In home design, history often repeats itself. “By reaching back for culture and forward for contemporary techniques, we combine the best of old and new,” says Katie Skoloff, principal designer and founder of In Site Designs, an interior design firm in Greenville, S.C. “People feel validated by heritage, especially as we age, and are always peeking into our ties from the past.”
Trends we once loved reemerge and are being enjoyed with fresh eyes. Homes are becoming design time capsules of a sort as ideas evocative of themes and styles from the past spring to life. “Everything old is new again,” says Julea Joseph, owner of Reinventing the Space, a home staging and interior design firm in Chicago. This is certainly true with the return to the groovy curvy designs of the 1960’s.
A curvier design aesthetic from the 1960s is changing the hard-edged vibe in modern interiors. Rounded backs can be spotted in everything from orb bar stools to wingback chairs. Rounded ottomans, or poufs, and tufted, curved sofas and love seats are gaining favor. And experts say that when staging a home, curvier furnishings can be used to accentuate a fireplace or create a cozier overlook of a picture window showing off the home’s backyard.
Rounded designs even have the potential to make homeowners happier and more relaxed in a space, according to a 2011 study from Oregon State University researchers Sibel Dazkir and Marilyn Read that appeared in the journal Environment and Behavior. “We want people to realize that simple changes, such as adding curvilinear form, in your home or office can make a big difference about how you feel in your environment,” Read said in the study.
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