to animal prints, less is more. It’s very easy for your home to look tacky, cheap and overdone if there are millions of different animal prints in it.
3. Floral prints
Floral prints are simple. Also, flowers don’t go in and out of fashion every year. Flowers are a constant, making them a timeless choice to have in your home.
A great way to add floral prints to your home is to add some floral wallpaper, add some floral prints in a frame and hang it up on the wall, or buy decor objects that have floral prints on them.
4. Geometric prints
Geometric prints are the ‘in thing’ in interior design. Having been used for decades in decorating, they’re a fantastic way to bring life into a space, with the various geometric patterns looking hypnotic and futuristic. Geometric prints also add dimension and texture to the home, making them good to use if you want to make a certain space feel more expansive or add personality into a dull and boring room.
Decor doesn’t have to be predictable and boring. You can increase your home’s visual appeal by adding traditional African prints, animal prints, floral prints or geometric prints to your existing decor items.
