Controversial answer coming up: No.

And that’s the shortest blog post ever!

Seriously though, what is the point of a trend? Let’s take Barbiecore. It’s temping to want to join in the fun, to be part of the crowd, but following a trend doesn’t help you to stand out.

It stifles creativity. It turns everyone into sheep. It does little to reflect your personality. It rarely addresses the challenges you have with your home, office or business.

Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing nicer than sitting down with an interiors magazine and a lovely cup of coffee. There’s lots of great inspiration right in front of you.

However, it’s easy to get stuck in the trap. The magazine articles are supposed to give you ideas. They shouldn’t make you feel guilty that your home or business isn’t up to date and on trend.

Let’s look at the role of the interior designer. A good designer is like your shrink or doctor. They listen to the challenges, problems and issues you face. They hold up a mirror to ensure the bespoke designs they create fit with who you are and your needs. And they bring it all together with practical solutions that suit the way you use your spaces.

In summary, they…

• Make you feel at home, at peace, energised, or however you want to feel;
• Provide solutions to various challenges such as storage, acoustics, layout or lighting;
• Look holistically at the entire space, to create flow;
• Create bespoke designs that ooze personality and reflect your brand.

There isn’t a one size fits all design solution, so why would we do anything more than take a glance and be aware of the trends, while ensuring your designs are not off-the-shelf solutions. Our spaces are an extension of who you are, how you want to feel and how you want others to see you. That is relevant to your home as well as corporate spaces, which demand that environments are an embodiment of your brand.

So if you’re approaching a refit, extension, new build or revamp contact me to find out how bespoke interior design could help your spaces to be unique. Maybe it’s a prescription for starting a trend instead of following one?