I recently spent a full, sunny (!) afternoon busily decorating my home, picking out gorgeous fabrics, lamps, plants and all that good stuff. Of course this was my imaginary, completely not real home. Which lives, in a way, on my Pinterest account. I’m obsessive about collecting these images and relish looking at their loveliness, weirdly, like an actual home, I believe my choice in virtual decor reflects well upon me.Â
Of course I have never and maybe will never own a home, I live in London… actually, scratch that, I live nowhere! I’ve just returned to England after travelling for several months, so technically I’m homeless. But when I do move into some place it is 100% going to be incredibly expensive rented accommodation. I’ve lived in house-shares my entire adult life; which are so fun, always a friend to share a bottle of Tempranillo with, parties, hungover breakfasts. However the drawback is that you don’t have a space that’s really yours. The house is literally owned by someone else, you are merely a paying guest, and then you have the conflicting tastes in decor with your housemates.
I’m a bonafide hippie at heart, my taste runs very much to ceramics I’ve picked up at bazaars in Istanbul or Marrakesh, lots of colour and plants… which, let’s face it, isn’t to everyone’s taste. I once lived with a girl who had a literal clay fairy ornament which I thought was the most hideous thing ever (and still do) but the thing with taste is, it’s entirely subjective and personal.
So with the lack of space to make our own, generation rent make do with merely imagining what our dream home will be like, because the odds are, it won’t happen. Bleak yes, but we can dream and there’s no reason you can’t spruce up your rented space in a chi chi way that doesn’t involve painting the walls or making permanent changes. Urban Outfitters do some great homewares and I always say a house without at least a couple of plants is not a home.
Anyway, I’m off to go pin some more kitchens to my board on Pinterest.