Perhaps we've passed a mark in society where our over indulgences and pack-rat tendancies can now be explored and satisfied through mere illusions — whether it's multi-colored wallpaper, a printed rug or convincing trompe l'oeil, some products have all it takes to visually convince us of the presence of clutter while remaining completely clutter free!
1 This Soma Wallpaper by Basso & Brooke for Graham & Brown toes the line between extravagantly exciting and headache inducing - $60 a roll (11 yards x 20.5 inches)
2 & 3 British designer Deborah Bowness specializes in handpainted wallpapers of trompe l'oeil domestic scenes — clothes, books, plates, clocks, and chairs give her gorgeous papers the appearance of "stuff".
4 & 5 & 6 The Puzzle Pattern Rug by Barber Osgerby for The Rug Company features colorful silhouettes of everyday objects in the pattern - $87.50 per square foot.
7 Trompe L'oeil Bookshelf Storage from Front design collective.
8 The legendary Chest of Drawers by Tejo Remy gives the appearance of randomness and clutter but also keeps it all in one spot! Limited edition of 500 for Droog - price upon request.
9 & 10 Pharmacy Wallpaper by Damien Hirst available with silver or gold background - £1,000 (10000mm x 538mm) from Other Criteria.
Can you think of additional products and furnishings that give the illusion of clutter?
MORE FAUX CLUTTER
• Print Isn't Dead — It's Been Reborn As Wallpaper
• Pharmacy and Butterfly Wallpapers by Damien Hirst
• The Wallpaper Collection from Deborah Bowness
• New British Wallpaper at ICFF
• The Rug Company: Designs from Barber Osgerby
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
I'm sorry to be the first with the grammar corrections, but it's "illusion," not "allusion." And "tendencies" (no "a").
view sally305's profile
You keep using that word (allusion). I do not think it means what you think it means.
view Kalakala's profile
I like the chest of drawers. But I don't know if I can relax seeing that bundle. I want to run up to it and hold it so it doesn't fall. :)
Re-using old drawers is definitely appealing. This one is a bit more orderly by wis design (but in no way diminishes Tejo Remy's one of a kind piece): http://www.modernests.com/2009/07/library-card-drawers-and-other-eclectic.html
view MODERnestS's profile
re:allusion/illusion oops (started that post too late at night!) thanks!
view Aaron's profile
I'd like these designs better if I didn't think of them as illusions of clutter. I'd rather have the illusion of nonclutter without actually having to declutter.
view Joan A.'s profile
Who needs illusions of clutter?
What we really need are illusions of uncluttered spaces!
view bepsf's profile
"illusion of nonclutter without actually having to declutter" & "illusions of uncluttered spaces".
So solid-colored cabinet fronts, wallpaper and textiles, then?
I also don't understand why you'd try to make your home look messier than it is.
view slowdown's profile
Although clutter is my disease, I prefer allusions to clutter, but defer to reality -- illusions of non-clutter.
view olga's profile
Love the rugs... do not love the price...
view LSUgrad03's profile
Really? Yuck. This current trend towards high volume visual noise is going to look embarrassingly dated in less than a decade. No one needs this much visual stimulation in their home. And with colors trending towards the infantile, this isn't sophisticated or calming or even clever. It's a high pitched visual shriek. Who wants to come home to that every night?
I'd need a xanax just to walk in my front door.
view RichardinLA's profile