Urban chic interior design: 5 ways to warm up city living

Urban chic is the look of a stylish city home. Clean lines, a calm neutral palette, a few striking pieces and a feeling of polish. It’s grown up, uncluttered and easy to live with.

Done coldly, though, it can feel like a show flat, beautiful to look at and hard to relax in. Here’s what defines urban chic, and five ways to make it warm.

What defines urban chic

Urban chic sits somewhere between modern and classic. It borrows clean lines and simple shapes from contemporary design, and a touch of glamour from more traditional rooms: a beautiful stone table, a brass lamp, a piece of art with presence.

The palette is neutral: stone, cream, warm grey and soft black, often with one accent colour. Materials are a mix of the sleek and the natural, such as marble, travertine, metal, glass, velvet, linen and wood. And because city homes are often small, everything is chosen carefully and earns its place.

It also has a little of the industrial look about it, with its love of metal and city character, which I’ve written about in Industrial interior design: 9 ways to soften brick, steel and concrete.

Why urban chic can feel cold

Too much hard, shiny surface. Glass, chrome and gloss everywhere, with nothing soft to balance it. A palette of cool greys. Furniture chosen to look good rather than to sit on. And a flat that could belong to anyone, with nothing of the person who lives there.

5 ways to warm up city living

1. Warm the neutrals, and mix sleek with natural

Swap cool grey for stone, oat, sand and warm white. They feel just as sophisticated, and far more welcoming in British light.

Then, for every smooth, polished surface, add something natural and textured. A travertine table with a wool rug. A marble worktop with oak shelves. A velvet chair with a linen curtain. The contrast is what makes urban chic feel rich rather than cold.

2. Choose one statement piece, and make it yours

A large painting, a sculptural lamp, a beautiful stone table. One piece with real presence gives a room its personality. Several compete with each other.

Around it, add books you’ve read, art you love, things from places you’ve been. A few personal pieces turn a polished flat into a home, and stop it looking like a hotel room.

3. Soften the windows

City windows are often large, and often overlooked. Sheer linen curtains, hung high and wide, filter the light, give you privacy and soften all that glass. They’re one of the quickest ways to make a polished room feel gentle.

4. Build in storage

City homes are often small, and clutter is the enemy of urban chic. Built-in cupboards, a bench with storage, a bed with drawers beneath. When everything has a home, the clean lines can do their job.

5. Light it like a hotel

Low, warm light from floor lamps, table lamps and wall lights, with dimmers wherever you can. Keep the overhead lights for cleaning day.

If you rent

Many city homes are rented, and urban chic suits renters well. Lamps, rugs, a statement piece of art, a good sofa and your plants all move with you. There’s more in 7 ways to make a rented home feel like yours, deposit safe.

Urban chic and rustic luxury

Rustic luxury, the one style Sunday Ambience designs in, is quieter and more rural, but the two share a great deal: calm neutrals, natural stone, beautiful wood and far fewer, far better things. A city home can take the rustic luxury feeling beautifully. Tell me you love the urban chic look and it becomes part of the brief.

If this is the home you’d like

Sunday Signature is a ready-made room designed in real depth, with photorealistic visuals and a pre-recorded walk-through with me. If you’d prefer something lighter, Room Ambience comes with one photorealistic visual of the finished room. Both are instant downloads, coming soon to the Sunday Ambience Etsy shop.

Any questions about the designs, send me a message through Etsy. I read every message myself.