Too often as designers we hear from potential clients “my building costs have taken up all our money, so what’s the minimum we can spend?”.
This is frustrating for us to hear, as we know the value in investing in the furniture, rugs, window treatments, art, special features and decor of your home - in essence this last phase is where the injection of your personality, style and comfort lies.
The decor of your home should be as considered as the building structure around you. Whilst magazines and media suggest that your home should be fashionable and changing with every new fad, popular colour and season, I believe the opposite. Fast consumerism, cheap imports and poor quality flood the homewares market just as they do in fashion. And if you don’t have any budget, this cheaper end of the market is where you will get trapped.
Big business has homewares in its sight as a rapidly expanding market, as fashion faces increasing pressure to be more sustainable, and consumer interest is increasing in fashion supply chains.
According to the trend forecasting group WGSN home furnishing spend is set to grow from $730 billion in 2017 to $1 trillion by 2025. This means more advertising and media will be thrust upon consumers, encouraging spend on low quality items, and suggesting you need to turn them over fast to follow trends.
However, your home should be your place to be who you want to be to your core, foundation and roots. It should reflect your values, and feel welcoming and nurturing. Before we look at the style and items required to fill your space, we need to understand what is important to you. This leads to less trend driven design, consideration of quality and long lasting treasures to surround yourself with. You may need to initially spend more to secure these pieces, but they will last you a long time, if not a lifetime, and reduce the amount of “stuff” going to landfill.
Sustainable design starts here.
Comments