K is for Kitsch
In this latest instalment of my A to Z of Interior Trends, K is for Kitsch.
The dictionary definition of kitsch is:
Adjective
considered to be in poor taste but appreciated in an ironic or know way
The 1970s was the decade of kitsch and as such it is currently enjoying a revival in the interior’s world.
Noun
art, objects, or design considered to be in poor taste because of excessive garishness or sentimentality, but sometimes appreciated in an ironic or knowing way
Icons
Do you remember the lava lamp, also known as the Astro lamp? My father had one back in the day and, even then, I found it cringingly embarrassing. Fast forward half a century and they’re back in the shops. Arghh!
The same can be said of the drinks trolley. Yes, they’ve definitely gone up market, but they still serve the same purpose as they did back then. Anyone for a Babycham?
Kitsch was the word at Wow!House 2022
Visiting Wow!House at The Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour in June this year certainly gave me plenty of material for this particular topic. My absolute favourite throw back to the ’70s was this glass garden gnome. Again a little more sophisticated than those that populated the garden of my childhood home.
Occupying the same room-set as the bearded fellow was this lovely life-size English(?), French(?) Bulldog. (I’m sure somebody reading this will let me know the correct breed.)
Quirky Animals
Creatures of all makes and models feature heavily in this trend. Flamingoes, dogs, giraffes and puffins all have a place when you start to delve a bit deeper. Think Club Tropicana and you will get the flavour of this fashion.
Rockett St. George and Graham & Green both stock similar quirky lamps and ornaments.
Nostalgia
In recent years nostalgia has taken on a new persona. We’re all familiar with the terms ‘vintage’ and ‘retro’ but since the Cover-19 pandemic took ahold in 2020 a sense of fun has re-emerged taking the interiors world by storm.
Pop-art is certainly having a well deserved revival along with funky colour schemes that we thought had been buried along with our platform shoes and flared jeans.
As for me
I committed a serious faux pas when I went to work for a hip and trendy acoustic design company back in the ’90s. Serious global players in the design of music recording facilities at the time I thought it apt to buy them a vinyl record that had been modified into a wall clock. For whatever reason I believed that this would be the perfect addition to their newly leased office suite in Pinewood Studios. Uh huh! They clearly had no sense of humour.
.
It all worked out in the end
Despite that incident I stayed with the company for a very long time serving, what I regard now, an almost 30 year apprenticeship learning the ins and outs of running a successful design practice. In 2019 I decided to cut loose and in 2020 I launched my very own Interior Design practice. I’ve studied really hard over the years to ensure that I would be adequately qualified to call myself an Interior Designer and here I am today being just that.
So if you would like help designing or styling you interior I would love to hear from you. I promise absolutely no wall-clocks fashioned from old LPs unless that appeals to your sense of fun.
Take care,
Carolyn x
