Create a Sanctuary With The Calmness Style

by Carlisle Homes

Set a relaxing, soothing tone at home with our new Calmness decorating style.

Your home is your refuge – somewhere where you can close the door on the stresses of the outside world and recharge for the day ahead. If you’re looking to up the Zen factor at home and imbue spaces with a sense of calm, you’ll love our new Calmness interior style – a soothing mix of neutral tones, natural textures and contemporary touches.

It’s relaxed, inviting and thoroughly on-trend for 2022. You can see the Calmness decorating style for yourself at our Sacramento 31 display home at Sunbury’s Redstone Estate. Or recreate the look in your own home with these expert tips from our interior designers.

Soft, earth-drawn tones

Muted, neutral tones of greige, stone and off-white set the scene for laid-back elegance in the Calmness look. Create a gentle, layered effect by weaving them throughout a room, from floors and soft furnishings to window furnishings.

Keep it simple with block colours on walls and fabrics, and patterned wallpaper in neutral tones with minimal contrast.

Add clusters of richer hues

Introducing a small cluster of complementary colours such as toffee, burnt terracotta and olive adds interest and depth to a neutral-based scheme like Calmness. Think a medley of scatter cushions on the sofa, coloured bed linen, a display of ceramics on a shelf or mantelpiece, or a gallery wall of art.

Natural textures

Emphasise the earthy feel of the Calmness look with plenty of natural textures. In our Sacramento 31 display home, we’ve used large-format, textured floor tiles that evoke the look of blocks of rock salt in the open-plan kitchen/living/meals space, which we’ve then carried through to the bathrooms.

We’ve specified sofas in tactile, cotton upholstery fabric, with linen sheers at the windows. The meals area and lounge are cleverly zoned with richly textured jute rugs. In the master bedroom, a plain wall behind the bed is given the texture treatment with timber-battened panelling painted in a neutral shade. And we’ve added warmth and wow factor to the rumpus room with tactile, grass-weave wallpaper.

Touches of timber

Bring the outside in with touches of timber in a medley of different tones, just as you’d find in nature.

In our display home, you’ll see that we’ve used rich, charcoal-stained timber door and window frames on the ground floor, a timber screen to separate the meals and rumpus air, pale timber upper kitchen cabinets, and mid-tone timber side and coffee tables, which combine to create a wonderfully warm and inviting feel.

Kitchen takes centre stage

In today’s home, the kitchen is the hub of the home, where friends and family gathers and conversations naturally unfold.

In Sacramento 31, we’ve used the Calmness theme to create a relaxed and welcoming vibe, with a super-size island big enough for casual meals and food prep in luxurious Caesarstone Bianco Drift, and a walk-through butler’s pantry with plenty of space for storage and the same beautiful finishes as the kitchen.

To bring an organic, modern edge to the cooking space, the splashbacks in both areas are lined with super-fashionable kit kat mosaic tiles (slim, finger mosaics) in chalky white.

Bathroom as sanctuary

The Calmness theme is perfect for creating the sanctuary-like feel of a luxury day spa at home.

Create a cocooning vibe by running large-format, stone-look tiles from the floors to walls, as we’ve done in Sacramento 31. Emphasise the feeling of warmth with a tonal palette consisting of grey vanity joinery, a pale timber benchtop and warm white on the upper walls and ceiling.

Learn more about designing the perfect bathroom here.

Simple furniture shapes

When it comes to furniture selection in the Calmness look, focus on comfort and simplicity; pieces should be easy on the eye and a delight to sit on.

Look for deep-seated sofas and armchairs in simple shapes, upholstered dining chairs, robust, rounded coffee and side tables, and padded, upholstered headboards that allow you sit up and read or watch television in sublime comfort.

Nature-inspired art

Complete the nature-inspired look with large-scale botanical prints and landscape photographs in simple wooden frames, matt-finish ceramics with an earthy, handcrafted feel and plenty of greenery.