I’ve been booking a holiday recently, and even though I find a lot of interiors out there quite underwhelming, I was still stunned with how incredibly boring, uninspiring and samey the vast majority of the hotels and airbnb’s we looked at. Where we are heading, there were a smaller selection of more interesting and different looking accommodations. And for that pleasure, there was a significant premium on the price tag.
I am not as young as I was, and now I have a – very poorly trained – dog to hamper my activities. But when I go out now, I want it to be a worthwhile and memorable experience. Be that an exciting day out with something immersive like secret cinema or a gig. But even if its just to go for a meal or a drink, the interior of the place you are going is increasingly important in where we decide to part with our hard end and increasingly less disposable cash.
You must have noticed it yourself when booking a holiday, weekend away, or even just going out locally. So many hotels, Airbnbs, cafés and bars now seem to blur into one big algorithmically generated aesthetic. Warm neutrals. Minimalism. Carefully curated rustic textures. Right angles .Soft lighting. Japandi, Scandi, “quiet luxury”, or whatever the current label is this week.
None of these styles are inherently bad. Some of them can look great. But increasingly it feels like everyone is drawing inspiration from the same few Pinterest boards and Instagram accounts, until everything starts feeling oddly interchangeable.
Like I said, these interiors aren’t inherently bad. If people genuinely hated them, everywhere wouldn’t keep designing spaces like this. But it reminds me a bit of modern cars. It’s now genuinely rare to see one that isn’t black, white, grey, or some equally forgettable shade in-between.
It feels like a lot of businesses now design everything for the broadest possible audience. The safest possible option. Something unlikely to offend anyone, but also unlikely to really excite anyone either. And from a commercial perspective, I understand it. For large companies especially, playing it safe makes financial sense.
Which brings me back to my search for accommodation for my holiday……the less standard, the less same-y, the more interesting and fun hotels and airbnb’s were charging more. All of them. It means people were willing to pay it. Recent research shows that listings with "a high design personality" can command a 20-60% price premium. Showing that having bold, different and standout interiors doesn’t just make the world a happier and more worthwhile place. For a business it makes financial sense.
I’m clearly not the only person noticing this shift either. There’s been a growing backlash recently against hyper-minimal, algorithmically generated interiors, with even mainstream design publications talking about people craving spaces with more personality, texture and individuality again. A lot of hospitality research also backs up the idea that atmosphere, and immersive environments genuinely affect customer behaviour; from how long people stay in a venue, to whether they return, recommend it to others, or share it online. In an era where restaurants, bars, hotels and Airbnbs are constantly photographed and posted on social media, visually distinctive spaces effectively become part of the marketing too.
And that’s probably the key point for me. If you’re a massive global chain, blending into the background probably doesn’t matter. In fact it likely makes financial sense. People already know who you are. But for independent businesses, boutique hotels, bars, cafés and Airbnbs, being memorable suddenly becomes far more important.
In a crowded market full of interchangeable options, personality becomes part of the value. People remember places that made them feel something. Places that surprised them a bit. Places with atmosphere, identity and character.
That doesn’t necessarily mean every interior needs to look like an obscure hidden stage at Glastonbury. But I do think people are increasingly craving spaces that feel human, distinctive and slightly unexpected again.
And that’s part of what Acid House Designs is about really. Not just making spaces look “nice”, but making them feel memorable. Because life’s too short — and money’s too tight — to spend your time in places that feel completely forgettable. I also think people are slowly getting tired of designing everything around trends, algorithms and the fear of looking uncool. Spaces don’t need to be expensive or perfect. They just need a bit of warmth, personality and identity. Something that actually reflects the people using them, rather than whatever the internet decided everyone should like this month. And if life isn’t about having fun, and being happy, what are we all doing?
