- March 12, 2026
- Natalia Allende
I believe that change is in the air, and it’s reminding me of times past.
Back in 2020, at the height of the pandemic, we saw a surge in people tackling the lock-downs by using their hands and minds to create all sorts of things. The most universally shared homemade thing was sourdough bread, no doubt. But many found joy in exploring other creative manual tasks.
We saw people intervening on their own homes to make them more personal, repairing and creating furniture pieces, sewing, painting and so much more. And I believe that forced isolation made us want to be more connected to others.
In the field of interior design, things are evolving away from mass-produced objects.
There is renewed interest in a more personalized, creative design mindset. This has left me wondering whether we may be experiencing an Arts and Crafts movement revival. And I believe and hope this impulse will have a rather lasting effect on the way we live our spaces and what we aspire to, aesthetically speaking.
Many have come to realize that there was always a reason for homes to have separate rooms. Because who wants to see the messy kitchen from the dining table? We all need a degree of privacy to concentrate on our personal tasks too, especially now that so many work from home or partially from home. The home office is a whole new need! But even more, we all of a sudden discovered that we crave color and character in our homes.
With this desire, we started to see people wanting to refinish their old furniture, and while at it, add some charm to it. And not only to the furniture, but the whole house too. A mere dabble into this realm of creative intervention in our daily existence, via the home, also allows us to learn just how valuable artists and craftsmen are.
Now, with the surge of AI and the fact that we can do almost anything with it, our reaction seems to be to prefer 100% authentic, human-made objects. I’m personally hoping for a certified, human-made objects movement, which would be the ideal expression of a new Arts & Crafts Movement. And this should bring with it, the creativity, beauty, and craft that will push us out of our comfort zone and back into our humanity.
To answer the initial question—“Are we seeing a resurgence of the Arts and Crafts movement?”—we need to understand what this movement is really all about.
The Arts and Crafts movement came about in the late 19th century when industrialization became prevalent and the quality of everyday objects was affected. Not only had manufactured goods become of a lesser quality, but also, the decorative arts had fallen into disregard, holding a lower status at the time.
The result of this not only affected the consumers of said items, but also, and maybe mainly, the makers. Instead of bringing their own knowledge, expertise and creativity into the creation of objects, manufacturers were simply one more cog in the industrial machine.
The Arts and Crafts movement was a broad social response to all of the effects of industrialization. It was an effort to bring humanity back into the creation and production of objects, for the creator’s sake and for the end result and consumer’s sake too.
In this sense, the Arts and Crafts movement is much more a set of ideals than a prescriptive style.
“William Morris, one the most well-known and successful designers and creators of the movement was not entirely against the use of machines, but felt that the division of labor—a system designed to increase efficiency, in which the manufacture of an object was broken into small, separate tasks, meaning individuals had a very weak relationship with the results of their labor—was a move in the wrong direction. As an educated man, he wanted to free the working classes from the frustration of a working day focused solely on repetitive tasks, and allow them the pleasure of craft-based production in which they would engage directly with the creative process from beginning to end.” (Victoria and Albert Museum Online.)
Imagine the difference in results that we can expect when the maker is involved in the entire process from design to finish, taking pride in their work and showing off their unique skills for all to enjoy.
Today we may be experiencing something similar.
The low quality of mass-produced objects is so widespread that virtually everything is disposable or expected to be so in a short period of time. And many homeowners don’t want that anymore.
We crave roots. And beauty. And the human hand. We’re seeing it in hand-painted murals in the home, the respect and interest in purchasing objects for the home made by actual artisans. And we observe it in everything from hand-made tile scenes, doorknobs, and cabinet pulls, to creative designs on our floors, and even block-printed wallpaper.
Thank goodness many people prefer to keep a quality piece of furniture and reupholster it, even though it may cost the same as a cheaper entirely new piece. I’ve even seen people rebinding books they love and which are falling apart, rather than purchasing a new one.
And you know what? There is actually a person who knows how to do that! It’s actually comforting to live in a space in which the traces of human creativity and craft are visible, where there are traces of uniqueness and individual creation, just like us.
If we were created to be unique, then it is only natural to want to see the imprint of that in our surroundings.
I might just start a 100% Human Designed and Built Movement.
If you aren’t following us on Instagram, visit our profile @NataliaAllendeStudio and join the growing crowd!
