Okay, I'm just going to say it: Instagram is ruining our interiors.
Take the deep, moody blue I painted the home office in my old house, for example. It looked rich and decadent on a social post I saved, but darkened the already dim space and eventually proved impossible to live with. Despite being an interiors journalist, in efforts to #styleitdark like all the stylish people I follow online, I completely ignored everything I knew about using cool, dark colors in a north-facing room, let alone the kind of shades that energize a workspace.
That's not me suggesting you completely avoid social media trends, though. In my new home, I’ve just had a talented carpenter design and build a trellis for an interior wall in our sun room — an idea stolen from an American home on my feed — which he said was the first he'd done in the UK. Another decorator painted it in Farrow & Ball's Old White in a satin finish to catch the sun, and despite their initial doubts, both tradesmen now completely agree with my original vision.
