Every film fan will know that there’s more to movies than just following the plot lines. And several films have become massive hits in the interior design circles thanks to some stunning examples of innovative set design.
Whether it’s a faux leather sofa like the one in Mia’s contemporary apartment in Pulp Fiction, or embracing mid-century bohemianism in Holly Golightly’s flat in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, there’s plenty of interior design inspiration to be found in our favourite movies.
It’s perhaps the obsessive detail of Wes Anderson’s movies that makes them a must for any true home decor fan.
Whilst The Grand Budapest Hotel was pretty impressive, it was the David Wasco’s production design of The Royal Tenenbaums that showed how anything from a pink telephone to a red patterned bedspread can all play an important part in setting up the mood of a movie story.
There’s a similar level of detail in Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s sumptuous Amelie movie. This much-loved 2001 film portrayed the interior spaces of Amelie’s Parisian apartment with a gloriously rich use of red colour tones, and everything from the beaded curtains to the checkered tiles added up to a real feast for the eyes.
Luca Guadagnino’s 2009 movie, I Am Love, used a powerful set design for its Milanese mansion to really add to the tension of this finely-crafted drama. Whilst most of us probably won’t be able to afford the luxury of the Villa Necchi Campiglio that was used to film the movie, even with something like the faux leather beds from Bedstar we can at least approximate the grandeur created by Francesca Di Mottola’s tasteful production design.
Some films also have done a good job in helping us understand the aesthetic decor of bygone eras. For example, Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette gave us a great glimpse of Rococo opulence in Versailles by making full use of floral wall coverings and gold-gilded doors, whilst Gone With the Wind used plenty of dramatic staircases, sculpted columns, and four-poster beds to conjure up a sense of southern Gothic like no other.
And some movies have also helped us imagine what our interiors could look like in the future. From the crisp polished minimalism of KK Barrett’s set design in the sci-fi movie, Her, to Stanley Kubrick’s iconic 2001: A Space Odyssey that blended futurism with weirdly ornate touches, it shows that movies can give us some surprising interior design lessons!