Think about your home, and what it is about your home that makes it special. It might be a room that you love to spend time in, or it might be the people that you share it with. No matter what it is that we love about our homes, our abodes are something special and are a huge part of what defines us. As a result of this bond that we share with our homes, it makes sense that many of us spend a lot of time carefully curating and sculpting our homes to be the perfect reflection of our personality, style and ethos. You might love a particular style like industrial furniture or you might love a minimalist chic style, no matter what it is – if it’s your home, you can decorate as you please.
As humans have evolved to build bigger, better and more advanced houses, we have also evolved in our design style and in that way in which we style our domains. The design world has seen a huge boom in the amount of readily available furniture for homes, and the homewares and styling industries have also seen a huge jump in the range and amount of goods that are now easily accessed. As the cost of goods falls, and the range increases, the design shifts and it can be very interesting to reflect on these changes.
After all, when you think about how we were designing and styling our home interiors ten years ago (plain, less access to different design stores and online shops) compared to today (lots of industrial furniture and many different influences) it reflects quite a shift. To illuminate this difference in styles, let’s take a look at some of the most lavish and lovely interior design trends that have been popular in the past ten years.
Scandinavian design
Coming into fashion from of a time of opulent excess and some pretty heinous styling, the Scandinavian furniture and styling trend was like a cool drink of water for many minimalist-geared people. Interior designers around the world heaved a collective sigh of relief as the smooth, clean lines of Scandinavian furniture began to flood the pages of interior design magazines. It was not long before low-line coffee tables and off-white leather lounges began popping up in knock-off stores, and then of course there was the Ikea boom which basically cemented all things Scandinavian in to our collective conscious forever.
Industrial design
Think polished concrete, think exposed brick and think metal piping. What do you get? Yep, that’s right – industrial stylings that would make a Tri Be Ca loft owner blush. This trend took root after the warehouse revamping trend reached its dizzying high, and also when savvy developers realised that they could save money by just leaving some things as they were. Old canning plant’s exposed piping? Great! Leave it in! It takes a certain style of home to pull this one off, but when it works it works exceptionally well.
Minimalist design
Somewhat similar to Scandinavian stylings, the minimalist interior design is best suited to a tiny loft or to a studio where space really is at a premium. Drawing on the ethos that ‘less is more’, the minimalist home owner will show you what they don’t have – in spades. Maximising your home to make room for living kinda makes sense though, doesn’t it?
Retro Design
Think of the swinging 60s not just as a time where free love abounded and where things were easier, but also as a time where some seriously happening furniture and design was being borne from a generation rebelling against the staid, plaid, tired old design style of the post-war generation. Not that there was anything wrong with the minimal and restrained style of the 50s – after all, the 40s and 50s inspired the retro stylings that are so popular today! Although it took root in the 60s, the retro trend is one that has flourished even until today and recent times.
We hope you’ve drawn some inspiration from this capsule collection of some of the most interesting design trends of the past decade that have come in to favour.
