What makes you smile in your home? What sparks delight? Your family and beloved pets create these feelings, but what inanimate objects create happiness in your home? These are the questions behind the interior design trend known as Playfulism; a trend so meaningful it’s been featured in top tier magazines World of Interiors and Architectural Digest. Livingetc devoted its summer 2024 issue to the concept, describing it as “this year’s most uplifting trend.”
We agree Playfulism is uplifting, but is it a trend or should it be a lifestyle? Livingetc asked interior designers to define the “rules” for Playfulism which they describe as joyful color, materiality, low slung rounded shapes, clashing patterns and layers, but we think it means much more. Read on for a bit of background on playfulism, how it’s for adults as well as children, and how rugs can help you achieve a Playfulism interior environment.
Playfulism in interior design began in the 1850s when wallpaper for children first appeared. The concept truly took off after the Disney cartoon character Mickey Mouse first appeared in 1928. Soon a joyful commercial wallpaper showing Mickey giddy with excitement as he piloted a plane appeared along with other Disney characters as fabric and wallpaper designs. Commissioned by Disney from Sanderson, these “hero designs” (meaning eternal bestsellers) were revived and renewed by Sanderson in celebration of Disney’s 100th anniversary in 2023. No longer intended just for children, the new Disney designs are also for adults, who like Walt Disney himself, have a playful child-at-heart outlook.
Sanderson achieved their new playful Disney look by cleverly incorporating Disney characters into existing Sanderson “adult” designs, such as adding Bambi into an existing floral forest pattern. This is the pro “secret” that will allow you to create a Playfulism interior: mix highly playful objects, pictures or soft furnishings with more “established” design elements. Mixing these up will allow you to embrace and project your inner child as Playfulism without the result looking child-like.
The right rugs can enhance Playfulism in your home and allow them to become a Peter Pan-like friend that never gets old (even if the rug is vintage or antique!) Take a close look at our hand-knotted pure wool poetic Persian Kerman. Do you see the high-stepping tigers? And the birds sitting in rose bushes? Or what about our royal blue Tree of Life hand-knotted wool rug? Two proud peacocks are front and center, but take a closer look. Tiny bluebirds of happiness perch contentedly on branches of the Tree of Life. Other animals roam the rug while bursts of joyous flowers encircle all of them.
These two rugs are Playfulism at its best. Playfulism isn’t about rules, and it isn’t just “fun”. Playfulism epitomises the American spirit of “anything is possible”. Playfulism asks us to be mindful and see the joy around us, such as taking a break to sit with a cup of coffee and look for the joyful animal details in one of our rugs. Everyday joy in your home is Playfulism at its best, and an attitude we should never outgrow.
