What does interior design mean to you? Once upon a time, home design was a mystical, highly-skilled job that was typically performed by top design experts. Today, however, more and more of us are taking up interior design as a hobby in its own right. Fans of home design not only create beautiful interiors in their own homes; they are taking their design skills to transform the interior of their friends’ houses, too. But what does that say about us as people? What is it that drives people to the creative?
The answer is very close at hand – in fact, it’s right inside our own heads. In a world where self-expression is often hard – and often frowned upon – home design offers an incredibly satisfying outlet. Combining colours and textures to design or re-design a tired-looking interior offers a sense of real achievement; a release from everyday life. It’s often the quietest, most reserved people who fall in love with home design. For them, interior design is a perfect sounding board: a way of projecting their innermost feelings into a space that’s crying out for design. Ask these people how they’re feeling, and they will probably have difficulty expressing their interior feelings. But show them a bare room… and watch their design skills take flight as they express their joy, rage, sadness and hope through beautiful design and stunning interior creativity.
Interior design doesn’t have to be a physical hobby, of course. Television today is packed with programmes about design. Famous experts such as Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen have become household names – and what better way to while away an evening than settling down to watch your favourite design programme? Seeing a home design expert transform a house that was once a shell offers a real escape from everyday life – not to mention giving you ideas and inspiration to re-think your own interior. Viewing a home design programme also offers an intriguing insight into the minds of the design experts themselves. Llewellyn-Bowen, for example, is obviously a home design guru, and he’s also a very dramatic, flamboyant gentleman. But look carefully at his idea, and you’ll see another side to him. His design shows a real insight into his clients’ psyche: Llewellyn-Bowen’s design is a perfect outward reflection of peoples’ interior characters.
And it’s this profound psychology and sensitivity that we amateur interior design enthusiasts latch on to. It may be a tough world out there, but with interior design as an outlet, we’ll always be in touch with our feelings.