How To Decorate With Large Ammonite Fossils

Creating unique and welcoming home interiors is something we all aspire to, of course, but it can be very tricky to go about doing so successfully unless you have years of experience under your belt as a professional home stylist.

The key here is to find interesting and original pieces that you’re unlikely to come across in other homes, pieces that will stand the test of time and never go out of style. It’s important to recognise the difference between trend and style… and if you go for style above all else, you’ll find you design interior schemes that you’ll love for years to come.

A really distinctive way to decorate your home is with the use of large ammonite fossils and other such stones. 

Ammonites are shelled cephalopods that died out around 66 million years ago, born with tiny shells that they built new chambers onto as they grew. They’d then move their bodies into the new chamber and seal off their old homes with walls known as septa.

Their growing shells would typically form into a flat spiral (known as a planispiral), but these shapes did become more varied and did evolve over time, characterised by the likes of tight curls, loose spirals, flat shapes, helical shapes and so on. Some species even grew their shells in tight spirals at first but then straightened them out later on.

You can find their fossils all over the world… but don’t think that their prevalence means that they’re not an incredibly individual way to go about home decor.

In fact, you could use their interesting spiralled look as inspiration for design ideas throughout the rest of your home, really tying everything together in a particularly intriguing way.

Ammonites are, in fact, a natural example of the golden ratio, the sacred geometric symmetry found in the Fibonacci sequence. The golden ratio is viewed as a true example of natural beauty, representing perfect symmetry… which makes it a wonderful source of inspiration for interior design.

The golden ratio itself is a special number that’s approximately equal to 1.618 and you can find this number throughout art, geometry, architecture, nature and many other areas. The golden ratio is found when a line is divided into two parts so the entire length divided by the long part is equal to the long part divided by the short part.

In interior design, the golden ratio can be used to create living spaces that are cohesive, comforting and welcoming, helping you to build well-balanced and restorative style concepts throughout your home. 

It can be easier to think of the ratio as roughly 60/40 for interiors and this should help you work out the proportions of various design elements, such as patterns, colours and home furnishings.

For example, you can use the concept to help you introduce patterns in your rooms. Pick out two or three complementary designs and work out their ratios relative to each other, so you can work out your primary pattern, your secondary pattern and your tertiary pattern, getting the balance right between all three.

Of course, if you’d rather go for the quick win with the golden ratio, introducing fossils around the home would do that in an instant. You can use them for both aesthetics and practical applications simultaneously, using them as bookends for example or, depending on the size, as very fancy doorstops.

Or you could amass a stunning and unique collection of different fossils and create your own tablescape of curios that is sure to serve as a real talking point when friends and family come to visit.

Putting your fossils and other such stones on prominent display is a must, of course, as they’re so beautiful it would be a real shame to hide them away. The mantelpiece would be an excellent place for your display, or you could use them to great effect in the bathroom or your at-home study to build a sense of ambience and atmosphere.

In terms of complementary colours, you’ll want your fossils to stand out so going for something like a deep blue or indigo would create a beautiful effect and ensure that your stones take centre stage. 

And as for fabric, you’ll create a sumptuous setting with something luxurious and tactile like velvet, which will help establish the perfect backdrop for your stunning new collection.

However you decide to decorate with your stones, you’re sure to create something beautiful, unique and truly one of a kind. Before you know it, your home will be taken over by fossils!