Hi there people, today's topic is very very interesting for me because i think this is quite new. Today we'll be talking about the basic of Styles in Interior Design Industry together with an additional element, YUP, you guess it, AQUARIUM!
While i was finding topic about the new blog, i came to realize that not a lot of people actually do a proper mix and match of Aquarium with their interior style. Most people tend to get creative with their interior but not on the aquarium. I see a lot of aquariums are alienated by the interior style because: 1) They choose the usual aquarium elements with colors that doesn't match one another, and worse kills off the color vibe of the room, 2) They dont choose the color of the fish properly, like they always add in clown fish, i mean WHY THOUGH? Finding Nemo was 15 years ago, move on!
Aquarium style have LOTS of variant, they also have the minimalist, the jungle style, the dutch style, japanese nature style, iwagumi style, the biotopes style, the paludarium styles, the reef styles, and so on. And honestly as a designer, it is painful to see a lot of interior got wrecked because of the mistake in mix matching with the aquarium.
SO, to help you guys, i decided to create A CHEAT SHEET INTERIOR MOOD BOARD that will include:
1) The color palette of that certain interior style.
2) Images of the interior of that certain interior style.
3) The aquarium that i personally think will match that certain interior style.
1. SCANDINAVIAN STYLE
To explain Scandinavian style very briefly, this style has a very subtle and gentle sets of color palettes, often with shades of grey, shades of brown and a touch of pastel. Many Scandinavian design uses the Bauhaus Principles which is characterized by lines, geometry, object proportion and populist appeal.
Moving on, your choice of aquarium style should be either the Japanese Iwagumi style or the minimalist Japanese Nature style which was popularised by the founding father of aquascape, Takashi Amano.
Japanese Iwagumi style is characterized by a series of stones arranged according to the Golden Ratio, or Rule of Thirds. The tanks may imitate a natural landscape, with a common theme of simplicity and open space. There are limited colors in plants & stone, and the number of varying flora and fauna is kept to a minimum to create minimalism.
Minimalist Japanese Nature Style is characterized with the recreation of various terrestrial landscapes—hills, mountains, valleys, and so on. Usually the nature style has a lot of green plants inside it. The minimalist one though is more of the tree branches from the river banks and stones, and less of the greens.
I personally think that it is important to minimize the color variant of your aquarium to match the atmosphere of a scandinavian style interior and focuses more on the scales and placement of the elements inside your aquarium.
2. BOHEMIAN STYLE
Bohemian style interior captures the adventurous and free spirit of the avant garde lifestyle. Different from Scandinavian style, It employs the richness of patterns and bold, vibrant hues, as well as layer of textiles (throws,pillows,rugs) to express the laid back ambiance. Immense amount of plants are often added to the Bohemian interior, sometimes even more than the furniture itself! you'll also notice, a lot of Bohemian interiors possess ethnic or nomadic vibes, especially on the Moroccan, South western, or tribal inspired design that are currently trending.
In my opinion, your choice of aquarium style should be either Paludarium or Jungle style Aquarium. I think this will compliment well with Bohemian Interior because it somehow will add on to the 'purposeful messy' and nature ambiance of the room.
Paludarium is where there is 50-50 of both the land and water inside the same environment. They are usually made to imitate habitats such as tropical rainforests, jungles, riverbanks, bogs and so on. In paludarium, the tank is partially filled with water. This allows plans such as Cyperus alternifolius and Spathiphyllum wallisii, as well as various Anubias and some bromeliads, to grow emersed,
Jungle style aquarium, the name is quite self explanatory yes? This style emphasize to create a natural and nearly chaotic subject. As a result, one of the great appeal of the Jungle aquascape is the freedom of choice when creating the scene.
3. INDUSTRIAL STYLE
Industrial style is inspired from the industrial era back in 1760s til 1840s, which emphasis the broad use of exposed steel with distressed wooden elements and exposed brick walls. Nowadays it is common to include copper-tone accent to give the rustic and mature accent.
Due to its raw and exposed expression of material, sometimes Industrial style is seen as a style that is unfinished, that will need low maintenance in the future. Which is why my pick for aquarium style would be Biotopes style.
Biotopes Style aquariums are usually somewhat easier to setup and maintain. It is often designed for biologists to study environments that would be challenging to study by replicating the exact particular aquatic habitat at a particular geographic location, which is why it is not necessary to provide a garden like display.
4. MINIMALIST STYLE
The minimalist just like how it sounded, is the type of interior that minimize the need to add on and cut out all the unnecessary, paring things down to the very basic. The minimalist trend was born back in the early twentieth century, it was initially influenced by the simplicity of Japanese design, where it goes around the principle of 'less is more'. The use of color in minimalist room is limited to black,white and primary colors. The idea is not to distract the simplified hues of the room.
My choice of aquarium for a minimalist room will have to be a salt water aquarium. Due to the minimalist range of colors, the blue hue from salt water aquarium compliments the monochromatic color of the room. The aquarium adds on the sophisticated, sleek and luxurious feel to the room.
Salt water aquarium style typically focuses on mimicking a reef. An arrangement of live rock forms the main structure of this aquascape, and it is populated by corals and other marine invertebrates as well as coralline algae, which together serve much the same aesthetic role as freshwater plants
5. MID-CENTURY MODERN
Just like how it is named, the mid-century modern style was first started mid 1900s, it was when post-war Americans was finding ways to break the traditional design conventions and move its design industry into the modern era. The design style is characterized by refined lines, minimalist silhouette, bits of blues and greens, and plenty of wood and rusty metals.
The best aquarium style to match the warm color tone of Mid-Century Modern is gotta be Dutch Style Aquarium. The dutch aquarium being the oldest of all aquarium style focuses on the arrangement of plants rather than the hardscape like stones and woods. It is characterized by high density, rich contrast and subtle use of color and texture. Like capturing autumn scenery into a box of glass.
