Stamp out Sameness: The Social Media Dilemma

I love social media. I use it daily, sometimes hourly. My daughter runs SM for a fashion house, and I encouraged her to enter the field. As a designer of some very creative homes, I often turn to SM for inspiration, and I recommend my clients do the same. You can do the same fruitfully…. but proceed with caution. 

So there is this thing called A.I., or artificial intelligence.  My I.T.  whiz husband explains to me (I am less than an I.T. genius) that it’s to be thought of as a computer remembering what you like. That’s great to a point, but after a while, I see what I like a LOT, and I don’t see much else. So say I recently liked a white living room. Now my accounts start to show me white living rooms, more white living rooms, and the occasional white dining room. I miss red.

Then there are trends. When we all relied more on print, the latest looks arrived in a glossy publication delivered by U.S.P.S once a month. Now we see trends start, peak, and ebb in 5 days or less. Remember gray? Is that still a thing, or was that so last week?

Here’s the thing. I know there are accounts out there that have a million followers that are amazing. I love them, just like you (and 999,999 others) do. But they are not you. Stop for just a minute and think about a unique object that you love: a scarf, a pair of shoes, a painting, an album cover. (Did I just say “album”???). Let that object inspire you when it comes to your home. Start to think outside the box. What do you really like? And even if it is truly that account that gets 1.2 M likes every post, do you really want your living room to look like everyone else’s? 

If I’m going to be honest (yep, that’s me again), the best designs happen when you take chances. In our firm, the best designs happen when clients let us take chances. You may not want red walls everywhere, and that’s fine! But do you really want the same gold (or black or white) light fixtures that I’ve just seen on the last 365 pages of the lighting site? I’ll get more into how to create uniqueness in some upcoming posts. The point is, don’t be afraid to do it: to be “unique.” You are uniquely wonderful. Let’s make your home a unique and wonderful reflection of you.