What Comes Next
Design is getting decadent. Until recently, an ascetic Scandinavian simplicity held sway over the home. Our houses were boxes sealed in wood. The crime of wearing shoes too far past the threshold led to lost friends and broken families. Dangerous hygge levels threatened to smother small children and pets. But now the pendulum has swung in a more decorative direction. Walking the aisles at this year’s design fairs meant passing patterned wallpaper, brass faucets, and chairs bathed in jewel-toned velvet. In galleries and showrooms, you see designers channeling Memphis and late-20th-century materialism with smoky mirrors, craggy concrete, and gloppy resin. “Fat furniture” has been a thing for a while. It’s not surprising that this interest in rich finishes and louche aesthetics comes during a period of entrenched income inequality that many are…
