Creating a Welcoming Home: Interior Design Tips for Nigerian Women

Did you just rent a new apartment or is your home looking too bare for your liking? At this point, what you need might just be interior design tips to give your abode a tone that suits your personality. Anyway, you’ve stumbled on the right article.

This guide is meant for young or newly wedded ladies who just got their first or new apartment. You surely want to create a welcoming ambience for your loved ones. At the same time, you also want to spruce up your apartment.

Very soon, you’ll discover a couple of interior design tips for your new home. Rest assured, with these tips, your space will have that aura you’re aiming for.

Table of Contents

7 Splendid Interior Design Tips for Nigerian Women

The key to decorating your apartment is to liken it to a blank canvas. Imagine those bare walls you’d want to display colours, pictures and artworks that personify your personality. That what’s interior design is all about.

So without further ado, here are some interior design tips that will give your home that needed spice:

Colour scheme

The colour of your living room is one of the most important decisions you have to make in your home. This is because your living room is where you’ll be doing the most socializing. In most homes, it is the one room guests see first or at all. So you must put all your creativity and best efforts into this room.

Additionally, your colour choice depends greatly on the sort of look you’re going for. For example, warm colours like creamy beige, shades of chocolate brown, neutral dessert hues and earthy reds bring earthy energy into your living room. A blend of any of these shades can make your home feel cosy like a beautiful cave.

Cool colours like white, sea blue, sky blue, or light green give off a feeling of calmness to your guests. If your space is small, white has this magical way of making your space look larger. These colour options apply to other rooms in the house as well. When it comes to interior design, it’s all about your tastes and colours.

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Furniture

When it comes to furniture, it’s best not to overdo it. If there is too much furniture your house tends to look jam-packed. However, you must make sure there is enough furniture so the house won’t look bare. It’s all about balance. While Italian or Western furniture is quite nice, consider going the traditional route.

For example, a wooden centre table and side tables and stools with African carvings. You could include intricate wooden chairs and stools popular in the Yoruba, Igbo and Ghanaian traditions as well. Most traditional furniture is made with colourful materials and when paired with a cool colour tone like white, makes your space vibrant and beautiful.

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Nigerian inspired decorations

Have you ever been to a local gallery, museum or art fair in Nigeria? If you have, you must have seen different art pieces like delicate pottery jars, vases, or little decorative plates. These art pieces are creative decor that can be used in your home. Nigerian-themed decorations have a lot to offer when it comes to decor.

Adire or Ankara-themed placemats on tables, little clay sculptures, picture mosaics, culture-inspired art paintings for your walls and the list could go on. Any of these decorations can easily be incorporated into your chosen decorative theme. It could be as simple as a traditional hammock on your balcony or garden.

You’ll find that Nigerian decor items add uniqueness to your space. All that vibrant colour and authenticity is a good way to go for your home. However, if this isn’t your taste you can always go for western decorations. Just make sure your decorations aren’t too bulky, or take up too much space.

The point of decorations or art in your home is to accentuate. Decorations are like salt or spice in a pot of soup. It amplifies the ambience you are creating. Therefore, it shouldn’t be overpowering.

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Curtains or blinds

The choice between curtains and blinds has always been a dilemma for homeowners. Most people prefer blinds because they are practical and a lot easier to maintain or clean. However, some people prefer curtains even though it is considered the hardest to maintain. For these two design options, there is no wrong choice, it’s all about preference.

If you’d prefer more natural light control and an option that cleans easily, then blinds would be better. However, if you’d prefer more design options when it comes to colours and patterns, a curtain would be the obvious choice. One more advantage of a curtain is its tendency to proof sound and insulate a room. So when it comes to these two, all you have to do is weigh the pros and cons.

Pillows or cushions

Nothing screams “cosy” or ‘welcome’ better than fluffy cute pillows to sink your tired body into. Having fluffy cushions in your living room and bedroom is always a good idea.

One useful suggestion for pillows and cushions is to have different colours of pillowcases and cushion covers. You could get many of them in different colours and themes. That way, you can always change the colour or setting of your rooms whenever you feel the need to.

Lightening (good windows)

Lightening in this case doesn’t just refer to bulbs or lamps but natural sunlight. You must get as much natural sunlight in your home for many reasons. One of the main reasons is that natural sunlight gives your space an airy and bright interior which increases feelings of happiness and positivity.

It also has health benefits such as an increased sense of comfort and it reduces eye irritation or headaches that could be caused by artificial lightening. While natural sunlight is lovely and filled with vitamins, there is still a need for artificial lighting at night. In this age and time, you shouldn’t be using boring old light bulbs when there are so many beautiful interior design alternatives for you.

Options such as Chandeliers, larva lamps or LED lights would be a nice touch.

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Greenery

Who doesn’t love flowers? Whether roses, tulips, lilies or just green plants, greenery is one interior design effect that you must have in your home. Nothing gives as much life to a home as flowers. That splash of added colour gives vibrancy to any sort of ambience you’re trying to create.

In other words, there’s a flower for every theme. If you feel that real plants would be too taxing to maintain, you can always buy fake plants. Although real plants have the added health benefit of supplying oxygen, fake plants can still have the desired interior design effect.

Aside from these tips, there are so many options to be explored when it comes to interior design. Some tips are well known and some might be considered weird or out of the box. But no matter how weird or strange your ideas are, just do you. Remember your home or space is like a blank canvas and it’s just waiting for a glitter of your personality.

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Conclusion

These interior design tips should serve as guidelines for you while you create an ambience that best personifies you. It may seem taxing, but keep in mind that interior design is all about personifying your tastes while ensuring balance in every aspect of it.

Edited by Priscilla Ajayi.

About Author

Chioma Akorah

Akorah Chioma Diana is a recent graduate from the University of Lagos. A creative and content writer, her love for writing began in her Junior Secondary School when she became interested in reading.

A 2021/2022 KANAC Creative writing winner, excerpts of her work can be found in the KANAC Anthology, Pride Magazine Nigeria, and Tush Media Magazine.