Tilly’s Wall Diary

An important aspect of the home is that it doesn’t exist only in the present. A sense of home comes from how long we have been at a place and how long we plan to stay.

This is a child’s cupboard with a twelve-year lifespan, which aims to become a sentimental belonging. The child creates a visual diary over the course of their growing up, which will continue to be seen and enjoyed when the locker has grown beyond it. Every year the locker is moved up the backboard to the child’s height, which exposes a fresh section of white board inside the locker. The child will then naturally customise the inside of their locker until the time comes for it to move back up.

I plan to give my daughter Tilly the locker when she has finished growing and using it. I’ll get to keep her 12 year artwork.

Sentimental attachment is the holly grail of emotional focused design. I strive to achieve different ways that users might more strongly connect with objects through narrative, function, humor and assosiation, but these devices will never form a bond as strong as personal sentimentality. This is why I have tried to include the potential for new products to become sentimental through use.