California Casual Den Style
There’s a cool, contemporary, casual style that would be perfect for decorating your den, it’s California casual. While casual enough to hang out in with bare feet and cutoffs, it can also entertain in style, California casual is a style all its own, combining bits and pieces of:
- Mid Century Modern decorating;
- Contemporary style;
- A bit of glitz and glamour; and
- Environmentally friendly decor.
The result is a casual den that can step up to the plate to take on entertaining. How do you manage to get this eclectic style working for you?
Flooring
Hardwood floors in a rich, deep color bring drama to the room while keeping it from being too formal. Deep area rugs bring a touch of luxury in while defining seating areas. For a more contemporary room, try a plush white area rug for a clean, modern feel.
Furnishings
The furniture is quality with clean lines but comfort takes front and center stage. Furniture is chosen carefully without overfilling the space, keeping the look of the room light and breezy, with a touch of glamour thrown in.
Mid-Century and Eames era furnishings are perfect for the California casual style, there are plenty of pieces in the secondhand market to make this look affordable. While you can expect to pay big bucks for the designer pieces, there are plenty of attractive pieces that can be found at auctions, estate sales and consignment shops. Not everyone decorates in this style, as it’s quite distinctive, so seating and tables in particular are plentiful and budget friendly.
Accessories
Accessories can make the style of the room lean any which way. International accessories can bring the hot global ‘one world’ style to the den, while the trendy decorating accessories for the 2009/2010 season have metallic finishes and can bring some glitz to the room.
Fabrics
Environmentally friendly fabrics take center stage for California style dens, but they need to be durable and easy to clean for the den, while able to take on some casual entertaining, making leather seating the perfect choice for this easy, breezy style.
California casual decorating can slip right into a den in any part of the country. Its light, airy and contemporary style help it go from a casual room for television watching to evening entertaining without a second thought.