HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS
Over the past 30 years, attitudes to the home have changed, tastes have evolved and we live differently day-to-day. One constant? ELLE Decoration, of course. Editor Ben Spriggs explores our influence, past, present and future…
When ELLE Decoration launched in the UK in 1989, the world, and people’s own small versions of it, was infinitely different to where we find ourselves today. Rather than kitsch or cutting-edge, avocado bathroom suites were the norm; chintz fabric hung at windows and woodchip paper covered the walls in most British homes.
Edited by the now iconic Ilse Crawford, ELLE Decoration emerged into this formal landscape with a bang. It had long been craved by a younger generation desperate to escape their parents’ aesthetic. Back then, interiors were only covered in very traditional homes magazines – ELLE Decoration took design into the domestic sphere.
That first issue included features on Yves Saint Laurent’s blue garden in Marrakech, timeless Shaker furniture, how to shop for everything white and the joy of lino flooring. It encapsulated what was to become the essence of ELLE Decoration: inspiration and aspiration combined with practical ideas and information. ‘Our philosophy was about mixing high and low design,’ says Crawford, ‘a Welsh blanket with a Cassina sofa and something from The Conran Shop. No one else brought those things together at that time.’
Big names, bold interiors, modernism, minimalism, maximalism; we’ve seen it all. Even through the years of home makeover TV shows and DIY crazes, we’ve held on to a strong sense of taste and quality; giving readers great ideas and products, while informing them of the hottest new trends shaping design.
Styles and the houses we inhabit may have changed radically, but in certain ways they haven’t at all. Michelle Ogundehin, the magazine’s longest-serving editor, from 2004-2017, pointed out that ‘For all the potential pomp and display of home-making, our instincts are to crave equal measures of sociability, solitude and simplicity.’ In other words, we all search to improve the boxes in which we live; spaces we can be together or where we can find peace and calm – desires that are as important today as they were in 1989.
ELLE Decoration has evolved into the country’s most stylish contemporary homes brand, offering interiors expertise and shoots from around the world. Appealing to trendsetters and tastemakers, it’s a vital resource on multiple platforms – as well as following us online, you can buy an ELLE Decoration bathroom.
Advances in technology are changing day-to-day life. Wellbeing and sustainability, rather than being just buzz words, are shaping attitudes and informing choices when it comes to what we put in our homes. In a future where consumerism risks spiralling out of control, ELLE Decoration’s mantra of ‘ buy once, buy well’ is more crucial than ever.
After leaving the role of editor, Crawford wrote a book called Home Is Where The Heart Is, and if there’s any phrase that sums up the magazine she created, then and now, it has to be that. ELLE Decoration has always been about more than just homes, it’s about heart and loving how you live.