Looking for a new flat, my partner and I were plagued with the average offences of rental houses in Glasgow. Textured wallpaper that comes off with the slightest breeze, a cupboard for a kitchen, and black mould that could rival the works of Jackson Pollock.
However, my greatest enemy was unexpected: neutral interior. Stark white and grey walls which have trickled down from Kim K to millennials to landlords to the misfortunate houses in private student accommodation. But where did the phenomenon really come from? And why has it stayed? Can we credit the original Kardashian? Simply, no. To truly understand this drab way of decorating, we must first look at the 1800s.
In 1839, the first Opium War began. British trading companies had been smuggling opium into China to make enough money in order to continue buying luxury goods, which they could then sell back home. The Chinese government attempted to resist British efforts, but their diplomatic decisions eventually sparked battle. The British Navy won both wars, forcing the Chinese government to pay a large sum in reparation costs, alongside the authorisation of increased Western trade.
In Japan, in order to prevent a similar chain of events, the Japanese government began diplomatic efforts of their own. This included attending and contributing to an International Exhibition of Art in London in 1862, where E.W Godwin, an interior and furniture designer, was in attendance. E.W Godwin was inspired, and created designs with both Japanese and Western elements, featuring cream-coloured walls. Neutral walls and carpets were very unusual at this time in the West, but Godwin continued to include them in his designs, and eventually when he taught at the Glasgow School of Art, The Glasgow Four (Margaret Macdonald, Francis Macdonald, Herbert MacNair, and Charles Rennie Mackintosh) learned about Japanese art and design by Godwin. The Four incorporated neutral interiors and minimalism into their wildly popular designs.
The Mackintosh House at the Hunterian Art Gallery (which is on campus, and is free to University of Glasgow students) showcases the work of Charles and Margaret in the interior designs of their own home, with stark white walls and white carpets. Without experiencing it in person, this sounds quite boring, but the white interiors brighten the space and draw the eye to the intricate furniture littering the room. In this way, it sets itself apart from the interior design we know today: their white walls and carpets were a blank canvas for furniture and fittings, the art of the room. Today, in minimalist mansions, the emptiness is all that exists. No art. The Mackintoshes were well-off for much of their time in Glasgow and had servants to clean their white carpets, should any soot from their four fireplaces dirty the carpets.
If you are surrounded by neutral interiors, or have dabbled in the minimalist aesthetic, you will know how easily light-coloured features begin to look filthy without constant cleaning. Leave out some dirty clothes after work and all of sudden the mess sticks out like a sore thumb. This style requires constant upkeep, which many of us neither have the time or energy to do. People like the Kardashians or the Mackintoshes have and had the money. As backwards as it sounds, a minimalist interior means you must fork out to keep your house clean and empty. It is high maintenance, parading as effortless, as a trouble-free way to live.
So where does that leave us? Living with the untouchable grey, white, and cream walls that have made their way into our rentals? Landlords aren’t trying to create beautiful minimalism for us to live in, they have saddled us with dull bedrooms because it is so much cheaper for them to paint the walls grey, pop in a MALM wardrobe from IKEA and call it a day.
Neutral interiors are a show of wealth for some and a cheap cop-out which plagues others. So, to the every-day average student, I leave you with this: break the terms of your lease! Decorate those ugly grey walls and race against the machine! And you should one day be able to call those four walls your own. Paint some other colour than eggshell or greige.
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