It’s time to let your wild side out as African influences are a hot interior trend for 2013. The exotic trend is one that can bring luxury and warmth to any home. With carefully selected accessories, animal skin imitations, and carved dark wood – creating an African themed room is not as difficult as you may imagine.

African Wall Masks.

Feature walls are very much in fashion at the moment. African wall masks present an unusual, intriguing, and stunning way of creating a feature wall. Each mask is filled with character and you can’t deny that they are truly captivating.

Animal Print.

One of the easiest ways to add an African vibe to your room is to incorporate an animal print. Buying printed cushions or going for an animal print rug are both effective, cost efficient and simple methods of doing so.

Leopard and zebra print have been highly popular in the world of fashion and interiors over the past few years and thus you should have no trouble buying furniture or accessories in these patterns. Nevertheless, if you wish to go for something slightly different form the norm then giraffe prints and tiger prints are great options.

Headdress.

As mentioned in the introduction, carefully selected accessories are essential when emulating an African vibe. A headdress is definitely one of these. The one in the image above was worn by the Malian Bambara people of Northwest Africa. Be mindful to ensure that the headdress you purchase is one that is of African descent and not an Indian tribal headdress.

One Pop of Colour.

When emulating an African vibe in any room your base colour should always be brown. However, if you wish to add a contemporary twist to your interior then incorporate one slice of vibrant colour. In the image above you can see how a splash of bright yellow really brings the rest of the room alive – it brings out the intricate carvings of the African wall masks fantastically. You don’t have to go for something as stark as the yellow in this picture. A luscious big green plant can add colour and liveliness in a more tamed manner.

Kuba Cloth.

Kuba cloth relates to the stunning textile you see used in the cushions on the picture above. The Kuba people of Zaire use the cloth for ceremonial occasions, yet you will obviously be using it for the purpose of style. And what’s great about Kuba cloth is the fact that the raffia palm leaves used are typically woven in geometrical patterns – another popular trend for 2013.

Picture sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7&8, and 9.