I frequently go down rabbit holes on the internet. One of my most recent explorations led me to Les Twins. If you don’t know them, they are extremely talented back up dancers for Beyonce, Jason Derulo and others, and they happen to be a twin. They are French but their family is from Guadeloupe. I watched a clip of them online (link here) and was fascinated by the fact that, based on what I could see in the background, their mother’s home was so easily recognisable as West Indian. It was so familiar to me: the ornate hutch, the endless knickknacks, the colour scheme, the pictures on the wall, the ‘partition’ wall dividing the rooms; all of it felt like I knew that house. I’d been to that house. And it got me thinking: as we modernise, are we evolving away from having an easily recognisable aesthetic? Are we losing the West Indian vibe in our homes?
When you come from a tourism-focused country, it can sometimes feel like you’re living in two worlds and one of them isn’t quite real. In Barbados, I can’t speak confidently for the rest of the tourism-focused countries in the West Indies but I would guess it is similar, the ‘villas’ and restaurants that focus on tourists do not even remotely resemble the homes and food spots locals live in and frequent. Villas here, particularly the newer ones, tend to feature marble or marble-looking hard surfaces and loads of white on the walls. There would always be accents of coral and turquoise in the soft furnishings, palm trees printed on throw cushions and limestone-covered items and shells as decor pieces. In contrast, the homes of locals seldom have any of that. There is a lot more wood, a lot more colour, a lot less palm trees and shells. Even the modern homes, which are more likely to have elements of that villa aesthetic with the hard surfaces, still have a lot more colour and a lot less ‘tropical’ decor. They feel warmer and more inviting.
As I am designing my house now, I am trying to find a balance between the clean, uncluttered way I wish to live and ensuring that anyone that sees or steps into my home knows a West Indian lives there. But that begs the question: What is a modern West Indian aesthetic? I only recognised Les Twins’ mother’s home as being West Indian because it fit a style from years gone by. If we’re building and designing today, what is our new aesthetic? Are we just copying farmhouse style from HGTV (which, let’s be honest, is getting rather boring)? Are we doing the opposite of our parents and grandparents as we flee the clutter? I have seen newer homes being built here that the architectural design is straight out of Florida. We have even moved away from the wisdom embedded in older homes on how to build for tropical conditions and how to withstand hurricanes. Most homes now need air conditioning to keep cool because they are not designed to maximise air flow. Louvres appear to be a thing of the past. No more verandahs or galleries to greet guests when they stop by. Even the ornate eaves are gone.
To be fair, most of our homes are bastardized from some European ideal, so I totally understand not getting too sentimental about it. But I wonder if we’re losing our sense of identity if even our homes are no longer recognisable as ours. Maybe it is time we think about what it will mean for a home to be West Indian going forward.