Designing your Space
April 23, 2025
Is it just me or has there been a huge uptick in the number of people decorating their homes in the past few years? Since the COVID-19 pandemic, something’s been different. People have realized the joy and peace of having a beautifully curated space.
This isn’t new to us, as creatives. We’ve always been inclined to decorate our spaces in ways that express our artistic interests. It seems the world finally realized how depressing four white walls and endless monotone furniture is once they were forced into the captivity of their homes for two years. The result? A maximalist decoration movement🪑.
Everything in art and design is reaction. Art history is just as much about the events of a time period as it is about the painting techniques. The Pop art of the 1960s was a direct reaction to what people felt was an elitism in abstract expressionism. Before that in the 1930s, Surrealism was a direct response to Rationalism and the horrors of World War I.
So what do our decoration trends and their increase in prevalence say about Gen Zs feelings on the pandemic?
It says: damn, those kids were really craving a space to make their own after being stuck at home for years. So much so, that they went out and stuck up anything and everything on their walls.
It says: damn, those kids were really craving a space to make their own after being stuck at home for years.
I was certainly feeling this and so were my apartment walls. I, along with many overzealous Gen Z decorators, found a love for surrounding ourselves with what makes us happy– “proper” decoration rules be damned.
As a creative, that’s meant somehow creating a space that encompasses my love for movies, anime, books, mid-century modern, cooking, plants, vinyl, and the refusal to use overhead lighting. It’s come a long way since I first inhabited it at the start of 2024, but at the end of the day, I’ve created a space that inspires me to create.
It’s not perfect, but it’s a place I love existing in. It’s hard to get into a state of unbounded creativity when your office is more reminiscent of a cubicle than a museum. So go design a space that inspires you. You likely do this for brands, clients, passion projects…why should your home be any different?
So go design a space that inspires you.
It doesn’t have to be perfect. Like we said in the perfect flaw, “There will always be room for refinement. But perfect isn’t the destination—it’s the delay.” It might be intimidating to start, but as we know, most of the fun is in the process of creation or in this case, curation 🖼️🏠🌈.
