Courtesy of Cliff Tan/Pricey Trendy
Cole Mitchell
Cliff Tan, the 33-year-old London-based architect behind the agency Pricey Trendy, began posting feng shui TikTok movies for enjoyable. Over the previous 10 months, nevertheless, the response to his TikToks has utterly reworked his work and his enterprise.
Tan creates instructional, and at occasions seemingly not possible, feng shui and inside design movies. Utilizing a pen, paper, and mannequin furnishings, he exhibits viewers the best way to place furnishings with a view to optimize house and have the perfect chi (vitality) flowing by means of a room. His first viral TikTok posted in January, a video about the best way to place a mattress in a room, at the moment has over 7 million views. (Spoiler alert: the command place is at all times the reply.) At this time, he has 1.4 million followers on the platform. He was shocked at how curious his viewers was about feng shui and the way many individuals had misconceptions concerning the follow.
“Individuals thought it was a superstition,” Tan tells the Day by day Dot. “Individuals thought that by doing sure issues, their life will change, or by not doing different issues, unhealthy issues will occur. However they don’t make the connection to the practicalities of it. Plenty of it’s about how you’re feeling, and from how you’re feeling, the way you carry out.”
His movies prompted quite a lot of requests from viewers who wished for Tan to repair their houses. Since opening Pricey Trendy in 2016, Tan has labored on larger tasks involving massive tons and budgets. Nonetheless, after seeing the optimistic response to his TikToks and a need from his viewers to be taught extra, he has pivoted to doing extra inexpensive design consultations.
“Conventional type of structure just isn’t what I’m excited by anymore as a result of [TikTok] revealed to me how a lot individuals want this recommendation, how a lot individuals want this type of private, low cost, inexpensive assist,” he says.
Structure and inside design can usually be costly and inaccessible to the common particular person. Architects sometimes cope with shoppers who’re within the course of of transforming or constructing a brand new home. By way of TikTok, Tan has discovered a clientele for Pricey Trendy that has utterly completely different wants. Usually, these are of us who might not be capable to afford skilled design assist, don’t want as a lot help, or simply need ideas for bettering their house by themselves.
“There’s that hole the place individuals don’t wish to spend to pay an architect or they will’t afford it,” Tan says. “Now, at the very least there’s somebody for them to achieve out to and ask easy questions.”
These days, Tan’s movies are pulled from actual experiences with shoppers. Tan says the smaller areas are an attention-grabbing, enjoyable problem for him. He additionally enjoys with the ability to meet and assist quite a lot of new individuals who have completely different rooms, wants, and conditions.
“When it’s small, you actually need to get artistic, you want to make it work to begin with, somewhat than make it look good,” Tan says. “And to make it work is the enjoyable half as a result of if you happen to make it work, then the particular person can use an area, after which they will really feel higher, they will carry out higher, and that’s what feng shui is all about.”
His viewers are capable of guide consultations by means of Tan’s web site. The demand is excessive although, and the await an appointment is at the moment three weeks. When requested if he would ever return to conventional structure tasks, Tan stated he didn’t assume he would, at the very least for now. In a typical structure agency’s lifespan, he says most individuals work on 50 or 60 tasks—100 max. At this time, he will get to see a whole bunch of individuals.
“Inside half a yr I’ve seen extra tasks than I ever would dream of in my entire life,” Tan says.
Trying ahead, Tan has a guide with Bloomsbury popping out in February referred to as Feng Shui Trendy. It’s a guide about feng shui that has ideas and tips for each type of room, and Tan needs it to open the door for people who find themselves skeptical concerning the follow. Past that, he hopes to have extra individuals tackle this type of inexpensive, small-scale design work.
“I’m hoping to have just a few different designers to assist me do the identical factor, and hopefully by means of this, different individuals can simply open their very own corporations to do the identical factor so it turns into extra regular,” Tan says. “Then there’ll be little design companies arising providing consultations after which it‘s good, everyone can have entry.”
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*First Printed: Oct 7, 2021, 11:14 am CDT
Daysia Tolentino
Daysia Tolentino is the Day by day Dot’s weekend and night editor. Her work has appeared in Vulture, Bustle, InStyle, and Research Corridor.
