Bring Alice in Wonderland magic home with oversized furniture

Image credit: Disney Enterprises

Like the rest of the design world, I’ve gone completely potty for Alice in Wonderland in the run-up to Tim Burton’s film. There’s no need to tumble down the rabbit hole to enter Lewis Caroll’s fantastical world; instead, look to the Spring/ Summer 2010 collections; Habitat, John Lewis and Marks & Spencer are releasing oversized furniture.

“Alice in Wonderland is a big inspiration for me both at home and in the store,” says interior designer Abigail Ahern. “Magic happens when you start playing with scale – big oversized objects in small rooms, tiny teeny furnishings in large rooms look incredibly theatrical and way more impressive than they really are.”

Don’t you just love this oversized teacup stool (£140) by Holly Palmer?!

Image credit: Holly Palmer

Designer illustrator Johanna Basford is equally intrigued by the book’s play on scale and its reverberations in the real world; “Alice in Wonderland Syndrome is a disorientating neurological condition which affects perception,” discovered the Scottish artist. “Sufferers experience Micropsia (things appearing smaller than they actually are) or Macropsia (can you guess?!). It got me to thinking about scale, our perceptions of it, how altering the scale of an object changes our emotive reactions and perceived value of it.”

Changing scale plays with our pre-determined judgments. At Marks and Spencer, there is a fantastic – and gigantic – pair of wooden scissors (£65) being sold as wall art.

Image credit: Marks and Spencer

The mischievous proportions of the now-iconic Giant Anglepoise lamp (£1,900 and three times bigger than the original) – lend an Alice in Wonderland magic to any room.

Image credit: Heal’s

In Habitat’s new Spring/ Summer 2010 collection, the outsized Button Pots, available in red, pink and purple, play on scale – rather like their popular oversized baubles back at Christmas.

So is the world going mad? Here’s hoping that Burton’s film will give people the confidence to play with scale.