Bohemian interior design: how to get the boho look

Bohemian interior design, usually shortened to boho, is a warm, relaxed and personal style: earthy colors, layered rugs and cushions, rattan and jute, macramé, lots of plants and objects that look collected over years rather than bought in one trip. It’s one of the most forgiving looks to live with, but also one of the easiest to overdo. Here’s how to get the feel without the clutter.

Where the word comes from

“Bohemian” comes from the French bohémien, a term once used for Romani people, who were wrongly thought to have come from Bohemia in today’s Czech Republic. In 19th-century Paris the word was taken up to describe artists, writers and musicians living unconventional, often hard-up lives. Henri Murger’s stories of that world later inspired Puccini’s opera La Bohème.

The interior style picked up that spirit of creative, unconventional living. It took a big step forward with the 1960s and 70s counterculture, when travel, handcraft, floor cushions, macramé and houseplants became part of the look. Today’s boho is a softer, more curated version, but the idea is the same: a home full of things you love, from many places, arranged with a relaxed hand.

What makes a room read as boho

You don’t need all of these, but four or five together will do it:

• Layered textiles: a patterned rug on top of a jute rug, cushions in several prints, a throw over the sofa arm.
• Natural, woven materials: rattan, wicker, cane, jute, seagrass, macramé.
• Plants everywhere: trailing from shelves, hanging from the ceiling, big ones in woven baskets.
• Low, relaxed seating: floor cushions, poufs, a daybed.
• Collected objects: ceramics, baskets, vintage finds, things picked up on travels.
• Warm, low light from lanterns, string lights and woven shades.
• Walls with character: a gallery of mirrors, a woven hanging, framed textiles.

The cover image is the same living room in Cozee styled boho: a rattan peacock chair, a sofa piled with orange and ochre cushions, a round wooden table, a macramé-style beaded pendant, trailing plants hanging from above, a jute rug and a wall gallery of round mirrors and frames.

A warm, earthy palette

Boho colors come from sun-baked clay, spices and forests. Build on a soft neutral base so the color has somewhere to rest.

• Cream#F3E9DC
• Ochre#D9A066
• Terracotta#C26A3D
• Rust#8E3B26
• Moss#5B6B3A
• Cocoa#3E2A20

A useful rule: pick two or three main colors from that family and repeat them across cushions, the rug and art. A room can hold a lot of pattern if the colors keep returning.

Textiles do most of the work

If you change only one thing, change the textiles.

Rugs

Layering is classic boho. Put a large, plain jute or sisal rug down first for texture, then a smaller kilim, Moroccan-style or vintage rug on top. It’s also a practical trick: the big natural rug is inexpensive, the smaller patterned one doesn’t have to fill the whole room.

Cushions and throws

Mix prints, but keep a common thread. For example: one large-scale print, one small geometric, one stripe or plain texture, all in rust, cream and ochre. Add fringed or tasseled throws, mudcloth, block prints, velvet in a deep color.

Walls and windows

Linen or cotton curtains in natural tones, a macramé or woven wall hanging, or a vintage textile in a frame. Avoid heavy blackout drapes in dark synthetic fabric, which feel formal.

Furniture and signature finds

Boho furniture is usually low, comfortable and a little worn. Signature pieces:

• A rattan or wicker chair. The peacock chair, with its tall fan-shaped back, is the famous one; a hanging egg chair or a simple cane armchair works too.
• A deep, comfortable sofa in a warm neutral, cognac leather or a jewel-toned velvet.
• A round wooden coffee table, a carved side table or an old trunk.
• Poufs and floor cushions for extra, informal seating.
• Open shelving to show off plants, books, baskets and ceramics.

Mix eras and origins. A mid-century sideboard with a carved stool and a modern sofa is more convincing than a room bought from one “boho” collection.

Plants: more is (usually) more

Greenery is what makes boho feel alive. Use a mix of heights:

• Trailing plants (pothos, string of pearls, ivy) on shelves and in hanging planters.
• Big floor plants (monstera, bird of paradise, palms, fiddle-leaf fig) in woven baskets or terracotta pots.
• Small pots grouped on a windowsill.

The balcony above is calmer than full boho (the white sofas keep it fresh), but it shows how big leafy plants in woven baskets, clay vases and a round patterned rug start pulling a room in that direction. Add rust cushions and a rattan chair and it would be there. If you love this mood, see our jungle balcony ideas.

Lighting

Boho light is warm, low and a little playful:

• Woven rattan, seagrass or macramé pendants
• Paper or fabric lanterns
• Moroccan-style metal lanterns that throw patterned shadows
• String or fairy lights along a shelf or headboard
• Candles grouped on a tray

Avoid cold ceiling spotlights. Use warm bulbs and keep most lamps at or below eye level.

Boho vs eclectic

These two get confused constantly, and plenty of rooms sit between them.

Compare this with the cover. Both rooms have a gallery wall, pattern and a vintage feel, but the eclectic version uses bright, contrasting colors, while the boho one stays in a warm, earthy family.

Boho on a budget or in a rental

Boho is probably the cheapest style on this list to pull off, because it actively prefers secondhand.

• Thrift and flea markets are ideal for baskets, brass, ceramics, rattan and old rugs.
• Layer rugs over rental flooring. A big jute rug is inexpensive and hides a lot.
• Hang without drilling. Lean mirrors and art on a shelf, use removable hooks for lightweight hangings and plant hangers, or use a tension rod across a window for trailing plants.
• Swap lampshades for woven ones. It’s quick and reversible.
• Propagate plants from cuttings instead of buying lots of big ones.
• In a small space, pick one boho “moment” (a reading corner with a rattan chair, a rug, a lantern and plants) rather than doing the whole flat.

Common mistakes

• No calm base. If the walls, sofa and rug are all patterned, the eye has nowhere to rest. Keep the big surfaces quiet.
• Scattering instead of grouping. Twenty small objects spread around look like clutter; the same objects grouped on one shelf look like a collection.
• Buying it all at once. A whole room from one store’s boho range looks staged. Mix in old pieces.
• Cold colors. Grey walls and cool white light flatten the warmth.
• Plants as afterthought. Fake, dusty or tiny plants undermine the whole look. Fewer, healthy, bigger plants beat many sad ones.
• Forgetting function. Floor cushions are lovely, but you still need one proper seat with back support.

Try it in Cozee

Layering pattern and plants is a skill, and the quickest way to learn it is to try lots of combinations. In Cozee, a free interior design game, every Space starts as an empty 3D room, from snowy cabins to jungle balconies, and you fill it with real 3D furniture and decor: sofas, rugs, lamps, plants, art. Drag in a rattan-style chair, pile up cushions, add plants at different heights and see when it tips from cozy into crowded.

Other players rate each design you submit, and the community feed lets you see how other players styled the same room. If you’re new to the game, start with the beginner’s guide, and for every style compared side by side, read interior design styles explained.