Maximalism facing a resurgence following the pandemic

Photos and story by EMMA SHULAR

Cluttercore, granny chic, thrifting design or grand millennium, whatever name you choose for it, maximalism interior design is growing in popularity, according to interior designers and design magazines.

Maria Espinosa, senior interior designer for Vancouver-based PlaidFox Studio, said that maximalism is a design style that is “hard to describe.”

“It’s about layering textures, it’s about layering colours,” she said. “There is always some restraint. You always want to make sure that you’re pairing back and you’re laying the right things.”

Espinosa said PlaidFox Studio saw an increase in people wanting to change their design style following COVID-19.

“We had a lot of people contact us even if it was for something as simple as painting their home a different colour or just decorating it,” she said. “They wanted to change it and add colour and bring life into it and make it a little bit more upbeat.”

Angel Rivas styled the interior of his rental house in Surrey in a maximalist way. He said his design style shifted from minimalist to maximalist following the pandemic. 

“When you’re at your home and then can’t really go anywhere else, you rely more on having visual stimuli just from your living space,” he said. 

Rivas said that a maximalist style makes the house he shares with roommates feel more comfortable and that with maximalism you can “add a lot more of your personality.”

“It feels more like a home instead of just like a space that I’m in,” he said. “When you have lots of stuff you can like, add a lot of things that you like and that you think make you who you are.” 

 

Part of maximalism is a variety of decorations in the same space that all come together to give the room a cohesive design.

 

These decorations tend to include colourful artwork on the walls and the ceiling . . .

 

 

. . . tapestries that are often extremely colourful and, in Rivas’ home, tend to depict skulls and skeletons.

 

 

Another part of maximalism is a large amount of knick-knacks big and small.

 

These knick-knacks can range from vintage items to newer ones and have no real limit to what they can be.

 

 

Rivas said that a majority of the items in the home came from his roommate’s old job where he helped clean out houses of hoarders.

 

This has led to a very wide mix of things in the home, from old film memorabilia . . .

 

. . . (which some people may not even recognize today) . . .

 

. . . to some more eclectic things, like this interesting sculpture.

 

Rivas said that one of his favourite things in the home is the Michael Myers statue they have at the top of the stairs and that it often becomes a “conversation piece.”

 

 

Another conversation piece is the large skeleton that watches over the house’s driveway.

 

 

While most things in the house are just for decoration, not everything is. Rivas and some of his roommates have a band together, so they put the audio booth in the basement to good use.

 

There are also a couple of cats living in the house that may or may not approve of the decor