Create A Cohesive & Inviting Living Room With TikTok's Cocooning Design Trend

Creating a cohesive living room style can be tricky. You don't want to rely on matching furniture sets as they can be too one-dimensional and give showroom vibes. However, slowly piecing together items can also create a hodge podge look if you're not careful. But one easy way to make all the different items feel like they're part of one unit is to give them a unifying background. That's where TikTok's cocooning design trend comes in, which uses one color throughout the entire space, from walls to furniture to knick-knacks. It's a lot like color drenching, but color drenching only pertains to paint, whereas this trend takes it further, adding furniture and decor into the mix.

"Similar to color-drenching, cocooning is an intentionally monochrome interior design motif," interior designer Kathy Kuo told PS. "The idea is that by limiting your color palette and employing it across the board in your home design, you create a sense of coziness and safeness, like you're literally in a cocoon of your favorite color." And since everything is the same hue, you have a tried-and-true way to create a cohesive design since the items have one unifying link. Here is a closer look into the newest trend. 

If you want to cocoon your living room, the first thing to do is to choose your color. To make it inviting and cozy, err on the side of choosing a warm neutral, like cream or beige, over an electric color, like bright blue. The former will put you at ease and make you feel like you're enveloped in coziness. However, if you love color, consider picking a pastel shade, like light pink or powdery blue. You can also choose a deep, rich tone, like a coffee-inspired brown paint. This will give you that burst of interest you like, but still keep it low-key and relaxing. 

Once you have your chosen color, look for different shades to give the room some dimension. For instance, if you have chosen a grayish-blue for your living room, paint the walls that color but then add baby blue throw pillows, powdery blue curtains, and deep navy knick-knacks. The room is still enveloped in the base color, but it looks like it has some contrast thanks to the varying shades. You can also give the space some more dimension by focusing on texture as well. The drapes can be velvet, the throw pillows can be a furry shag, and you can have chunky knit blankets folded on the arm of the couch. All of them will be in the same color family, but their varying textures will create some interest.

If you love to nurture houseplants, this cocooning trend can potentially make it difficult to include them in your living room design. For instance, if your chosen color is a pastel pink, having a bright green fiddle leaf fig in the corner can ruin the effect. One workaround for this is to choose plants that fit in with your color. While a fiddle leaf fig won't work, a pink triostar stromanthe or pink arrowhead plant will get the job done. You can also choose a plant with pink flowers.

This, of course, doesn't have to be a perfect match. We all know that most houseplants have green leaves, and it can be difficult to find a plant in a unique shade, such as blue. But you can try to blend it in as much as possible by either choosing blooms or leaf variations in a similar color to your cocooned room. For instance, if you are cocooning in a cream color, choose a flowering plant with white blossoms, such as a white orchid. The leaves will still be green, but you still get the cocooning effect since the plant's petals are white.