I must admit that although this summer’s unrelenting heat made the cool composure of a Mediterranean villa, its whitewashed walls and terracotta tiles, all the more appealing, I’m beginning to backpedal. The chill grip of the autumn air has served as a nostalgic reminder of what it is to live in Britain for most of the year; a reminder that has done little to disappoint me so far. It’s too early to turn the heating on (perhaps I’ll wait til 2024…), but I’ve hung up my knitwear to air, I’ve thrown blankets over the back of the sofa and across the foot of the bed, and I’ve chiselled new candles into old candlesticks to fully embrace the autumn and its acquired pleasures.
This year, autumn/winter trends in interior design all point to rich, textural, earthy, almost gothic themes, drawing on arts and crafts, Victoriana and the Tumblr-coined, Tiktok-appropriated Dark Academia aesthetic. Think The Secret History meets Count Dracula’s Soho townhouse meets Bloomsbury haunt, Charleston, and you have yourself a fine portrait of this season’s aesthetic touchstones.
