JOURNAL

Sometimes a nearly forgotten word is exactly what is needed to understand something of the present. ROOMTH once meant room, place and spaciousness. Today, it can describe something that appears to be becoming increasingly scarce: the ability to give one thing our full attention. It is not only about the physical space around us, but also about the space we consciously make for something. For concentration, an experience, a thought, an object or another person.

My archive now contains almost 10,000 photographs from the design weeks in Milan and Copenhagen. Often, I know exactly why I capture something: a colour, material, surface or form. But sometimes I return to an image and wonder: what exactly did I photograph?

Over the past few years, the darker side of the interior palette has mostly been carried by warmth.

A pinched edge, an uneven glaze, a folded textile or a pressed surface tells us that something has passed through hands, pressure, time and attention.

In the Netherlands, orange becomes truly visible whenever a major football tournament begins. It appears on shirts, flags, faces, streets, cafés and supermarket displays. The colour belongs to collective watching, anticipation, national recognition and a temporary sense of shared enthusiasm. Not only because orange is visually striking, but because here it is directly connected to recognition and belonging.

Products are no longer presented only against a beautiful or neutral background. They are increasingly placed within environments that make something felt: origin, handwork, ritual, history or material awareness.

During Milan Design Week 2026, several installations stood out for what they did not fill. The object itself was no longer always the centre of attention. Instead, the space around it became active. Atmosphere, silence, distance and emotional presence became almost tangible.

In an increasingly fast-moving digital visual culture, design is shifting towards the sensory. Images are everywhere. Interiors, objects and atmospheres are constantly being shared, saved, generated and recombined. AI is making it easier than ever to create perfect visual worlds. Precisely because of this, the need for physical conviction is growing.

ATHOME Spring Summer  2027 | interior trends

Between the Rainbow is the title of the editorial of the new ATHOME.AWX27|28 trend book.

A seed in a little pot, in a corner with light, with just enough water and patience. At first, almost nothing happens. Then suddenly a shoot, a few needles, a fragile beginning you hardly dare to touch. You watch, you wait, you give it what it needs. Slowly it grows sturdier. More green appears, more shape. You move it into a bigger pot, and after a few years you recognise it: a Christmas tree in the making. Not perfect, not finished, but carefully raised.