November 27, 2023

Beyond A Love Of Fashion: Interior Design

Now that the Barbie movie has been released, have you thought about what you would want in your dreamhouse?

As I have gotten older, there has been a growing desire within me that yearns for an exceptionally homey home filled with exceptionally me decor. One of the best things about university for me was the annual satisfaction I got from curating my own space. I was simulating The Sims life in real-time.

The Simple Pleasures of Adulthood?

Whenever I’m out shopping with my mum, I find my feet meandering along with hers towards the homeware section – every single time. Being able to have your own space, a little refuge tailored to your every need, is probably one of the few enticing things about growing up. If I sound particularly poignant today, it is because I am overwhelmed by the dire realisation that I have officially entered adulthood. Simultaneously, I am still confronting the existential crisis the Barbie movie summoned within me surrounding the death of girlhood and the bittersweet step towards growing up.

The second I submitted my dissertation, I began looking for full-time jobs. As if on autopilot, my brain went into overdrive. I have not found one just yet. Yes, I have been in a constant state of anxiety since. There has been an endless pit in my stomach for the last seven weeks. If I had to describe to you what this feels like, I would compare it to a very specific segment of a rollercoaster ride. That heightened sense of impending doom as the rollercoaster slowly climbs up to the top, waits for a second or two, and then drops. That millisecond when it plummets is what I have been feeling for seven weeks.

There are 86,400,000 milliseconds in a day, by the way.

Is this what being an adult feels like?

Escaping My New Reality with Interior Design

I have always prided myself on being quite a realistic, matter-of-fact person. Hence, the cynical monologue I just put you through. I don’t daydream; I honestly don’t know how. But today, I see the value in a bit of escapism, so I thought I would take you all with me to gawk at some interior design and furniture. Super fun, right?

This interest of mine has always been rather casual. Furniture and interior design is quite a niche interest for the general population. I have always found it hard to discover specific designers or styles that were not the typical crushed velvet interior and contemporary minimalist designs that now plague the markets. There is a crushed velvet epidemic, I swear. Housed within me is a pretentious, definitely-doesn’t-know-it-all critic with entirely serious but completely unwarranted disdain towards contemporary interior design.

Some Examples of Interior Design with Character

  1. Emma Chamberlain’s LA Sanctuary
I remember when this video first came out, and everyone was in awe. What a truly otherworldly home that operates as a portal out of the overbearing metropolis that is Los Angeles. Filled with earthy warm tones that reflect nature, living here would be a refuge away from the turbulence of the modern world and the corporeal human existence.

2. Liv Tyler’s Ostentious Flat

This fabulous New York townhouse is exactly what you would expect from the gentle, sophisticated soul that is Liv Tyler. Each room had a different personality, filled to the brim with maximalist decor and mosaic tiles. Walking through it is almost as if you were taking a journey of a timeline between the 1920s to the 1960s.

3. Solange Knowles’ LA Loft

Solange Knowles
Solange’s loft demonstrates a unique blend of modernist design and slight references to vintage eras. All the furniture within her home is either circular or has organic edges. You might think my observation of this is overscrupulous, but when you consider that razor-sharp lines and angular edges are unnatural in the real world, it makes you wonder if contemporary design propels us into dissonance with Mother Nature.

Funky Furniture

Honestly, you would be surprised at just how funky and peculiar furniture can get. After all, these designers are artists too, and coupled with expertise in ergonomics, it is genuinely fascinating. The following is a list of sculptural furniture designers that will take you into another dimension. You will begin to consider furniture and interior design in a way you have never done before.

  1. Ronan Gregory
  2. Gildas Berthelot
  3. Pietro Franceschini
  4. Rick Owens
  5. Carmen D’Apollonio
  6. Wendell Castle

Curate Your Own Dreamhouse

Hopefully, this article helped introduce you to the mystifying world of interior design. If I had a genie and three wishes, I’d use them all on wishing that every single one of you escapes the swarm of dull, unchanging colour schemes and brutal minimalism, a style which I can only describe as stoic and unfeeling. Everybody should be entitled to a home that reflects and embodies all the unique little quirks within their personalities. These quirks, when materialised into design and decor, serve as a reminder of who lives there. They are what makes a house a home.

Misty Lamb is a contributing writer at SSEDITORIAL who imparts a fresh perspective contemplating the arts and their place in the modern world.