You already know the room. Low sofa, warm lamp, a travertine something, one sculptural chair angled like it wandered in by accident. It is a lovely room. It is also everyone’s room.
Architectural Digest put a name to what many of us have felt for a while. In Good Taste Is Getting Weirder, writer Steven Weill argues that the classic signals of a tasteful interior have been searched, saved and shopped so many times that they no longer say anything about the person living there.
I make sculptural objects for a living, so I read it the way other people read their horoscope. Here is what the piece gets right, what it means if you are building a home with a point of view, and how to choose the strange thing well.
Collectors are searching for personality, and the numbers show it
This is a measurable shift, not a mood. AD’s reporting draws on 1stDibs, whose editorial director Tony Freund describes rising collector appetite for pieces with real character: offbeat, surreal, livelier than the old rules allowed.
Three figures from the article, all from 1stDibs:
Searches for Salvador Dalí rose 19% between March and May 2026.
Searches for Alessandro Mendini rose 135% over the same months.
Saves of surrealist-style art are up 23% year over year.
The marketplace has even launched a dedicated collection called Wonderfully Weird. When a resale platform builds a category around oddness, oddness has left the fringe.
You can copy the pieces. You cannot copy the point of view.
The algorithm is very good at showing you what other people already liked. That is its whole job. It cannot show you what you would have chosen if nobody were watching.
This is the line in the article I keep returning to: the objects in a room can be duplicated, but the perspective that gathered them cannot. A room built from consensus photographs well and says nothing. A room built from conviction might confuse a guest for a second, and that second is where the interest lives.
I started making art in 2020 and left a corporate career in 2025 to do it full time. Nothing about that path was the tasteful, pre-approved option. The objects I make come from the same place. I turn ideas into gold. Some days it’s literal.
Weird, in the sense the article means, is not random. It is specific. It is the piece with a reason behind it that only you can explain.
How to choose a strange object well
A personality-driven room still needs editing. These are the five tests I use, as an artist and as a collector.
The explanation test. If you can say why you chose it in one sentence that is not “I saw it everywhere,” keep it.
The friction test. A good object slows the eye down. If everything in the room agrees with everything else, add one thing that argues.
The hand test. Look for evidence that a person made it: a carved edge, a cast surface, a slight irregularity. Handmade objects carry a perspective by default.
The one-per-sightline rule. One sculptural piece per view is a statement. Five is a showroom.
The ten-year test. Trends move in months. Ask whether the piece will still mean something to you after the feed has moved on.
Start small. A vase, a candleholder or a pair of bookends changes a shelf without requiring a renovation, and it is the fastest way to find out what your own taste looks like.
From the studio: objects made to resist consensus
Shadia Sabagh Studio makes sculptural objects in Miami that are held by collectors in more than 15 countries. Each one is designed to be the thing in the room that has an opinion.
The Crown Vase. A sculptural vessel with a crown-shaped top and a grounded base, in a matte, stone-like finish. It holds flowers or stands alone. Six colors, from Bone to Obsidian.
Hold The Light. A sculptural candleholder with a hand-finished, stone-like surface. It sold out at its first public showing and is now made to order. It looks finished with or without candles.
Hold The Light, Gold Edition. The same form in a soft metallic gold that catches candlelight without shouting about it. Released in very limited quantities.
Leaf Bookend Sculptures. A pair of leaf-inspired bookends in a matte, stone-textured finish. They hold their own on a shelf, console or desk, with or without the books.
The Mirror. A wall mirror with a sixteen-point sculptural frame, hand-finished in Soft Sky Blue. Art for the person you’re becoming, and also for checking your lipstick.
PATIENCE III. A hand-carved wood wall sculpture, 53 inches across, in a matte grey stone finish that shifts with the light. One of one. For the wall where a print was the expected answer.
Every piece is hand-finished in small batches in Miami, so no two are identical. The vase, candleholders and bookends each arrive with a signed Certificate of Authenticity.
None of these were designed to match anything. That is the feature.
Questions people ask about the “weird taste” shift
What does “good taste is getting weirder” mean?
It means the familiar markers of a tasteful interior have become so widely copied that they no longer signal individual taste. Collectors and designers are turning to objects with humor, history and personality instead. The phrase comes from an August 2026 Architectural Digest article by Steven Weill.
Is the personality-driven interiors trend backed by data?
Yes. According to 1stDibs figures cited by Architectural Digest, searches for Alessandro Mendini rose 135% and for Salvador Dalí 19% from March to May 2026, and saves of surrealist-style art are up 23% year over year.
What is a sculptural object?
A sculptural object is a functional or decorative piece, such as a vase, candleholder or bookend, designed to be seen as art in its own right. It is usually handmade or produced in small editions.
How do I add personality to a neutral room without redecorating?
Add one sculptural object per sightline. Choose a piece you can explain in a sentence, place it where the eye lands first, and give it space.
Where can I buy collectible sculptural objects from an independent artist?
Shadia Sabagh Studio sells sculptural vases, candleholders, bookends, mirrors and wall works directly at shadiasabagh.com, and accepts commissions.
