How will the post-pandemic ‘roaring 20s’ affect our interiors and homeware choices?

We’re all anticipating a summer of frivolity; Olivia Petter looks at how this celebratory spirit will influence the choices we make when it comes to how we choose to fill our homes

(The Yellow World)

I know what you’re thinking. After spending more than a year in the confines of your own home, the last thing you want to do as lockdown restrictions lift is stay within your four walls. So why bother with revamping them with new interiors? Why spend money at home when you could be spending it on staycations and cocktails to be drunk indoors at the pub?

Throughout the last year, interior designers have been inundated with requests from homeowners looking to mix things up; in January, a study conducted by the Checkatrade Home Price Index found that property owners spent £39bn on home improvements in 2020. But far from subsiding, this flurry of activity is only predicted to increase as restrictions ease, people venture into homeware shops for the first time in months, and are allowed to invite guests over, consequently finding a need to replace everything from crockery to tea towels.

And according to interior designers, there is one uniting trend among us. In the run-up to 21 June (the date when all restrictions are currently set to lift in England), much has been said about an impending “roaring 20s” period. Think a summer filled with all of the debauchery, festivities, and social and sexual liberation we’ve spent the last year longing for. And it transpires that this spirit of celebration will have an impact on the choices we make when it comes to our interiors and homewares.