“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it”

IN THE BEGINNING

Well, times have changed! The profession date 100s of year back, bringing in the mark of decorating, functioning and embracing the art and décor in our houses. The trends have evolved slowly and steadily after continuous studying these areas of Interior design. It would be interesting to know that the term “INTERIOR DECORATOR” was cited in the 1900s in America. Interior decorator was a person who could blend common sense with good taste and choice. There was no concept of getting a degree or certificate, or being socially skilled! It was something inbuilt, a natural art to know all about proportions and scales. It’s good to always remember the firsts. Elsie de Wolfe became the first interior decorator to be awarded a “commission” design. In 1913, Elsie de Wolfe published the first book on interior design, “The House in Good Taste.” Dorothy Draper was the first commercial interior decorator to be documented, establishing her design firm in 1923.

THE FIRST PHASE – THE 1900s

In the 1900s, the Art Nouveau dominated the culture. All the Furniture and architecture starting from jewellery And textiles each and everything was of this amazing art. This is an amazing international style of art and is popularly known as modern art. “Soul homes” or models of homes were provided as food offering vessels in graves. In many dynasties, it is possible to discern information about the interior design of specific homes, including changes on airflow, porticoes, columns, loggias, windows, and doors. Through expressing civic pride in their invention of domed-roof public buildings, Roman and Greek civilisations advanced the Egyptian art of interior design. For their houses, exquisite Greek wooden furniture incorporated intricate ivory and silver decoration while the Romans focused on combining elegance and comfort.

In 1910, the trend of art deco came across. This was an astonishing piece of art, furniture, building layouts; all other accessories were designed using this art. Having an art deco was a significance of glamour, luxury and faith. This used to combine different materials, to make a single product, for example, a stainless steel frame sofa with leather. Often furniture made of stone, marble, wood, or bronze furniture was complied with of cushions and colourful tapestries. Both Romans and Greeks brought in vases to elevate their homes and built mesmerising mosaic floors, and wall paintings and frescoes to make their spaces special.

THE SECOND PHASE  – AFTER THE WORLD WAR 2 

Long back ago, the evolution of design was not much. People focused on having very traditional and classical designs, dominated with block prints, brick textures etc. Apart from this layout is included the Victorian-style house or a classical style house. A Victorian-style house was a house that was filled with dark colour furniture; this brought a turnover in the interior design industry. Slowly and steadily people started to gain popularity, this profession was now worldwide known to most of the people. After World War II, there was a sudden change in the trend. People started wearing clean line clothes along with the dominance of pastel pink and blue. In a wartime situation, things seem different. Slowly and steadily we stepped into modernism which conceptualises the thinking of minimalism it said less is more. Due to this more focus was put on function and form rather than the decor. In the year 1950, The Scandinavian design showed its existence and became one of the most popular interior design layouts.

THE THIRD PHASE

Later on in the 1960s, a very simple trend again gained the popularity that used pop art, green, yellow, orange palette, moulded plastic furniture, shag rugs and furniture like this. Most of the people call this look as the retro style looks into this current situation. These designs have slowly and steadily evolved through generations. Upholstery fabrics were also later on used by interior designers of those times. People got to know about various fabrics used in modern, contemporary, classical and traditional style houses. Apart from this, the interior design industry has a huge impact on the culture that played a significant role in Indian history. We have various prints that are based upon religious concepts, print that emphasise on religious slogans and religious pictures.

One of the most astonishing things is that we cannot separate history from culture; both of these terms are interconnected and interrelated. Long back ago, the interiors Comprise of Hindu gods and goddesses as a creative masterpiece of sculpture, which was appreciated now and then too. Moreover, going back to the basic, before the houses are made up of straw and mud and nowadays concrete stone and there are various other structures that houses are being made up of. Striking back to history, Ancient caves were used to live and nowadays we have houses designed of canes especially.

Moreover, in the year 1960s, this Decade was said to be as the space age, because of various technological advancements. People started making decor and furniture of plastic, then it was one of the most innovative material. But as we know, nature is the best. In the year 1970s people shifted back to nature, preferred environment-friendly designs.

The 1970s era was known as a metallic era, where Woods and heavy metals were used to bring a significant and stunning finishing in the house. In the 1990s simple and conventional kitchens made their place, forming a great part of the Interior Design history. These kitchens were modern, conventional and easy to operate. They had drawers, trolleys and appliances that changed the way of living. People started using wallpapers, floorings, windows, doors, modern fittings, shiny paints and a lot more.

The 1980s is considered as the post-modernism period, where less was bored. This means that having fewer decors in your house made it boring. It was advised to use bold colours, clashing patterns, excessive decor etc. But again in the 1990s, we shifted to a trend of minimalism and then came the 2000s with green decor made its dominance; flat pack and replica were also dominating the market.

HOW’S IT TODAY

Now, in today’s time, the interior design industry has evolved massively. From going shops, till now, the time of digital design is rocking the markets. You definitely might be wondering what a digital design service, not to worry. A digital design service, in this digital Era it means getting the thing fixed at home easily without going out for selection and Shopping. It includes discovering, analysing, and conceptualising, budgeting, evaluation of various prints, trends and projects. Are you need to do is just join, design and relax.

Now being in 2020, there seems downtrend. People still believe in minimalism, nowadays things have been dependent upon the choice and needs of people rather than trains. Some people prefer historic houses; there is who prefer extremely modern houses. We can just say that this decade has just focused on luxury and comfort rather than trends.

As the technology evolved, the interior design industry also evolved. In this generation of artificial intelligence, things have changed. Nowadays we have refrigerators, which can help you do your day to day chores. Interior designs have gone to an entirely next level, a level that couldn’t be imagined a few decades ago. There are various advancements in tools, techniques, information, consumer base, mind-set, the technology which has contributed to such evolution of interior designing. This is a multibillion-dollar industry that has a lot to grow. Nowadays people or graduated, having an interior design diploma/degree, with specific skills. The growth of the interior design industry has made a great impact on the Indian economy.