The Art and Science of Home Styling: From Caves to Computers

With time, comes change. A couple of changes over a certain period of time, and there happens an evolution! That’s pretty much the story of almost everything around us. From clothing and communication to technology and transportation, each aspect of our lives has undergone significant transformations.

That’s why, in the realm of home design, when you compare the design of your grandparents’ house with that of yours, you notice big changes. Any design that seems somehow unorthodox or strange to you today has once been the common practice in your whereabouts. In this blog, I’ve looked at home styling through time and how it’s been affected by art, science, technology, and above all, man’s search for beaming!

A Note: Home Styling vs. Interior Design

Before going into different aspects of home styling, however, it seems necessary to make the distinction between home styling and interior design. Home styling is merely about the virtual presentation and aesthetics of a space. It is primarily concerned with selecting and arranging the furniture, choosing the style of the design, and deciding on the accessories needed for a living space.

Interior design, on the other hand, encompasses a broader range of considerations. It is concerned with issues such as ensuring the safety and functionality of the design, sticking to the construction codes, creating the best spatial layout, and meeting environmental sustainability standards. So, we could say that home styling is a tiny part of interior design that’s only concerned with the aesthetics of a place. With that being said, let’s see how home styling has evolved.

Evolution in Home Design: The Need for Novelty

Early sparkles

If we want to trace the origins of home styling, perhaps we can go as far back as the time of cavemen who would paint the interiors of their stone homes so that they could see the insides better. It’s only natural to assume that they chose the caves primarily for safety reasons. But living in the dark is the last thing our ancestors were capable of. So, they had to come up with something, and painting the walls was apparently the best solution at that time. The painted walls would reflect the light emitted from the fire and that would help them see their surroundings better.

Time grew and, little by little, what had started as an act of need turned into an expression of creativity and individuality. Still, looking upon their homes as shelters, our ancestors started to use bones, shells, feathers, and animal skin to decorate their homes.

The next generation of home decorations were meant to serve two purposes: 1) Making the place more comfortable, and 2) adding to its beauty. As early as the 5th century BC, our ancestors had learned to knit rugs and carpets with highly complicated patterns. Chairs and tables came with delicate symbolic carvings, and doors and windows were decorated with intricate designs, reflecting cultural values and natural motifs.

This blend of function and artistry turned living spaces into realms of aesthetic delight and practical utility, where every object told a story of human art and the thirst for creativity and innovation. However, home styling, as we know it, took a big turn at the beginning of the 20th century.

Pre-modern era: Great changes on the way

Befitting from their ever-growing creativity, humans had learned a great deal about architecture, pottery, sculpture, and painting by the 18th century. With the arrival of the Industrial Revolution, the stage was set for yet greater improvements.

Soon, new housing styles appeared and affected the structure of cities and people’s lifestyles. Meanwhile, experts had managed to create a myriad of new colors and apply them to home furniture which came in amazing variety. The result? For any given space, one could find a great many home items with astonishing designs and in a never-ending color variety. Yet, something was missing!

Modern era: Urgent need for home stylists

With various home styling designs appearing one after another, on the one hand, and the tremendous variety of home furniture and other decoratives, on the other, the need for professionals who had a good understanding of space and a great taste in decor was felt more than ever.

It was during the early decades of the 20th century when interior design was recognized as a field affected by both art and science, and the foundation of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) in 1931 marked the beginning of the modern interior design era.

By the middle of the 20th century, many universities began to offer courses on interior design, which were warmly received by design lovers. Around the end of the century, interior design had established itself as an independent field, covering a variety of subjects such as:

• Design principles
• Building codes and regulations
• Space planning
• Furniture selection
• Lighting design
• Rendering and visualization
• Project management
• Color theory, and
• Materials and finishes

By this time, the real estate market was growing fast, and home staging was in its prime. Every now and then, a new design style would emerge on the market, and a fresh wave of inspiration would sweep through the industry, influencing both buyers and sellers alike. Yet, the 20th century still wasn’t through with home styling!

With computers being around for about two decades, several design software had been developed by the turn of the century. AutoCAD (1982), CorelDRAW (1982), Adobe Photoshop (1988), and 3Ds Max Studio (1990) are only some of the well-known design software that added a completely new dimension to interior design in general and home styling in specific.

Digital era: Growing wonders

In no time, computers became an inseparable part of interior design. Using design software and those ever-improving computers, designers would spend a few hours designing the space in a virtual environment and let the owners see how their space would look in the end. This would prevent any misunderstanding for both parties and would boost the process.

As we began the second decade of this century, we started hearing complaints about home staging, especially its costs and risks. Meanwhile, “time” had become a real concern in every industry. Everyone was looking for ways to help consumers get their desired service or product sooner, not knowing that the solution lay just before them. It had been around for decades, but its full potential is yet to become clear to us.

What put an end to our worries about time was artificial intelligence (AI), first introduced by John MacCarthy at the Dartmouth Workshop in 1956. We’ve been benefiting from this advanced piece of innovative tech for decades, but perhaps the most well-known example for you is Google. The question remains, however: What does AI have in store for interior design and home styling? Well, quite a lot!

2020s: A new chapter in an old saga

Today, Google can give you a world of knowledge about the principles of home styling. ChatGPT can answer your most specific questions in this regard, and above all, AI-powered platforms can design your space in a matter of seconds.

It doesn’t matter if an experienced home designer designs your home or you do it on your own. It always begins with AI. Today, architects, photographers, real estate agents, home stylists, and even property owners use AI in designing spaces, and the result is, more often than not, quite satisfactory.

Well-developed AI-powered platforms with a strong database allow users to try various styles and color palettes on the same room and decide which style or color they want for their spaces in mind. This means we have every reason to believe that AI home design will, at least for a while, be the common practice in home styling.

From Caves to Codes: Long Way Home

Home styling, which was not very long ago elusive, to the general public can now be practiced by literally everyone, letting individuals select their preferred style while helping them save on time and money!

Up until a few years ago, if you decided to redesign your home, you had to leave everything to the designers, but now, you can be your own home stylist. AI helps you enjoy every bit of your design while knowing that you can go for a new one any minute you wish.

You can learn more about AI home styling here.