Every interior draws from design history. The question is which periods, at what weight, and applied with what intention. Kaiko Design's practitioner guide to the historical design styles — from Renaissance proportion to Mid-Century Modern form — that continue to shape contemporary residential interiors, and how to use them without the result reading as costume.

A school founded in 1919 Germany shouldn't still be influencing how a Double Bay apartment is designed in 2025. And yet — the Bauhaus logic of function first, material honesty, and deliberate simplicity is embedded in how the best contemporary interiors are conceived. Here's what that looks like in practice.