Call me naïve, but the way I get through turbulent times is to focus on two things:
the future and my home. Hope looks to be in somewhat short supply these days. Whether it’s the toxic leadership contest to become our next prime minister (neither candidate I’m particularly enamoured with, I must say), ongoing war in Ukraine, endless strikes, rampant inflation and the cost-of-living crisis starting to bite, another looming Covid surge on the horizon… How quickly that post-pandemic positivity seems to have disappeared and here, once again, we find ourselves desperately searching for something to cling to.
Surrounded by gloom, there’s no merit in looking back – regret is a pointless emotion, after all. Instead, it’s looking forward, embracing the possibility of change and the fact that things move on, that gives me energy and focus. Creating the sense that ‘the future is now’ provides a welcome distraction; it drives and motivates what I do and what this magazine represents.
Where and how we choose to live offers a special sort of solace. Simplistically, home is a sanctuary, somewhere you can close the door and protect yourself from the demons amassing in the shadows. On another level, it’s also somewhere you can exact instant change. Transforming the way rooms look, even in the most minimal way, is empowering, whether it’s painting a banister, hanging a new curtain in a brightly patterned fabric or swapping a lampshade. When you feel powerless to change anything in the outside world, interior-design projects like these can make you feel euphoric.
So, this month, we wanted to create a dopamine hit of an issue, packed with pages of eclectic and inspiring spaces. There’s a focus on innovative ways to decorate (clue: overhead and underfoot are where it’s at), our guide to the most luxurious new fabrics, wallpapers and paints, plus a whole host of fascinating individuals who we’re dying to introduce you to. If that wasn’t enough, there’s also ELLE Decoration Bathrooms Volume 7, our annual exploration of that retreat-within-a-retreat, the one room where we are, perhaps, most emotionally connected to our surroundings.
My advice? Look to the future – it’s bright, colourful, crazy and unlike anything you’ve seen before. If you search hard enough, you’ll realise it’s already here and that, actually, it is full of hope.