Latin American Home Décor: Turning Your House into a Home

In the last years, Home Décor has witnessed significant growth, and the global market is expecting to reach $838.6 billion by 2027. Since the beginning of the year, COVID-19 brought substantial changes to our lives and forced us to spend more time at home. Many people modified their spending habits and started to invest in their homes to create beautiful and comfortable indoor-outdoor living spaces. As we change our priorities to live better and healthier, we have observed a rise in eco-friendly materials promoting a more sustainable living.

Latin American home décor is part of this new trend as artisan creations, and natural materials characterize it. If you want to join this movement and find some inspiration for your own home, you have come to the right place! The following guidelines will help you to create a warm atmosphere in your living spaces.

Handmade Heritage

We could talk about Latin American home décor for hours, both because we love it and features many artisan treasures. Uncountable cultures, ethnicities, and styles can be found in every corner of the region. All of them have fascinating similarities ― their love for color is one of them.

But we should also mention all the weaving and embroidering techniques native to the indigenous communities of this region. They see these arts as a way of transmitting their beliefs and telling stories about their identities. There are so much love and passion in what they do, and it becomes clear to anyone who sees their work. That is why these elements would fit incredibly with your house: they are full of good vibes and warmth.

These beautiful rugs from Alfombras étnicas were handwoven with sheep’s wool and dyed with natural pigments in the Andes.

The Color Palette of Latin America

One of the most iconic characteristics of Latin America is their love for colors. Joyful by nature, native cultures are all about vivid and spontaneous colors. If you love vibrant hues and comfortable surroundings, this is most definitely your perfect match.

Your best bet for a Latin décor palette is strong tones such as red, orange, blue, and green. These hues will evoke both fun and relaxing vibes into your house. For example, to recreate a beautiful sunset in Cancun, go for orange, hot pink, green, blue, and white. They will also give a warm touch to any room in your house.

Lighter colors will create a fresh ambiance and will contribute to making the space feel wider. If that’s what you’re looking for, the most appropriate colors would be blue, vivid greens, yellows, turquoise, and white. Other variations of citric palettes will have a similar effect while maintaining a Latin American atmosphere.

It is important to note how colors can be implemented in several elements. Latin Americans are known to be exotic and daring, so are their houses. Don’t be afraid of including color through your tiles, blankets, decorative pillows, or your wall décor.

Decorative pillows and rugs/ Alfombras etnicas

Natural materials and elements are a MUST!

Latin America has a wide variety of indigenous communities renowned for their craftsmanship. This results in pure love for artistry, present in most homes of the region.

Adding artisan accessories into your house will make you reach a perfect Latin American inspired home décor. What is beautiful about these elements is that they are all unique. No piece is the same as others since they are made by hand. They are also the result of hundreds of years of history and tradition. All of this will give your home a nice touch of kindness and creativity.

Handmade accessories come in every form and shape. It can be a woven basket made by hand in the Amazonas, a traditional hammock from the Warao communities in Venezuela, or decorative pillows from Peru. These are only a few ideas, but there are many more to choose from.

Kaleidoscope basket bowl – Presentlyn

These basket bowls were handwoven in Amazonas, a tiny village of 300 people on the banks of the Amazon River of Peru. The perfect piece to be hung on a wall or used to sit on a table.

Cascade PomPom Tassels – Presentlyn

Handmade in Peru, these tassels of pompoms are made with sheep’s wool or soft alpaca wool. A great option to incorporate a pop of color into your spaces!

Besides adding style and colors to your house, these home accessories represent a sustainable choice. Handmade décor is done with organic materials, natural fibers, and dyes, so it is eco-friendly.

For example, Andean communities from Peru use natural dyes from roots, leaves, fruit, and even insects. No chemicals are involved in the process, and the different shades obtained depend mainly on the local resources available. You can be happy knowing that your home décor did not and will not harm the planet.

Natural dyes, Peru – Picture by: sharptoyou/Shutterstock

Leveling up your walls

There are a million ways to give your walls personality. If used correctly, exposed cement or wooden walls can give an intriguing yet elegant touch. The results may vary from minimalistic to bohemian if you combine it with colors, but it’s always going to be pleasant and exotic.

Latin American artisans are not only famous for their weaving skills but also for their pottery and ceramics, which leads us to our next recommendation. Tiles filled with colors and patterns can be a good option for your bathroom, kitchen backsplash, or even stairs. It is up to you if you decide to do complete walls or only small portions.

Our favorites are Talavera Tiles, from Mexico. They find their origin in Puebla and have more than five hundred years of history. Representing fine ceramics and flawless techniques, they can be featured in outdoor and indoor spaces.

Their colorful designs are perfect for lightning up dull spaces and add some life to your favorite rooms.

Source: Colory Tradicion/Etsy

Another wall décor inspiration could be in the form of accessories or wooden elements such as straw hats or traditional artifacts. This is all about being creative, so don’t be afraid of mixing tradition into your home décor.

Lordag & Sondag

These decorative pieces from Lordag & Sondag are handmade in the State of Campeche, Mexico. The Wooden element is first hand-carved, and the rest of the circle is handwoven using jipi-japa fibers. These fibers are derived from the leaves of the Jipijapa plant, well-known for its flexibility and durability.

Zoom on Peruvian Textiles and hancrafted mirrors

Peru is one of our favorite destinations to look for home décor inspirations. Renowned for its textiles, handicrafts, and colorful fabrics, you will always find amazing pieces to decorate your house.

We’ve asked Fiorella Madsen, architect and owner of La Casa de Freja, to give us some recommendations on how to display Peruvian textiles and crafts properly in our home:

Peruvian Textiles

Peruvian textiles are characterized by their colors and designs, representing the idiosyncrasy of the artisan communities that make them by hand in the different regions of this country. The most popular in home decoration are undoubtedly the frazadas, which means blankets or bed covers. But these Frazadas are thick handwoven and heavy enough to be also used as rugs.

Frazadas are 100% sheep wool textiles woven by hand and hand-dyed in the rural villages of the Andes by Aymara women in Peru. They use old techniques inherited through generations, and it takes weeks to finish just one frazada. They are used to protect Andean people from freezing temperatures in the wintertime in their villages located over 9800 feet above mean sea level (3000 meters).

The versatility and thickness of these textiles allow them to be used to create new decorative elements such as cushions, poufs, or even to reupholster your furniture.

In this way, you can find them in the bedroom as a headboard, on the sofa as a blanket, at the foot of the bed, entrance hall, in nursery rooms. I mean, they go perfect anywhere!

Pictures by Fiorella Madsen La Casa de Freja

Peruvian hancrafted mirrors

Decorating with mirrors adds life to any space and a lot of personality. If you have a wall, and you would like to give life to it, then Peruvian handcrafted mirrors are a gorgeous choice.

These wall mirrors are hand carved in wood and hand-painted with flowers. The Peruvian art of painted glass (Cusco style) is reflected in these beautiful handmade mirrors. You can also find the sunburst mirrors with gold leaf applications on wood.

You can combine different sizes and shapes of mirrors that will enrich the design of the wall decoration. Combining a large size and a small one, in the same way, is a simple way to achieve a good result.

Pictures by Fiorella Madsen La Casa de Freja

Art and Souvenirs

Latin American art and souvenirs may also be a good resource for home décor. If you ever had the chance to visit any place of the region, it is almost sure that you came back with quite a few souvenirs. Arrange them on a coffee table or a piece of furniture and observe the difference in your home.

As you can see, Latin American home décor is an attractive decoration option and a different perspective of life. When you surround yourself with colors, life, and tradition, vibes do seem to get better. Give it a try and tell us, what do you like the most about it?

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