Interior Designers Now Homing In on Comfort

Open a home decorating magazine these days and you’ll see beds that look as if they have been slept in, living rooms where people eat popcorn while watching TV, and club chairs where someone snuggles under a comforter and sips tea while reading a book. Hey, what’s going on? It looks as if people actually live in these rooms.

Call it the “lived-in look” or “comfort decor.” It goes beyond the casual-to-a-fault trend of couch potatoes. This is snuggling in style--a way to obtain casual chic that looks undecorated but tastefully put together. Suddenly, people have mustered the courage to be cozy.

Mario Buatta, the New York City designer who made a reputation on the expensive but comfy look of down-cushioned sofas and collection-filled rooms, provided the inspiration for comfort decor long before it hit mainstream America.

“Life is rough out there,” he said. “People want to come home to warmth and comfort. They are tired of cold, impersonal rooms. There is a new attention to detail--not clutter, but personal effects that make you feel cozy.”

During the 1980s, many of us used home as a place to change our clothes on the way to the gym or the latest trendy restaurant. Home didn’t have to be comfortable because we didn’t spend a lot of time there. But times have changed. Baby boomers settled down, had children and accrued too many bills to paint the town. Then came recession and a hunkering-down mentality.

“We have become more secure about our surroundings,” said Tom Williams of Federal Hill Interiors in Baltimore. “We have gone through cocooning. The next step is comfort decorating. It has a lot to do with our lifestyle. We are mature and secure. These days, we want our friends to be comfortable, not impressed. Just like we have become secure enough to serve our guests roast chicken, our homes don’t have to be flashy anymore.”

Many design firms are working with clients to achieve a stylish design that doesn’t shout: “I hired an interior designer!” Their definitions of what makes a place homey may be slightly different, but their goals are the same: to produce an attractive room where guests and residents can feel comfortable putting their feet up.

The first impression of a room is the furniture. Does it look comfortable or does it shout: “Don’t touch me!”? Many designers say that the easiest way to achieve the comfort look is to fill the room with overstuffed sofas, wing chairs and plenty of pillows. Bigger furniture always looks more comfortable. So does furniture upholstered with plaids or wool rather than a fussy fabric. But it doesn’t have to be the Mario Buatta look. Comfort can come in contemporary as well as traditional styles.