Member-only story
Same objects, opposite meaning
A friend in her early thirties texted me a photo last week.
A floral armchair with a skirt, a brass lamp with a pleated shade, and a small table covered in a lace runner..
“Is this too much?” she asked..
Two years ago, her apartment looked like a showroom!!
Clean lines, flat-pack shelves, everything in white, grey, or pale wood.
Now she was hunting for doilies.
That’s what people call grandmillennial.
Florals, ruffles, wood furniture with some weight, patterns that don’t apologize..
It sounds like a joke, but I don’t think it is.
I think it’s what happens when a generation gets tired of rooms that were designed to be easy to leave.
Flat-pack furniture is brilliant at what it does.
It’s affordable, light, and fast to assemble, and it’s the reason a lot of first apartments exist at all.
It’s also made to be moved, replaced, and forgotten.
After a decade of that, something starts to itch.
You want a piece that looks like it has a past.
A chair with a story, even if the story is borrowed.
