How To Steal Bryce Dallas Howard's Feminine And Retro-Inspired Home Style

Bryce Dallas Howard, known for her roles in films like "Jurassic Park" and "The Village," as well as her directorial work on shows like "The Mandalorian" (via IMDb), recently took Architectural Digest on a tour of her four-bedroom California home (per Architectural Digest). Howard, who is also the daughter of legend Ron Howard, shows off her retro-futuristic style, melding a number of eclectic influences, both new and old, to create a vibrant space-age meets Cretaceous period vibe. 

The home, where Howard lives with her husband, actor Seth Gabel, and their two children, feels like you've stepped back into a futuristic vision of the past while still maintaining all the modern elements that make a home fun and functional. Howard and Gabel had the helping hand of a family friend, designer Claire Thomas, who helped them choose just the right pieces and elements to reflect what Howard likes to call "glamorous Cretaceous" style, a reference to the number of plants and greenery that dot the home (via YouTube). If you would like to bring a little of Bryce Dallas Howard's style into your own home and incorporate her retro-futurist décor scheme, there are a number of things to keep in mind for instant results. 

Howard's style is an eclectic blend of influences, ranging from her and her husband's love of sci-fi entertainment franchises like "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" to 1980's inspired glamour. The diversity of elements blends seamlessly due to several key similarities in terms of shape, line, and color palette that make even very dissimilar styles work together. Here, Art Deco and Bauhaus elements in Gabel's office flourish with antique pieces like a neon clock and space-age lighting. Because they complement the shapes and color of the room, the custom Picasso-inspired drapes are a perfect fit. By using similar lines, shapes, and colors, the room feels cohesive and intentional. There are touches of other influences as well, including the Asian-inspired wallpaper of the dining room and the glam pink velvet sofa in the living room, per YouTube.

If you have a love of dissimilar styles and are wondering how to tie them together, consider blending elements that mirror each other. The curved and modern lines of Art Deco furniture from the early 20th century mix well with more space-age-inspired pieces of the '70s and '80s. Look for elements, whatever their era, that incorporate the same or similar color palettes, which will magically seem to have been made for each other when placed together. According to Retro Den, mixing styles and eras gives rooms a much fresher look than strictly sticking to a single period. 

Howard tells Architectural Digest that her color palette of choice to dominate the home was pink and green, which crops up in a number of shades and variations throughout her home, via YouTube. These two colors, along with the teal décor of the office and dining room, fit seamlessly together. The pink dinosaur wallpaper in her vanity area not only mixes these colors with a fun, vintage vibe but reflects Howard's love of dinosaurs after her "Jurassic Park" role. The entire home is filled with rich patterns created by wallpaper, including the dining room's dreamy floral that resembles a Japanese forest. 

Wallpaper use is a rising trend, though this is not quite your mother's wallpaper from the '70s. Paper now comes in a rich array of patterns and colors that are vintage-inspired but still very modern. If an entire room is too much, consider a single area or accent wall in the room to add texture and dimension (via A Beautiful Mess). While color palettes may vary from room to room, repeating certain colors throughout makes the entire home feel unified by them. 

Howard's home is filled with sculptural furniture pieces such as lamps and sofas. Howard tells Architectural Digest that she sought to emphasize roundness in her spaces, which included curved and organic upholstered pieces, with additions like cylindrical throw pillows that echo her desired retro-futuristic style. Many of her light fixtures and lamps are designed by Lightology and have a sculptural art feel that goes beyond the simple utilitarian function of lighting the room. Her terrazzo and flecked concrete tables and counters, designed by the Australian company Concrete Collaborative, are not only unique but offer great texture to the living room and bathrooms, per YouTube.

If you'd like to bring similar sculptural notes into your home, consider varying shapes and materials that go beyond the expected ones. If you are looking for a retro-modern feel to make your rooms stand out, seek out rounded upholstery pieces, either vintage or newly made, to resemble vintage or antiques like Howard's. Think about how even the most ordinary objects, like Howard's many lamps and her Baby Yoda garlic holder, can also be works of art.

By its very nature as retro-futurist style, Howard's home has a new-meets-old aesthetic, but this is also carried through in where she finds elements for the home, including its mix of antiques and vintage items with new pieces from retailers Serena & Lily and Anthropologie that have a similar vintage feel (via YouTube). Instead of ripping out existing tiles and counters, Howard decided to make them work by adding other elements to the kitchen to enhance the vintage feel while working with what was original to the newly built house. The house also features several bonafide antiques, like the large Asian-inspired artwork in the entryway, various knick-knacks throughout, and the neon clock in the office space. 

If you are unable or unwilling to make major renovations to your space, think of ways even the less desirable elements you may be stuck with can work with pieces you love. Many elements that are builder-grade or out of date can be jazzed up by what you put in a room with them. If you love antique pieces but can't find what you're looking for in the right price range, do not be afraid to take advantage of new reproductions or custom items that may be just what you are looking for. According to The Honeycomb Home, the mixing of pieces keep the space from looking too much like a museum.

While at first glance, a visit to Howard's home might feel a bit like you've been taken back to a space-age film set, Bryce Dallas Howard liberally uses several unique and personal elements to round out her décor. For example, her home features a set of pet paintings of the family's animals and quirky Abyssinian cat lamps made by Katie Kimmel. From Seth Gabel's much-loved neon clock to the bold floral tulip wallpaper in the guest bath that reminds them of the pair's early relationship, the home is filled with personal touches that are distinct to the couple and their careers, per YouTube.

Even if you seek a distinct and uniform style in your home, you can find attractive and dynamic ways to bring in personal elements (via Just Call Me Homegirl). While these can be traditional things like memorabilia, photos, and souvenirs, they can also be unexpected things that only you know the significance of that succeed in making a home more personal.