Maximalist

Where it comes from

A reaction against minimalism, drawing on Victorian and mid-century collecting alike.

Maximalism is not clutter — it is a lot of pattern and colour held by a strict underlying discipline, usually a repeated hue and a consistent scale. In a remodel the shell has to be strong enough to carry it: deep colour, good joinery, and walls that can take pattern.

Lighting

Many sources, all warm, several of them decorative in their own right.

What breaks it

• A single accent colour used alone
• Bare walls
• Cool white light
• Stopping halfway

Where to spend

Walls and ceiling together. Maximalism fails when the ceiling stays white — the fifth surface is what makes it deliberate.