Noughties (2000-2009) Interior Design Context

INTERIORS 
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/jan/04/review-decade-interior-design

Our noughties homes were characterised by comfort, colour, thrift and green living. This decade has been about putting an individual stamp on a property and making it your own.

From feature walls to vintage boho chic and retro restyling, the last 10 years of interior design and home styling have been anything but boring - making cool but cold minimalism almost a thing of the past.

"The biggest change from the 90s to the noughties was the move from minimalism to the use of much richer, deeper and interesting colours," explains Jan Janecek, a designer at interior design company Bentheim. "The trend for this decade has been for comfort - people want to come home to good, comfortable design which is still cutting edge."

So back came colour and patterned wallpaper, and in came the feature wall, with everything from heavy damasks to florals and designer prints.

Example of feature wall with rich colours

Feature walls offer "recession-proof" style (buying one roll of wallpaper, or one pot of paint, to cover a single wall is more affordable than decorating a whole room). This means we'll see more dazzlingly original wallpaper designers like Lizzie Allen and Dupenny in the future.

Dupenny burlesque wallpaper

Global financial crisis of 2007-2008 and the recession, meant it was all about upcycling: reclaiming and the trend for make-do-and-mend became popular. Craft became cool with Etsy's launch in 2005, and shabby chic was born, giving rise to a whole new style of deliberately distressed, mismatched imperfection.

The high street reacted to this, introducing easy options for the public, with the arrival of Anthropologie in London for example. Everyone could parade their modern chintz and kitsch teaware, and update their boring dressers with jewelled door knobs.

Cath Kidston was one of the surprising success stories of the decade with her retro, 1950s housewife style.

The sudden success of her signature designs sounded the death knell for minimalism. Her floral prints and old-fashioned oil cloths certainly aren't to everyone's taste, but as a result of the late-noughties nostalgia vibe, she's been a surprising success story. After a relatively quiet beginning in the early 90s, the brand can feasibly be considered the Laura Ashley of the noughties.

In the 90s, we were still learning what it meant to go green; in the noughties we started to put it into practice. The likes of TV's Grand Designs, which launched in 1999, nurtured the concept of energy-saving ecohomes. 

Over on the high street, the past decade introduced some brilliant design staples for the home. Super-chic and sexy Zara Home opened in 2006, bringing a classy extension of its fashion range to homeware.

Of course, there have been design horror stories, including the MDF movement and tacky 'themed' interiors. Most were spurred on by the BBC's now defunct Changing Rooms, which finally went off air in 2004 .

TECHNOLOGY

There was an explosion in self-expression through using technology as ways of transmitting thoughts, images, feelings, ideas. Computer software and the internet has meant that everyone's an artist now.

But, more than that, everyone's a critic; recommending and giving your opinions (positive or negative) on films, songs etc.

1. Rise of the digital camera

2. The birth of the iPod

3. Wireless internet

4. YouTube created - vlogging, rise of music stars such as Justin Bieber.

5. Blogging - everybody has a voice

6. Mobile apps

7. Wikipedia - hacking scandal.

8. Twitter - following celebrities for the first time.

9. Facebook

OTHER

1. Britain's first modern art museum opened in May 2000, The Tate Modern, by the Queen, which turned out be a celebration of art now with mass appeal. One of the most influential exhibitions to date has been Damien Hirst's with the diamond skull.

2. Global recession - people thinking twice about spending vast amounts of money on anything from holidays, interiors etc.

3. Voyeurism - Big Brother airs for the first time on Channel 4. Symbol of our obsession with instant fame.

In the words of many a home makeover show (of which there were plenty), this decade has been about putting an individual stamp on a property and making it your own. Towards the end of the decade we started seeing property less as a neutrally styled investment (which, frankly, probably doesn't count for much now) for a quick and easy let, and more as a home to live in and fall in love with.

Whereas in the 90s it was all about buying brand new and slapping it on the credit card, the noughties - or at least the latter, recession-hit part - was about upcycling: reclaiming one man's junk as another's vintage treasure to make-do-and-mend. Craft became cool with Etsy's launch in 2005, and shabby chic was born, giving rise to a whole new style of deliberately distressed, mismatched imperfection.