Dalí décor: Create home of your dreams with the surrealist interior design trend

Flights of fancy are winging their way into our homes thanks to the surrealist trend

Interior designer Ken Fulk’s Surrealist Ball fabric for Pierre Frey; €218.37 (ex Vat) per metre, Pierrefrey.com.

Just when we might have thought maximalism couldn’t take us anywhere more extravagant, along comes the for surrealist interiors with its liberal distribution of curios and the feeling you might have woken up on the set of a Wes Anderson film.

Think Grand Budapest Hotel with its whimsical Belle Époque buildings and its colour palette of soft pastels and bold reds and purples, and plenty of curated clutter added in.

La Doce Vitabailey 12-light pendant chandelier; €2,235.93, Mindtheg.com.

Modern surrealist interiors are more liveable than that, although the look lends itself better to larger spaces. But even in smaller rooms, it can make its presence felt, even if it’s just a poster of Salvador Dalí’s Lobster Telephone (€29.90, Etsy).

Walls are always a good place to start, and what we hang on them puts the final touches to our interior design efforts.

For high surrealist drama, try coming face-to-face with the Mona Lisa of interiors, Italian operatic soprano Lina Cavalieri, whose gaze fascinated Piero Fornasetti, founder of the luxury design company, who made it the motif for his wall plates. 

It’s a collection of eight, which will set you back by the princely sum of €2,000 to bedeck your walls or use as a decorative element in tablescaping.

Rockett St George’s Striped Lips sofa inspired by Salvador Dali’s original design; €905.

When Palm Beach-based interior designer Jonathan Adler, who has a surrealist theme running through much of his homewares, was designing his Druggist porcelain tableware, he said that wherever he looked, he wanted to see eyes looking back at him.

You’ll see exactly what he means if you raise one of his elegant blue and white cups to your lips and find yourself eye-balling a bright blue peeper. It’s a strange mix of beauty and slight discomfort, but, hey, welcome to surrealism.

Quirky enough to create a conversational buzz without going too far, pieces start at £20, with an individual place setting consisting of dinner plate, dessert plate, soup bowl and cup and saucer costing £132. 

The Kensington, London shop is happy to quote in euro and help with shipping, or make a flying visit and browse in person some subtle surrealist-inspired textiles and accessories.

Kukoon’s Zebra print stairs runner makes a statement in a hallway; from €4.20 per foot.

Parisian fabric house Pierre Frey has always produced designs on the arty side, so when they teamed up with interior designer Ken Fulk, who has bedecked the interiors of homes for the likes of Pharrell Williams and Gigi Hadid, the Surreal World Collection was the result.

It’s pared-back surrealism in a grey cotton velvet, which on close inspection is sketched with faces inspired by Salvador Dalí’s 1941 Rothschild masked ball at the Hotel Del Monte in California.

You really can’t escape Dalí’s influence if you embrace this trend, nor can you escape faces and parts thereof. Lips are also a theme.

Design buffs will know Dalí’s original red sofa design was inspired by the lips of Hollywood siren Mae West. 

Rockett St George’s Striped Lips sofa is a variation on the theme of this boudoir-friendly seat, although they’ve given it a contemporary twist with monochrome upholstery featuring black diagonal bands, €905.

Jonathan Adler’s Druggist tableware citing the eye motif synonymous with surrealist art.

Overhead, lighting takes on the surrealist’s pastels with the La Doce Vitabailey 12 light pendant chandelier; €2,235.93, from www.mindtheg.com.

Admittedly, it can be pricey, high-end stuff, but there are wallet-friendly options to explore, especially when it comes to another surrealist theme: Animals.

Kukoon Rugs has a stair runner in a zebra print, €21 per five-metre run, and a rug version, €60.

Creatures serving no purpose except to be looked at include the Deco gold gorilla ornament, €159, from EZ Living Interiors, which could be added to a coffee table and herded with their Origami black elephant statue, €49, and a wooden ram’s head on a plinth, €119. 

Rams are a symbol of courage, and you might just need some for this trend, especially if you buy into the sartorial end.

Ken Fulk’s Surrealist Ball fabric for Pierre Frey; €218.37 (ex Vat) per metre.

Serviceable footwear company Birkenstock eyed up an opportunity to collaborate with fashion brand Opening Ceremony to celebrate the surrealist art of René Magritte. 

Taking his Le Faux Miroir as inspiration, they’ve applied a staring, heavily lashed eye to the Boston clog.

The Irish Museum of Modern Art and Cork’s Vibes & Scribes sell the Sole-Adore Dalí socks with a cartoonish rendition of the artist’s face positioned just above the ankle; €10.50. 

Add a pair to the Birkenstocks for the socks-and-sandals look beloved of dads everywhere.