Design for the People: The Decor World Lightens Up

Filed under: Design, etc, News & Trends

Think interior design is only for a certain type of people? These major decor brands and blogs are out to prove you wrong.

Let's get serious: Sometimes, interior design can feel way too serious. We're talking about an industry where pillow shams and dust ruffles are legitimate points of conversation. It could use some lightening up.

That's why we're glad to see the quirkier side of interior design cropping up all over the place. Finally, a dissenting voice that will take the power out of the Martha Stewart DesignBots and say, "It's okay to laugh sometimes. I mean, really, we're talking about dust ruffles."


Leading the trend -- House Beautiful. It seems ridiculous to say that a publication that started in 1896 is on the cutting edge of this but it's true. For example, take their "Pink Chair Giveaway." House Beautiful dropped pink chairs all over the city of Chicago for super lucky Twitter followers and Facebook fans to snatch up. Then what did they do with the resulting photos? They filled those empty chairs. Filled them with what, you night ask? Sad Keanu Reeves, obviously. This Tumblr meme takes on a whole new air of legitimacy as House Beautiful photoshops Keanu's sad, sad body onto pink seats placed all over the Windy City. (And shares the photos with us -- thanks, HB!) They've also been doing more community-friendly events like a "designer speed date" event with Duralee where readers were invited to meet with designers on the spot and share photos of their home.

We've already shared our favorite spots to get a free interior designer and now we can add our friends at Anthropologie to the list. They're making professional interior design help more accessible with the upcoming launch of their Decorator Concept -- a workshop-style set-up in 11 US stores where designers can help shoppers with advice and assistance. This will hit stores on March 24th but the online-component -- where you'll get tools like a wallpaper calculator and glossary of common home terms -- rolls out on the 17th.

And then there's Blu Dot: A modern furniture maker aiming to distinguish their collection in a creative way. They're hosting an online swap meet that allows users to trade their ridiculous art projects or childhood toy collections for a piece of legitimately nice furniture from their collection. Everything we said about hoarding is wrong. Now is the time to trade in your 400 egg cartons for a beautiful oak credenza! Actual swaps pending on the site include a sock money chair for a $1,000 bench and a spork collection for a $600 desk chair.

Taking a less-zany but equally open-minded approach: The Company Store. Remember when you were a little kid and you thought you were going to be an artist when you grew up? Well, The Company Store is supporting kids in 2011 with that dream with a contest. Get your kid to upload a drawing and its automatically entered to become a comforter design. The winning design will be printed on comforters that will be given to homeless children.

We also have to pay tribute to the crop of design blogger renegades -- these ladies are covering the design world with more attitude, more skepticism and really, more laughs than we've seen in years.

Design Blahg: An outlet for ranty columns like "Design WTF" and non-traditional gift guides. They'll tell you if they hate your wall decals (they do), but also if they love your painted white floors (they do).

If the Lamp Shade Fits: The Denver-based designer behind the blog pronounces that "life is too short to live ugly," and with her beautiful shots of interior spaces and imagined conversations at retailers' design meetings, she proves that philosophy to be true.

My Favorite and My Best: Serious eye-candy with decidedly un-serious commentary: Regarding a post with drool-worthy sofas: "Only aliens can afford it" or her upcoming weekend paint project: "I miss paint fumes".

Catalog Living: If you've ever flipped through a catalog and thought, "Why are there pine cones in that martini glass?" look no further than this hilarious blog. Her subtle humor not only skewers catalog design but also makes us consider the fact that maybe the addition of the life-sized anchor to our nautical themed-living room was a bit overboard.

Not only do these bloggers have solid followings but they're getting even more attention as larger sites have recognized their terrific voices -- both If the Lamp Shade Fits and Catalog Living have columns on Curbed National. (Editor's Note: And we discovered Amanda through Design Blahg.)

And of course, we can't ignore our favorite part of the design-gone-democratic revolution: The rise of big designers taking their name and style to more affordable retailers. Marimekko for Crate & Barrel (and Converse), Shabby Chic for Michaels (and Target), Jonathan Adler and Nate Berkus for HSN and many, many more.

What do you think -- are we heading towards a design revolution? What are your favorite decor brands and blogs doing to keep up with the changing face of design?

 

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