Interiors Trend Alert: Darker Shades

For some time now I have felt the whole bright white minimalist interiors trend is tired and boring. Not the Scandi trend, I mean the 'cliché Pinterest relaxed LA bright white, with unimaginative pops of bright colour, bronze wire boxes and white wash wood look', do you picture the style I am trying to describe so not so eloquently? This 'look' I think is completely over killed, yet amateur bloggers and vloggers are still clinging to it, as if it is the best style ever. Despite this, recently, I have noticed darker interiors seem to be a trend that has being slowly brewing for a while. Interior designer Abigail Ahern loves dramatic dark shades, eccentrically and maximalist accessorised, she is said to be responsible for the sales of the heavy increase in sales for Farrow & Ball’s ‘Downpipes’ paint colour. Abigail has worked moved back to the UK, from the states in 2003 and has quickly built up her business since then. In addition to her own website and shop, she has a popular small collection at Debenhams (currently 27 items on their website), along side TV shows appearances and countless magazine features.

(Examples of Abigail Ahern interiors)

Ahern's signature look is an Inky colour palette, with interesting items or (fashionable clutter) at different heights around the room, plenty of green plants and flowers (real or artificial), a clever lighting plan with lots of lamps. Recently I have visited a few shops out and about with a dark 'Abigail Ahern' type colour palette: The Imaginarium in York, Darkroom London, Frederiek Van Pamel in Brugge... to name but a few. This got me thinking, typically a dark looking shop would perhaps put people off entering, the darkness could imply it looks closed, maybe you cannot see all the items properly, it has a 'spooky' unwelcoming vibe. Now though, conceivably on a high street of white and bright stores with aggressive lighting, a dark homely looking store might stand out as sophisticated or intriguing.

(white minimalist store image via Pinterest)

In 2007 Abercrombie & Finch opened their first store in London in 2007, the store interior is very dark; walls, floor and heavy paneling and shelving, yet the clothes are under bright spot lights to make them pop. This is apparently to give the store a VIP club vibe. Unsurprisingly this lighting theme hasn't taken off in other clothing retailers with the exception of Superdry (a UK similar brand to Abercombie and Finch). There have been frequent reports in the media of consumers complaining that they can't see the clothes properly (or they look different once they have been bought home in natural day light), they can't see the prize/size of the label... There are the more practical, health and safety issues that would typically occur in a dark store such as customers walking into fixtures and fittings/ other people, shop lifting and the customer feeling disorientated.

(Abercombie and Fitch store interior)

It feels strange linking an American teenage brand of clothing to an eclectic British interior designer, but I am sure there is a vague parallel. A dark understatement can be an over statement in a sea of bright shiny whiteness. Something like that anyway. So to try and elegantly loop back to my original topic of the trend for 'darker shades in Interiors', maybe this isn't especially new after all, nevertheless I do sense a slight shift in trend towards inky colours, it could be because of the seasonal change into Autumn/WInter. I would like to embrace dark interiors more, and perhaps others would too, but currently so many people are renting property with strict guide lines of white and magnolia walls. There is also the element of danger with darker shades, more could go wrong than with white...

#dark #interiors #AbigailAhern #colour #shops #pinterest