I AM AUNT: Apparently My Entire Personality Is Now an Interior Design Trend

The internet is calling it the “eccentric aunt” aesthetic. I’m calling it validation.

Recently, I came across an article from Martha Stewart about the “eccentric aunt” home trend, and somewhere between the layered patterns, collected art, vintage treasures and general refusal to make everything beige, I had a realization:

I am Aunt.

Not “I like the aunt aesthetic.”

Not “I’m entering my eccentric aunt era.”

I. AM. AUNT.

I have two nephews, now 30 and 23, which means I’ve been doing this long before TikTok or Pinterest decided it was an aesthetic. My oldest nephew has two children of his own, so I have officially reached Great Aunt status, which frankly feels like an achievement worth putting on a business card.

I am the stereotypical aunt in all the best ways. I will give you money. I will spoil you. I will travel the world and occasionally disappear on an adventure. I will drink ocktails. And should you ever need to be bailed out of jail, Aunt Anita is your GOATA (Greatest of All Time Aunt).

They won’t. They’re good kids.

But I like them knowing the service is available.

There Was a Boy in My House

Last year, my youngest nephew, a college soccer athlete, graduated from college and I helped him land his first job working with the FIFA World Cup.

And then he moved in with me.

Into my urban condo in the sky.

I don't have children of my own, and I prefer not to be immersed in the Dallas dating scene, so suddenly having a 20-something male living in my home was...an adjustment.

There was a boy in my house.

All. The. Time.

But somewhere in between sharing a bathroom, starting our days working on one of the biggest sporting events in the world and watching him begin his adult life, having him around to laugh with, watch tv with, and vent to became one of the best times of my life.

And when he moved out?

I cried.

Never mind that he moved a whopping 45 minutes away.

Apparently eccentric aunts are also dramatic.

Then Martha Stewart Called Me Out

What I loved about discovering the eccentric aunt home trend is that it isn't really about decorating your house to look like an eccentric aunt lives there.

It's about creating a home that looks like you live there.

A home that has been collected rather than decorated.

Things don't necessarily match. They mean something.

There's color. Pattern. Art. Books. Objects picked up in places you've been. Things that make absolutely no sense to anyone else but immediately transport you somewhere when you look at them.

That is exactly how I want my home to feel.

I have pieces of glass from Lake Como, Italy, from a shop where the owner's name also happened to be Anita.

There are two wooden tree sculptures that remind me of visiting Muir Woods National Monument with my mother.

I have mosaics from San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and California wine country.

And I'm already keeping a list of things I want to hunt for during my upcoming trip through Southern Italy.

Not souvenirs.

Stories.

That's the difference.

My Decorating Rule: You Can Never Have Enough Art

I will happily break decorating rules, but there is one Anita Simmons design rule that is non-negotiable:

Every home needs a gallery wall.

Actually, maybe more than one.

I love art, particularly when there is a connection behind it. Work from local artists. Pieces from places I've traveled. Art from someone I've actually met. Something discovered unexpectedly that I couldn't stop thinking about.

I don't particularly care whether everything technically “goes.”

I'd rather someone walk into my home and ask, “Where did you get that?” than say, “Everything matches.”

I want to be able to tell you the story.

Kendall Jenner Gets It

Then I watched Architectural Digest's tour of Kendall Jenner's mountain home, designed by Heidi Caillier, and thought:

There. That's the feeling.

For me, it was the kitchen floors and the primary bedroom.

Pattern. Color. Layers. Personality.

But most importantly, coziness.

It wasn't perfection. It was perfect vibes.

There is something incredibly appealing to me right now about rooms that don't look as though they were assembled in one afternoon. I want pattern next to pattern. Something old next to something new. A beautiful quilt. A slightly unexpected color. Art everywhere.

I want a house that gives you a hug.

Because despite what people tend to assume about me, I am an introvert.

I can work a room. I can go to the event. I can travel halfway across the world. I can meet people and have adventures and order the espresso martini.

But I am also an Aquarius.

And if there is one place in the entire world I almost always want to go, it's home.

Maybe that's why this particular aesthetic speaks to me so much.

Home shouldn't be a showroom for your taste.

It should be your landing place.

The Older I Get, the Less Interested I Am in Perfect

Maybe that's the real appeal of becoming Aunt.

There's a freedom that comes with reaching a point where you're less interested in whether something is technically correct and much more interested in whether it makes you happy.

Buy the weird art.

Mix the patterns.

Paint the room dark.

Hang another picture.

Use the good glasses.

Light the candle at 10 a.m.

Drink the coffee out of the mug you bought on a trip instead of the perfectly matching set.

Bring something home.

Tell the story.

Because maybe the eccentric aunt aesthetic isn't really an aesthetic at all.

Maybe it's what happens when you've lived enough life to stop trying to make everything match.

You've collected places and people and memories and beautiful things along the way. Some are expensive. Some cost almost nothing. Some make absolutely no sense together.

But they're yours.

And somehow, together, they work.

Much like life.

So yes, apparently I am entering my eccentric aunt era.

Except I've been an aunt for 30 years.

The rest of the world is just finally catching up.

And for the record, every eccentric aunt should always have a few things within reach:

Coffee, candles, and a cat (at least one, maybe two).

Because either one can turn a bad day around.

And when they can't?

There's always an espresso martini.

My favorite Espresso Martini: Goodwins Dallas, 2905 Greenville Avenue, Dallas, TX

Enter Your Eccentric Aunt Era