I grew up in the 90s, and my introduction to interior design was via the 48 hour makeover show ‘Changing Rooms’. People would paint walls in extreme colours, glue-gun feathers onto lampshades and use copious amounts of MDF to make furniture; all in the hopes of transforming a plain room into something special for their fellow contestants (who also happened to be their next-door neighbours).

INSERT PHOTO OF CHANGING ROOMS REACTION

Changing Rooms inspired me (aged 11) to redecorate my own bedroom twice; but also framed interior design in my eyes as something creative, expressive, accessible - but ultimately frivolous.

Although I continued to renovate my own homes, it wasn’t until I was in my early 30s that I revisited interiors as a profession via a Netflix profile of Ilse Crawford; an interior designer known for creating interiors that prioritize human experience, comfort, and wellbeing.

INSERT ILSE CRAWFORD INTERIOR

Suddenly I saw: as well as being creative, interior design has huge power to influence how we live and feel. Within a week I’d signed up to an interior design course. The more I learned, the more I looked at interiors all around me - our homes, places of leisure, workplaces, schools, hospitals - I realised:

The way interiors are designed not only has significant impacts on human lives and emotions; but also has enormous impacts for our planet.

The dots were all joining up. The interiors industry can be frivolous - it can be wasteful, destructive, unethical, exclusive and shallow, it can drive consumerism, perfectionism and ill-health. This is fast interiors, paralleling fast fashion - less widely spoken about but even more destructive.

The interiors industry is an industry after all, and industries thrive on repeat purchase, novelty, and keeping us feeling dissatisfied. Industries are driven by profit - not respect for nature, mental wellbeing or happiness. What we buy, how we design our homes and businesses, how often we change things — it’s all part of a system.

How our current capitalist system shapes our interiors and harms our planet

Capitalism is an economic system built on private ownership, competition, and the pursuit of profit through continuous growth. For it to function, people must keep buying. Consumption is not a side effect — it is the engine. This structural dependency shapes everything from how products are designed to how we relate to our interiors.

How capitalism produces fast interiors

01

Planned obsolescence

Products designed to wear out, go out of style, or become unfashionable

02

Marketing & aspiration

Advertising connects identity and wellbeing to purchasing new things

03

Cheap production

Globalised supply chains make replacement cheaper than repair

04

Trend cycles

Media accelerates aesthetic change, normalising frequent updates

05

Disposal & waste

Usable objects discarded. Resources extracted again. Cycle repeats.

⟳

Profit motive

Many businesses exist to generate returns for shareholders, where profit is maximised by selling more and cutting costs — not by making things last longer or producing less.

↑

Growth imperative

Capitalist economies require continuous growth to remain stable. A company that doesn't grow loses investors. Growth becomes an end in itself, regardless of ecological consequence.

⊘

Externalised costs

Environmental and social costs of production are not paid by the producer. They are borne by communities and the natural world. This makes destruction artificially cheap.

What capitalism rewards

Speed and novelty
Cheap production at scale
Planned obsolescence
Externalised environmental costs
Continuous growth in consumption
Disposability over durability

vs

What the planet needs

Slowness and longevity
Localised, lower-impact production
Design for repair and reuse
Full environmental cost accounting
Reduced material throughput
Care over replacement

Why individual choices aren't enough

When the system is designed to profit from consumption and externalise ecological costs, individual ethical choices operate against the grain of powerful economic incentives. Choosing better is necessary but insufficient without systemic change.

Green consumerism's limits

Buying more sustainable products still feeds the growth machine. True sustainability requires consuming less overall — not just consuming differently. This is the tension at the heart of most sustainable brands, including in interiors.

Alternatives being explored

Doughnut economics

Kate Raworth's model sets a social foundation below which no one should fall and an ecological ceiling above which we should not go. Prosperity within limits rather than growth at any cost.

Degrowth

Jason Hickel, Tim Jackson, and others argue for deliberately scaling down destructive economic activity — prioritising wellbeing, care, and ecological health over GDP growth.

Circular economy

Redesigning systems so materials stay in use as long as possible — through repair, reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling — rather than a linear take-make-discard model.

Our interiors are one of the most immediate sites within our influence where the logic of capitalism plays out — through trend cycles, planned obsolescence, and furniture designed for replacement rather than repair. Interior design alone can't change the system — but every choice to repair rather than replace, to buy from a maker rather than a manufacturer, to ask where something comes from — these are not small gestures. Enough of them, made by enough people, can change how we see interiors, the economy, and the world we share.

Further reading: Jackson, T. (2017) Prosperity Without Growth — Hickel, J. (2020) Less is More — Raworth, K. (2017) Doughnut Economics — Schor, J. (1998) The Overspent American — © Earth & Origin 2026

If the spaces we live in and interact with — from our homes to cafés, pubs, and shops - are part of the system; that means we as homeowners, renters and small business owners can influence the system – perhaps even change it.

So the way we design and decorate stops being frivolous. Our interiors can become less throwaway, less trend-driven, and more meaningful and planet-positive.

So how do we do this, on an individual level? How do we make our interiors not only aesthetically pleasing, but also more meaningful, responsible, and supportive of both people and planet?

1. Start with how you want to feel

Before buying anything, ask: What do I want this space to support?
Calm, connection, creativity, rest — design decisions become clearer when they’re rooted in feeling rather than aesthetics alone.

2. Buy less, choose better

Shift from quantity to longevity.
Look for pieces that are well-made, repairable, and that you genuinely want to live with for years.

3. Learn what things are made of

Understanding materials — natural vs synthetic, renewable vs extractive — is one of the most powerful ways to reduce impact and make informed choices.

4. Prioritise reuse and restoration

The most sustainable item is often the one that already exists. Repair, reupholster, repaint, or repurpose before replacing.

5. Connect your home to nature

Plants, natural materials, images of nature — small changes can significantly improve wellbeing and shift the feel of a space.

6. Support makers and local trades

Choosing craftsmanship over mass production keeps skills alive, supports local economies, and often results in more meaningful, lasting pieces.

7. Design for real life, not perfection

Interiors should evolve, show wear, and reflect the people who live in them or use them. Let go of the idea that a space needs to look “finished.”

8. Support local spaces doing things differently

By choosing local cafés, restaurants, and spaces that prioritise sustainability and thoughtful design, we help nurture places that care for both community and planet.

When we see interiors not only as decoration but as a relationship — with ourselves, our communities, and the natural world — they stop being frivolous and start becoming quietly powerful.

I'm Michelle — founder of Earth & Origin, and I believe the way we design and care for our spaces is part of how we build a better relationship with the natural world, and a better future for our communities. If you've read this far, you might enjoy my others posts below — or subscribe to the newsletter for new writing when it lands.