From zero-gravity sleep to non-food fridges for fertility and weight loss meds, principal bedroom suites with a second slumber chamber for snorers, and barkitecture, these are the hottest new interiors' status symbols.
Homeowners have always signified wealth and status by how they decorated their homes. For the ascendancy class, it was chintz and porcelain.
In the Celtic Tiger era, homeowners laid crunchy golden gravel at the front, eschewed grass for timber decking out the back, hung antique mirrors in halls and paid telephone numbers for in-frame kitchens they couldn’t take with them when the bailiffs came.
In the better-heeled homes now they’re still paying telephone numbers for kitchens, but these are for show, not to be besmirched by everyday use, rather with secondary, hidden spaces where all the hard work is done; bathrooms are no longer just functional spaces as wellness takes centre stage and pets get equal billing to humans.
Many of these high-end features form part of the new homes offer at Lake Garda.
Designed by Apostali Wellness Creators in collaboration with Lefay Resorts Project, it offers hotel-level luxury in second homes, as can be seen in the lead image.
Here are the middle-class status symbols of the day. How many do you have in your home?
What experts say:
Renowned interiorista Geri O'Toole of Geri Designs says that there has been a huge shift towards functionality.
"The new status symbol isn't simply owning beautiful things; it's having a home that has been thoughtfully designed around the way you actually live," Geri says.
"We're seeing a move away from extravagant or ostentatious luxury towards quiet luxury. It's less about making a statement and more about investing in quality, craftsmanship and spaces that feel deeply personal."
What to expect in the garden now
Expect to see an outdoor kitchen, possibly shielded from the rain by a pergola, and surrounded by non-permeable paving on terraces with planting lit up like a Christmas tree at night so one can enjoy the space after dark.
An entry-level option is Ikea's Batskaer, which features a range of freestanding units in varying sizes and a selection of add-on components.
The key unit comes equipped with a gas BBQ, with prices starting at €1,250.
Along with a garden room, there is likely a sauna somewhere, screened from view by luxuriant planting, installed by a celebrity-name gardener.
Versatile in Navan sells a wide range.
Prices for the Idea 5 model pictured above start from €18,800. In some homes, including architect and TV star Dermot Bannon’s, owners have also installed an outdoor shower so you can re-enter the house refreshed and ready to go.
The set-up delivers quality wellness time at a remove from the frenetic pace of family life.
The kitchen is no longer a workhorse space
While many pride themselves on a pristine kitchen with marble-look countertops, they can only maintain this level of perfection because they have a back kitchen, known Stateside as a dirty kitchen, where all the mess of living, chopping, mixing, and cluttered surfaces is contained.
All prep business happens out of guests' eyeline.
For homes that host, it means the main kitchen has a show-home sensibility and maintains a clean aesthetic.
Design professionals Max and Emily Fedorov, who run creative agency Third Mind Design, have implemented the stylish feature into their Stillorgan home through their interior design wing, Rain Ann Design, named after their daughter.
The hot water tap has replaced the kettle, requiring under-counter storage that exceeds the kettle's size.
Those who still favour a piping hot cup of tea have relegated their kettle to an appliance garage, where it shares space with the air fryer, the coffee machine, stick blenders, smoothie makers and spice and bean grinders.
A bantry is a socials-led hybrid name for a bar that does double duty as a pantry.
The part storage solution, part entertaining station cross is a way to impress guests when you don’t have enough space for a separate walk-in pantry and home bar and generally includes a drinks fridge, a wine display, and a coffee station.
While a freestanding American double-doored fridge meant you had it together in the 2000s, the smart fridge, with separate cooling functions for dairy, fruit and veg and meat, has become the 2020s status symbol and part of digital life, syncing grocery lists, calendars, and recipes to the rest of your devices.
Names to covet include Sub-Zero and Fisher & Paykel.
The principal bedroom suite that resolves sleep divorce
From duvet wars to sleep divorce, principal bedrooms these days must work very hard to keep the peace.
The bed has long been a point of contention. In an era of sleep hygiene, in very high-end homes, the principal suite includes twin bathrooms, one for each half of the couple, and a second bedroom, where the snorer is banished to minimise REM disruptions and avoid a permanent sleep divorce, what some term a banishing bedroom.
Those on a more modest budget are plumping for motion-controlled beds which promise optimal sleeping positions for each half.
Operated by remote or voice control, the bed lets you and your partner elevate feet and back into preferred positions.
The U510 Motion Base, available at Harvey Norman from €1,649, has a zero-gravity setting designed to deliver a sense of weightlessness that can help induce deep sleep. It comes in at
Another option is the Pod from Eight Sleep, a mattress topper that cools, heats, and tracks your sleep, automatically adjusting to the preferences of those on each side of the bed, so you don't have to. It comes in at €3,299.
The dressing room needs a fridge for anything but food
Vast racks for clothes, display units for shoes and accessories no longer suffice. Dressing rooms are being reconfigured to include a mini fridge, used for storing anything but food.
It can stock skincare, eye patches and aloe vera along with IVF treatments and weight-loss jabs in the bedside fridge.
TikTok-loving teens are also getting in on the act, demanding fan favourite, the Russell Hobbs retro mini fridge to keep their Korean skincare at optimum levels. It costs €39.99 at Currys.
Bathrooms become high-tech zones.
Technology has seeped into the bathroom too. Washlets have become ever-popular, thanks to their bidet-style function. Often equipped with heated seats, the electronically operated toilets are all the rage.
Trone by Altesse is the stylish smart toilet option. Wall-hung, it comes in a range of fashion colours including rose pink and royal purple. Priced from €3,750, it is available to order on the brand's website.
You can try before you buy fan favourite Toto at Tilestyle, which has multiple working models in its showroom. Prices start at €4,346.76.
Upwardly mobile homes whose budget doesn’t quite stretch that far are investing in a hygiene hose instead.
Barking mad
As pets become bona fide members of the family, their creature comfort levels have reached human levels. They sleep on genuine beds, have complete sofa privileges – in some homes even have their own seat and enjoy warm showers in a Merlyn design custom-made for canines. This has given rise to the term barkitecture.
The custom-made puppy pamper chambers, named Velvet Paw, start at €1,633. You can order from the brand's website.
Not everyone is on board, though. Veteran actor Bill Nighy, of Pirates of the Caribbean and Love Actually fame, has vehemently refused to use the term fur baby, as he explains why on his podcast Ill-Advised.
Entertainment at home
More and more of us live in urban environments and crave a space to be ourselves, where we can practice our drum rolls, sing at the top of our voices or turn the techno up to 11. This has given rise to the soundproofed garden room.
Sound travels through the air in waves; those waves cause the objects they come into contact with to vibrate, explained John Sherry of Garden Rooms, who has supplied professional musicians such as Mark Feehily of Westlife and techno DJ Dean Sherry with such spaces.
Installing one means aspiring musicians, DJs and party hounds can play their preferred genre at ear-bleeding levels and not disrupt the peace and calm of the neighbours.
It also means parents or partners no longer have to endure the aural torture of having to listen to bad playing or music that isn’t your thing.
