Trend Obedience… or not?

With my recent reflection on my love for sage green made me think about something bigger than colour: how trend-sensitive am I as an interior architect? And how trend-sensitive should we be?

Even though I see my main role as being a problem solver, what often comes to people’s minds when I say that I am an interior architect is: “Oh, your home must be very pretty!” I work in a field where the first impression is visual. And if the design is good, the problems, limitations and constraints have been designed away. What is left is the surface — what people see.

With social media available at our fingertips, we are surrounded by an endless flow of references, inspiration and opinions. Design has become more accessible, but also more impatient: what is loved one season can feel overused and blasé the next. (Anyone remember the golden pineapple?)

This creates a strange situation. We have never had more inspiration, yet we may never have been more anxious. Social media is full of confident advice — do this, never do that, this is outdated, this is the new essential. But interior architecture is rarely that absolute. What works beautifully in one context can be completely wrong in another.

Perhaps the most important skill today is not having access to inspiration, but knowing how to filter it. The interior architect’s role is to ask why. Why this colour? Why this material? Why this layout?Is it right for the people who will use the space, for the building, for the budget, for the atmosphere we want to create — or is it simply familiar because we have seen it repeatedly?

So how trend-sensitive should we be? Sensitive enough to understand the world we are designing in. Resistant enough not to confuse visibility with quality.

Trends can inspire us, challenge us, and reveal new possibilities. But they should be tools, not instructions. The real work is to create spaces that feel relevant today, but still make sense tomorrow.

Therefore, fellow creators: resist trend obedience. Vive la résistance!

Signed,
Sandra — still in love with green 💚