SPOTLIGHT SHINES ON DIY DESIGN
COVID-19 has sparked a maker movement and Etsy is honouring the best: trend expert
There has been a surge of interest in do-it-yourself home design and decor over the past few months, says Dayna Isom Johnson, a judge on NBC’S Making It and a lifestyle specialist and trend expert for online makers marketplace Etsy. With people spending much more time at home, Isom Johnson says it’s driving them to learn new skills and seek out fun family activities, and as a result, DIY urban garden kits, macramé, and tie-dye kits are flying off the (virtual) shelves.
Postmedia caught up with Isom Johnson to hear about some of the home design trends she’s seeing this summer, and hear about Etsy’s second annual design awards — the Etsies — which are now closed. The grand prize winner will take home US$15,000. Isom Johnson will judge the awards along with actress Drew Barrymore.
“Drew’s been a longtime supporter of makers and creative items. She’s not a cookie-cutter type of person. She is quite unique herself, and I think that is absolutely reflected in the items that she chooses for her own home and her own personal style,” says Isom Johnson.
Barrymore says she is a huge fan of independent creators, and design and entrepreneurship are very close to her heart. She also loves to support small businesses, “especially during these uncertain times.” Barrymore says when buying something on Etsy, she feels she’s making a difference by supporting a real person who has made something “with love.”
The biggest product spike on Etsy, not surprisingly, is face masks, says Isom Johnson. Four months ago, she says, if you’d searched for “face mask” you probably would have got Halloween or beauty masks, and certainly no one outside the medical field would think of using a medical face mask, but since April millions have been sold on Etsy, she says.
Isom Johnson recently spoke to one seller who is usually a woman’s fashion designer but flipped things in the past few months.
“Not many people are wanting to wear dressy clothes right now. Everyone’s in athleisure, and he was able to quickly pivot his business and introduce masks, and he sold 200 face masks within a day,” she says.
Like fashion, home design trends often represent what’s happening in the world, and Isom Johnson says that for over a year-and-a-half Etsy has curated a Black-owned Etsy shop page, to “shine a light on and uplight” these sellers.