A fusion of modernism, desert chic, and retro glam, Palm Springs-style homes are helping to bring that “just zipped off for a holiday” feel to Australian homes. Stylish, practical, and designed for entertaining, a Palm Springs-style home might just be the home of your dreams.
Let’s examine the features that make a Palm Springs house design and how you can bring a touch of Palm Springs to your space.
What is Palm Springs-style?
Palm Springs-inspired homes blend mid-century modern design with a playful desert-style twist.
Sometimes referred to as “Desert Modernism”, the Palm Springs-style house has been around since the 1920s. The Westcott describes Palm Springs as a modernist “reflection of the dramatic geography of this mountainous area”.
How to create your own Palm Springs-style home
In Australia, Palm Springs-style has cemented itself as the perfect balance between contemporary coastal living with a touch of retro glamour. With the right colour scheme, some natural materials, sleek lines, and a desert shrub or two, It’s easy to recreate your own little Palm Springs oasis in your new home.
Interior
In an attempt to keep out the heat of the desert, Palm Springs homes are awash with white on white throughout the interior. This works perfectly in the Australian climate: keeping out the heat in summer and brightening up rooms in winter.
Palm Springs-style homes call for natural materials and sleek lines. Think flat ceilings, bold angles, and floor-to-ceiling windows and doors. Breezeblocks have also become a staple interior feature, allowing cool air to flow through the house.
Bring the desert indoors (without the sand) using splashes of features colours throughout your home. Think rich earthy tones, turquoise, yellows, and baby blues. Most Palm Spring homes will have pops of colours breaking up the white walls and natural materials.
Palm Spring’s homes are all about entertaining and wide-open spaces. Like our Lennox 46 MKI home, a good Palm Springs home allows for effortless indoor and outdoor entertaining. With just a few sun lounges and a cool drink or two, you can also soak up the sunshine on the cantilevered feature balcony.
When it comes to decor, it’s all about minimalism and simplicity. A geometric patterned rug or a pink velvet sofa will complement the sleek lines of any room. Don’t be afraid to splash some colourful artwork on the wall or place a brass bar cart in the corner.
Exterior
Traditionally, Palm Springs homeowners were encouraged to paint their doors bright colours to help their homes stand out from the monochrome tones of the desert. Today, that tradition continues, with many homeowners across Australia replicating the famous Palm Spring’s front door feature.
The most popular Palm Springs colour scheme for feature doors and exteriors is a base of white, with blocks of orange or turquoise. Both shades are supposed to mimic the colours of an oasis.
A colour-pop door contrasts beautifully with sleek detailing like a decorative screen. Decorative screens, also known as privacy or feature screens, are among the hottest trends in 2022 . You can’t go wrong with a classic, sleek Palm Springs design trend of a decorative screen made from natural materials.
In Australia, we have a wider variety of choices in terms of plants. In Palm Springs, landscaping requires “low desert flora” to help withstand the desert climate. Therefore, most Australian homeowners lean towards succulents, cacti, and palms to help emulate that scorching desert oasis.
In terms of floor coverage, well-maintained grass coupled with white pebbles matches perfectly with other exterior detailing.
To help evoke a feeling of outdoor living indoors, you can’t go past floor-to-ceiling windows at the back of the home. No Palm Springs home is ever complete without a sparkling pool in the back garden. A sparkling pool coupled with large windows becomes a haven for many families looking to entertain during a balmy summer night.
We build better living! Check out our Lennox 46 MKI home, a Palm Springs-inspired build ready to welcome you and your family. If you’ve got a design in mind, you can also speak to one of our talented team members today about our custom builds.
