Until recently, stereotypical leopard print or tiger stripes were associated with rather cheesy interiors. However, the craze for ethno made them trendy again. And although they are still not easy to arrange, sometimes it is worth giving them a chance, especially in the case of exotic styles such as urban jungle or boho. If skilfully used, they can give the interior an interesting and – as befits their wild origin – “predatory” character.
Animal prints offer us quite a wide selection of various types of patterns. These can be spots like on a cheetah, but also those that giraffes can boast about, slightly resembling a Moroccan clover. Of course, we also have stripes – the extremely “predatory” ones in the tiger version or in a slightly subdued black and white option borrowed from the zebra. Therefore, there is a lot to choose from, but the question is, what to match them to?
Between the savannah and the jungle
Decorations using animal patterns will certainly do the job as an addition in the urban jungle style. Pillows, graphics and small ornaments based on leopard or tiger stripes will be the perfect complement to live exotic plants. Thanks to this, our “home jungle” will become „wilder”, and intense patterns will break the green monotony.
Various shades of beige and brown, reminiscent of a sun-drenched savannah, will also be a good company for animal prints. It is worth adding to such a combination some furniture made of rattan or exotic types of wood such as mahogany or ebony. Dapples and stripes will also go well with boho-style decorations, emphasizing their eclecticism and ethnic character.
Patterned accessories, a serene background
Perhaps the greatest fear of introducing animal prints results from the fact that they will “clash” with other elements of the decor. Dapples and stripes are unlikely to get on well with other expressive patterns. In this case, it is better to choose smooth materials in shades of green, white and brown. A certain exception to this rule may be prints with drawings of exotic plants – such as palm leaves or monstera leaves. Accessories in the colour of patinated gold should also work well. But still, in this case, let’s remember that sometimes “less is more”.
With such intense patterns, it is worth making the rest of the interior more subdued – both in terms of colours and texture of materials. When choosing panels, our Choice collection can be a good solution, as each decor comes in two versions. The first of them – Select – is more delicate and elegant. The second one, Rustic, includes boards with more clearly defined grains. Thanks to this, we can choose which option suits us better – so if we like patterned decorations, it is worth considering a more subdued background.
Zebra pattern – a timeless duo of black and white
If animal prints tempt us with their intensity and energy, but at the same time we do not have the courage to include patterned dapples in our interiors, we can find a kind of compromise in the form of a zebra pattern. The timeless combination of black and white makes it much easier to introduce it to our arrangement. At the same time, however, it is such an expressive pattern that it can enliven the interior in an interesting way.
Unlike other animal patterns, in the case of zebra we can afford a little more freedom in covering larger areas with it. With a subdued decor, it can be a “striped” decor even on the entire wall. But then we should remember – let’s be careful with other colours!
Another interesting solution is introducing the zebra pattern with a few additions, such as textiles, paintings, flowerpots, and then repeating this monochrome pattern in other elements of our interior. It can be, for example, a black door against a white wall or a combination of a dark floor with light walls. In the CLASSEN offer, such a shade of the door is provided, for example, by the Linea Premium Loft collection. We can refer to the pattern of stripes even more by choosing doors in a dark colour, but with the addition of glazed fragments on their entire surface. These can be, for example, Asteria NL doors in graphite, Malaga in an anthracite oak shade or Tosca (also in an anthracite oak version).
