Performative Design Fatigue
How to Make Your Home Feel More Personal and Less 'Performative' in 2025
Is your home starting to feel more like a showroom than a sanctuary? You're not alone.
I've been noticing something in my conversations with clients across Toronto and York Region lately. Successful professionals are walking into their beautifully designed homes and feeling... disconnected. Despite having invested in quality pieces and following the latest trends, something feels off. Their spaces look perfect for Instagram, but they don't feel like home.
If this sounds familiar, you're experiencing what I call "performative-design fatigue"—and it's happening to homeowners everywhere.
The Problem with Picture-Perfect Spaces
We've all been there. You scroll through design magazines and social media, bookmark the perfectly curated spaces, and try to recreate that same aesthetic. But here's what I've learned after 20+ years of designing homes: when you design for the camera instead of for your life, you end up with a space that looks good, but doesn't feel good.
The issue isn't that these spaces are poorly designed—they're often beautifully executed. The problem is they're designed to impress strangers on the internet, rather than nurture the people who actually live there.
What Homeowners Are Craving in 2025
There's a palpable shift that’s been happening for awhile now in interior design. People are craving more authenticity and contrast again—richer palettes, collected materials, and a return to interiors that feel personal rather than performative.
Instead of the safe, neutral spaces that dominated the past few years, I'm seeing clients gravitate toward:
Layered textures that invite touch and create visual interest
Meaningful colour palettes that reflect their personality, not just what's trending
Collected pieces that tell their story rather than matching furniture sets
Functional beauty that serves their actual lifestyle, not an imagined one
The Barbara Nyke Approach: Toronto Interior Decorating That Honours Your Story
As an interior designer Toronto homeowners trust Barbara Nyke Interiors with their most personal spaces. My philosophy has always been simple: well-planned interiors with beautifully-appointed finishes should make your heart sing—not your Instagram followers.
Here's how we create spaces that feel authentically yours:
1. Start with Your Story, Not a Style
Before we discuss colour schemes or furniture, we talk about you. How do you actually live in your space? What makes you feel calm? Energized? What are your
non-negotiables for comfort? Your personality and lifestyle become the foundation of every design decision.
2. Embrace Contrast and Character
Gone are the days of everything matching perfectly. I specialize in using colour and texture to create spaces with depth and personality. This might mean pairing a rich, moody paint colour with warm wood tones, or mixing vintage finds with contemporary pieces that speak to your soul.
3. Layer in Your Life
The most beautiful homes I design are filled with pieces that have meaning. Family heirlooms, travel souvenirs, books you actually read, art that moves you—these elements can't be bought from a catalogue, and they're what make your space
uniquely yours.
4. Function Comes First
A truly personal space works for your real life, not your aspirational one. If you're a busy professional who rarely cooks elaborate meals, we won't design a kitchen that only looks good for entertaining. Instead, we'll create a space that makes your actual daily routines feel effortless and enjoyable.
Making the Shift: From Performative to Personal
If you're ready to move away from performative design, here are some questions to ask yourself:
When you walk into your home, do you feel like yourself?
Are you afraid to use certain rooms because they're "too nice"?
Do your design choices reflect your actual preferences, or what you think you should like?
Would you be comfortable having close friends over without "staging" your space first?
If you answered “no” to any of these questions, it might be time to reconsider your approach to interior design.
Your Home Should Elevate Your Joy, Not Your Image
At the end of the day, your home should be a place that elevates your joy and well-being—not a museum of someone else's aesthetic preferences. The most successful interior design projects I complete are the ones where clients tell me they feel more like themselves than they ever have before. Whether you're in a downtown Toronto condo, or a family home in Richmond Hill, the goal remains the same: creating spaces that truly serve your life.
Through our collaborative design process, we work together to create spaces that are not just beautiful, but meaningfully beautiful. Spaces that support your daily rhythms, reflect your personality, and make you feel proud to be home.
Because in 2025, the most luxurious thing you can have isn't a perfectly curated space—it's a home that truly feels like yours.
Ready to transform your home into a space that perfectly reflects your unique style and enhances your everyday well-being? Let's start with a free Discovery Call. In just 20 minutes, we can discuss your vision and explore how to make your home feel authentically yours.
