Boho interior design in Batumi: textures instead of clutter

Where boho comes from and what we keep

Boho takes its name from bohemia: this is how artists and travellers lived, their homes built up over the years from things brought from different countries. Rugs, ceramics, wicker furniture, plants, fabrics with ethnic patterns and books stand side by side, with no matching sets. That is why real boho is hard to buy in one go in a shop: its basis is your own things and the way they are arranged.

In an apartment by the sea, boho has to be kept in check. The warm earthy palette, natural textures, handmade pieces and greenery stay, while the number of objects on open surfaces, the layers of textiles and the open storage are limited at the design stage. Without that, boho in a one-bedroom (1+1) apartment turns within a season into a store of cushions and baskets that nobody has time to dust.

Base, large pieces and small things

We work in layers, from simple to complex. The base is the walls, floor, doors and built-in wardrobes. It is calm and closed: light paint or plaster in a warm tone, a wooden floor or wood-effect porcelain tiles, wardrobes with no open shelves. This is where the suitcases, the vacuum cleaner, spare linen and anything else that spoils the picture go.

On top of the base go four to six large textured pieces for the whole apartment: a rattan armchair, a wicker headboard, a large rug, linen curtains, a wooden table, a clay lamp. They create the style, they show in photos, and they are easy to keep clean.

Small things, that is ceramics, books, baskets, candles and dried branches, get places of their own: a lit shelving unit, one shelf above the sofa, a windowsill. The design lists these places, and whatever doesn't fit on them stays in a closed cupboard. The collection is on show, and cleaning takes minutes.

Low furniture, hanging pieces and floor-to-ceiling windows

Boho likes low furniture: a low-seated sofa, a bed on a platform, poufs. Under the modest ceiling of a new build this is a plus, as the room feels taller. We keep floor cushions as an addition to the sofa rather than the main place for guests to sit: on porcelain tiles it is cold to sit in winter.

A hanging chair and hanging planters are fixed to the floor slab above, not to a stretch ceiling or plasterboard. We choose the fixing point on the ceiling plan, select an anchor rated for a person's weight with a margin, and before drilling check that no cable runs at that spot. Under a stretch ceiling the fixing plate goes in before the membrane is fitted.

Trailing plants in macramé hangers by a floor-to-ceiling window look best of all in boho, but the summer sun through the glass scorches them, watering at height is awkward, and the water ends up on the floor. We hang planters where you can reach them, with a drip tray inside, and for the sunny side choose plants that tolerate direct light.

Rattan, wicker, jute and macramé by the sea

Colour, fabrics and lighting

The boho palette is earthy: terracotta, ochre, mustard, olive, sand, cream, dark wood. We usually keep the walls light and let the fabrics, the rug and the ceramics bring the colour, otherwise a small room with terracotta walls feels cramped by evening. One wall can be coloured, behind the sofa or the bed.

We choose fabrics on one list together with the large pieces, so that colours and patterns come together before you buy, not on the sofa. How fabrics cope with a damp winter and with washing is covered in detail on the page about textiles and decor.

Boho lighting is built from many warm sources: wicker pendants, a floor lamp by the armchair, lamps on shelves, a string of lights over the bed. Each needs its own socket or switch, and we draw their positions on the electrical plan: high up by the shelving unit, above the bedhead, by the window. Otherwise the string lights hang from extension leads, and the cables show in every photo. How lighting circuits and scenes are put together is described on the page about lighting design. In wicker shades we use LED bulbs, which barely warm the cane.

Boho in a short-term rental apartment

In a listing, boho stands out among identical white apartments, but keeping it tidy between guests is harder than with minimalism. Guests move small decor around, drop it and sometimes take it home with them, and whoever cleans between stays has no time to put twenty objects back in their places. So in an apartment like this the style is carried by things that don't move: a wicker headboard, a woven light, a rug, curtains, a shelf with the ceramics fixed in place.

We keep only a few small things and attach a decor layout with photos to the design: with it, a room can be returned to the listing photo in a few minutes. Other decisions for apartments like this, such as where to keep the linen and where a guest puts a suitcase, are covered on the page about design for short-term rental apartments.

What boho is mixed with and where it goes wrong

Pure boho is rare in a new build; more often it is laid over another base. With Scandinavian style it makes a light interior with warm textures, from mid-century it borrows furniture on slim legs, with Mediterranean style it shares white walls and tiles, and on the calm base of an eco style interior it lasts longest of all. We don't combine it with minimalism or high-tech: they need empty surfaces, and boho fills them. Common mistakes:

• decor bought before the design, with no place found for half of it;
• several small rugs on tiles that slide and catch on the door;
• a rug on a rug in an apartment that stands empty in winter, with damp building up under the top layer;
• a hanging chair on a plasterboard ceiling with no fixing to the slab;
• open kitchen shelves crammed with ceramics right next to the hob;
• wicker laundry baskets in a bathroom without an extractor fan.

How much a boho interior costs in Batumi

In boho the design costs 145 to 190 ₾ per m², and that is the designer's work: the layout, 3D visualisation, working drawings and a mood collage from which the shopping list is later put together. If the renovation is simple and only the look of a room is needed, the collage can be ordered on its own, from 330 to 480 ₾ per room. How a collage differs from 3D and when one of them is enough is explained in the comparison of 3D visualisation and a collage.

After the design, most of the money in boho goes on textiles and decor, which are priced separately. A textiles and decor package for a 1+1 apartment, with the curtains hung, costs from 4,200 to 6,600 ₾, and made-to-measure tailored curtains from 200 to 300 ₾ per linear metre of rail. It comes out cheaper when your own things from your previous home and ready-made curtains go into the interior. The final cost is set after the measured survey and once the list is agreed.