Southwest Style is Out. High Desert Interior Design is In.
If you’re considering building or remodeling a high desert home, you’re probably already aware of the unique architectural features of these remarkable properties. High desert homes are sleek modern and allow us to take advantage of sustainable building practices.
Why Worry About Interior Design?
While you're probably already thinking about the exterior of your house, it’s never too early to start designing the inside spaces, too, especially in a high desert home, where the line between indoor and outdoor is deliberately blurred.
What is desert interior design?
If the words “desert interior design” conjure in your mind visions of patterned wool blankets, cow skin rugs, and chunky wooden furniture, then you need to banish that problematic aesthetic from your design vocabulary once and for all. Desert modern interior design has moved on.
Where Southwestern design is cluttered, high desert interior design creates space. Where the Southwestern style can be dark, the desert style is light. Where Southwesternism feels traditional, desert modernism feels fresh.
What is desert modern?
Places like Joshua Tree, Pioneertown, and Yucca Valley have long been havens for vagabonds and creatives seeking inspiration and relaxation.
In recent years, with remote work on the rise, a new group of young professionals has flocked to these desert spaces, and they’re bringing their minimalist modern aesthetic with them.
In the 15 years that we’ve lived out here, we’ve watched this place transform into a space that's hungry for intelligent, high-tech housing solutions that support, rather than exploit, the surrounding environment. A house in the high desert combines trending design with nature to experience the natural world, beautifully framed.
What is modern desert design?
High desert interior design is all about creating sustainable, beautiful homes. At Mojave Architects, we understand the desert: we use locally-sourced, eco-friendly building materials and work with local professionals to create structures that fit flawlessly into the existing landscape.
We believe the interior design of your home is a seamless extension of the exterior, so when you think about desert modern interior design, embrace locally sourced, artisanal textiles along with native plants and other natural elements.
How can I create a modern look?
Consider raw wood sourced from a local carpenter instead of a varnished big-box kit for your dining room table. Create a desert chic living room by incorporating elements like cacti, succulents, and stone into your decor.
Sliding and swinging panels enable spaces to flow from indoors to outdoors seamlessly. They also allow people to move effortlessly between rooms, even in a crowded social space like a large gathering where you might have more than a few guests!
What colors are in the desert?
While the color palette of this landscape might appear limited at first, upon closer inspection, you’ll find inspiration for desert home colors by observing the surrounding country.
White sand, yellow sandstone, and stone gray might compose your base palette. From there, you can add accents of terracotta, silver-blue agave, or lush cactus green.
A stunning palette to draw from when seeking inspiration for your desert chic bedroom or primary suite is the ever-changing sky. If you’ve witnessed a sunset here, you know that blue isn’t your only option: mauve, rose, orange, and lavender could be incorporated to warm up a desert-style bedroom, guest bedroom, or any room that needs a splash of color.
What is desert chic?
The hallmarks of desert chic decor are neutral colors, minimalism, and bohemian accents. We layer subdued colors and textures like stone, sand, and linen to create a simple and luxurious space.
The living room is a space where people are reluctant to incorporate desert modernism, fearing that the minimalist aesthetic is too “bare bones” to be comfortable in a social area. However, pairing the clean lines of your furnishings with high-quality fabrics will make your desert-themed bedroom cozy and chic.
What is desert decor called?
This decor goes by many names - high desert interior design, desert modernism, high desert decor, desert chic, or desert style. "New boho,” “desert bohemian,” or “desert boho” are also used to describe this aesthetic.
As we stated previously, the “Southwestern” style is not the same as this style. Southwestern style has been deemed problematic, as it appropriates cultural elements from Indigenous people.
Consider your next interior design project to take a page from High Desert Interior Design. You might just be surprised with how much you’ll enjoy your new environment!
Contact us by booking a consultation today to see how we can help bring to life your own touch of High Desert Interior Design!