The concept of Quiet Luxury is anything but a fashionable trend. It embraces the minimalist approach (albeit with interesting design detailing) and celebrates muted tones, inspired by the natural world, and tactile textures. In interior design as in fashion, Quiet Luxury avoids brash branding and loves natural fibres and tailored comfort. It’s easy to see how this movement has struck favour with those looking for more substance in their lives, and indeed in their homes.
Interior designer and founder of bespoke furniture design company Soft&Co, Brenda Hart, shares her industry know-how and insider tips on leaning into the movement that celebrates substance over style. “Quiet Luxury is an understated approach to supreme quality and an antidote to rampant consumerist design for newness’s sake. It embraces minimalist principles but loves providing comfort at every touchpoint,” explains Hart, who has built a formidable reputation as an interior design expert in both commercial and domestic spaces in her two decades of practice.
Hart’s own-design furniture under the Soft&Co brand is a showcase of her deep knowledge of the industry and of what clients want. It also highlights her commitment to working with the very best local craftsmen and materials available.
Tune into muted tones
There’s a reason why “greige” is once again one of the most popular interior paint colours – it’s a neutral that’s warm and that partner beautifully with so many other muted and refined tones. Pair this easy-on-the-eye shade with creamy whites and whisper grey tones and bring in bolder hues like charcoal and even mustard yellow for visual interest on key focal points and furniture.
Talk to texture
Varied textures and plush finishes are central to a Quiet Luxury living space and leaning into textures is a technique interiors mavens like Hart turn to for many projects. Luxury is a look, but it’s also about feel, and few elements speak to sumptuous luxury better than tactile textures, “think from the floor up, place furnishings with soft rugs underfoot, mix up quality textured upholsteries and curtaining, and delve into opulence with velvets or cashmere in detailed elements.
The curvy lines and bouclé fabric finish of the Diana Armchair and the organic shape and woven fabric of the signature Dusk sofa from Soft&Co’s Voguish collection are beautifully textured pieces that take any space from tasteful to 21st century.
Nature knows best
Lovers of Quiet Luxury embrace natural materials like timbers, marble, and stone, often pairing them with natural fibres like cotton and linen. Both her Voguish and Cosy Collections incorporate the timelessness of timbers and the warmth of leather and team them with marble detailing, elegant metalwork, and beautifully textured fabrics.
This appreciation for organic materials underpins one of the major principles of Quiet Luxury – that beautifully made, somewhat understated (but never boring) furniture, crafted in materials with substance will last for generations to come.
Less is more
The principles of “less is more” are in perfect alignment with Quiet Luxury, suggesting that balance can be achieved through well-considered design and that minimal intervention and pared-down lines help to create a soothing space. When it comes to dressing your space, stick to a few beautifully made signature pieces and build from there. Another crucial factor in minimalist spaces is to invest in furniture that is as functional as it is beautiful.
Quiet Luxury welcomes restraint but loves details and authenticity because the result should always be comfort. “Our reason for being at Soft&Co is to create spaces where people feel absolutely at home and using principles like these can go a long way to helping create spaces that are restful and effortlessly elegant,” says Hart.
