Cocooning

Decorno sparked a bit of controversy today with her letter to Wall Street which got me thinking about what happens to the interior design industry when times are tough. Many of my friends and clients work in finance and are already cutting back their budgets but they and other New Yorkers still want a comfortable place to come home to at the end of the night. In fact, when the world is scary out there like it was after September 11th, people end up spending more money on their decor because they are going out less and cocooning at home with friends and family.

Harsh economic times usually mean less custom work and over the top ridiculously expensive curtains and more pieces from places like Crate and Barrel, flea markets and eBay. There are also many wonderful thrift stores in New York who sell top notch furniture and art to benefit very worthwhile charities that you can usually find something without breaking the bank. But I'm curious, are any of you in design industry noticing a slowdown in projects or other repercussions of this financial crisis? What are you doing to weather the storm? Do you think this will lead to more restrained and subdued decorating?

Photo by William Waldron for Elle Decor
Piggy Bank for hiding your money by Harry Allen