One style of interior design that really grates me, with its so passé look right now, is the tired, old, clichéd Scandi style.
Scandi style is limited to only being great if you want a quick Ikea fix for a student flat or a lower budget rental apartment, but this way of designing in real terms reflects no creativity, comfort or drama at all. In fact the empty baron room with the whitewash flooring and white walls has about as much personality as a blank piece of A4 paper. Now this doesn't mean I have any gripes with Scandinavia and in fact I have many friends from this part of the World whom are dear to me, but I don't have any clients who wish to step out of bed without the feel of comfort and a luscious touch of thick-pile carpet to the foot, on embarking from their precious boudoir.
Many clients these days wish for elegance, glamour and layering in a home, in addition to luxury and comfort. They want to entertain friends and acquaintances in a rich, inviting and decadent environment. My clients love contrast, strong deep bronzes, warm tones and fabrics on walls, crystal lamps, beautiful artwork, oversized mirrors, sofas you can melt into and dining tables dressed for a King! Do we really want to see any more 'look a like' Eames chairs (extremely uncomfortable if you intend to stay in them for longer than a speedy breakfast) around equally 'look a like' brown wooden kitchen tables? NO.
Surely your home should be somewhere you can comfortably live in, feel relaxed in, snuggle up in, recline in on your evening movie night, entertain in with an element of impressionable je ne sais quoi. It should reflect you and your personality with icing and a cherry on the top, and if you have children, be able to enjoy them in your space, none of which the Scandi look offers to accommodate. There is nothing comfortable about the insipid colour scheme and lack of warmth in this bland environment.
To me, the Scandi style is clinical, harsh, and cold, not open to a warm family environment and has been so "over" for so long. Where went the creativity in this scheme, okay maybe it was fashionable in the 90's but we have moved on so much since then.
I know it's only opinion, but Scandi style is design by designers with no imagination, who clearly want to be "safe" and who hold little creativity to push the boundaries. We need to love our homes as these are our retreats where we can either shut the door and be our true selves in calm and peace but also be able to open our doors to whoever we want at any time, knowing it reflects us in a positive way, being part of us and how we live, not part of a uniformed institution, conforming to a look which lacks lustre, and ones' personality and real living.