You have probably scrolled through dozens of perfectly curated interiors this week alone: rooms where every surface is smooth, every edge rounded, and every object looks like it rolled off the same factory line. They are beautiful, sure, but something feels missing. A sense of history, maybe. A feeling that someone actually lives there. Designers have noticed it too, and the numbers show they are answering with something old. One of the best examples sits on the shore of Lake Como.
The villa everyone is talking about again
George Clooney bought Villa Oleandra, an 18th-century property in the village of Laglio on the south-western shore of Lake Como, in 2002, for a reported $7.5 million, according to The Week. Over the years it has grown into a compound reported to have around 25 rooms, with landscaped gardens, ornately carved ceilings and a pool overlooking the water.
The house has also had its share of the spotlight. Emily Blunt married John Krasinski there in 2010, and this year the villa made a scene-stealing appearance in The Devil Wears Prada 2, where Andy and Emily speed across the lake toward it. “The house holds a special place in my heart because I love going there,” Clooney has said.
What the Clooneys’ living room reveals
Inside, the villa is the opposite of a showroom. As Homes & Gardens points out, George and Amal’s living room is built on damask walls, dark wood and gilded frames, in a deep blue and gold palette that echoes the house’s Southern European history. A pair of Art Deco chairs and a sofa in warm ochre tones complete a room that looks collected over generations rather than ordered from a catalog.
Nothing matches perfectly, and that is the point. Every piece seems to carry a past, and the room feels layered, warm and, above all, lived in.
The numbers behind the antiques comeback
The Clooneys are not alone. In its annual survey of 468 interior designers worldwide, released in November 2025, 1stDibs found that designers sourced an average of 36% vintage or antique items per project in 2025, the highest proportion since 2021. The share of designers using pieces made before 1920 rose from 56% to 63%.
The same survey points in a clear direction for 2026: maximalism was named a top requested style by 39% of designers, and chocolate brown was cited as the top trending color by 33%. In other words, richer, darker, more personal rooms, exactly the mood of Villa Oleandra. Designers are not stumbling into this by accident. They are reaching further back in time to add layering and a little unpredictability.
Why perfectly polished rooms are losing their appeal
Real estate expert Crystal Olenbush, of Austin Real Estate, explained to Homes & Gardens that many neutral interiors suffer from a sameness problem: objects share similar smooth, rounded surfaces, and the space ends up feeling flat. “Antiques, in their turn, introduce elements that cannot be easily reproduced,” she said.
There is a psychological side too. “An antique will shift the notion of perfection in a room,” Olenbush noted. A scratch on a brand-new coffee table in a neutral living room reads as damage. The same mark on an antique reads as patina, which makes the room feel cozier and gives you permission to actually use it instead of protecting it.
How to get the Lake Como look without a Lake Como address
The key is restraint. You don’t need to fill a room with antiques: one well-chosen piece is often enough. And according to Olenbush, “It’s not necessary for the antique to blend in well into the neutral color palette.” It usually looks better when it interrupts it a little.
- One dark wood piece in a light room: a mahogany table or chest against cream walls creates instant contrast.
- A gilded mirror: hung above a sofa or a console, it brings the Clooneys’ gold accents without redecorating.
- A pair of vintage chairs: Art Deco or simply old, mismatched with a modern sofa, they make the room feel collected.
- Deep colors in small doses: a blue velvet cushion, an ochre throw or a worn rug borrow the villa’s palette at a fraction of the cost.
The real takeaway
What Villa Oleandra and the designer data both confirm is something we have quietly suspected for a while: perfection is overrated. The rooms that resonate most are the ones that feel collected, not curated. Start with a single piece that tells a story, a chair with character, a mirror with age, a rug with warmth, and let it do the work of making your home feel like somewhere you actually want to be.
