Hear Me Out: Plants Are Bad.

I stand by this. And I refuse to apologize!

If you must have an indoor plant, a euphorbia is a good options (that still needs direct light, drainage, good water, and regular cleaning). Photo by Dan Collopy.

We’re nearing the time of year when designers start to get emails from journalists asking, “what are the design trends we should be on the lookout for next year?” I’ve done a number of these interviews in the past, but that question has always kind of irked me. Mainly because my main design philosophy is this: “Good design is putting whatever the fuck you want in your house. If you like it, you’re good.” There are a lot of design rules out there, but most of them are going to get broken from time to time because we don’t all live in an ideal world. One example, I put a sofa in front of a sliding door in my cabin’s TV lounge (see below). Why did I do that? Because there was no other place to put the sofa and it maximized the usable space in the room. Does it look weird? Sure. Is it way better than the home’s living room was before? For damn sure.

It’s hard to see past the absolute perfection that is my dog, but there is a design mistake in this room. But that “mistake” was the best solution to a myriad of design issues in my house. Photo by Sara Ligorria-Tramp.

Sure, there are some design rules that can be helpful. Like, if possible, allow 16” - 18” between the coffee table and the sofa. Does that work in every space with every coffee table? No. But it’s a good jumping off point if you don’t know where to start.

There’s something about the mania, the desire to conform, to be like everyone else and to make sure your home is “acceptable” and “stylish” that turns me off. It ends up feeling like a weird mean girls high school thing where everyone is trying to do what the popular girls are doing. In the scheme of the design world and social media, I technically count as one of those popular girls and I’m here to tell you, I probably don’t know better than you what you want or need in your house. But I also get it that it’s not everyone’s cup of tea or personal interest to agonize about what rug to buy, so I’m happy to help if people want ideas. I don’t consider myself great at fashion, so I’m the first one to admit I’d love it if someone just came into my life and was like “Ew, you’re gross, wear this!” and it actually looked good on me. We can’t all be good at everything and that’s okay.

The idea of “trends” and “right” and “wrong” when it comes to design and home decor just feels dumb. We shouldn’t all be trying to be the same. We shouldn’t be worried if our houses match everyone else’s houses. We should fill our homes with things that make us happy, that evoke memories or tell us an aspirational story about our future. Our houses should make us feel good even if they freak everyone else out.

All that being said, I’ve come here today to break my own “no rules” rule and to talk to you about a home decor rule I think is true for the most part: INDOOR PLANTS ARE BAD.