What do you get when design Instagram’s love of wiggles and waves meets TikTok’s obsession with slime? The splat aesthetic.

So named by Architectural Digest’s offshoot site Clever, it’s the latest evolution of the Y2K influence that has had fashion and interiors in a chokehold. The trend incorporates rugs that look like they were spilt on the floor rather than placed there, cushions that appear as if melting and mirrors that seem to be sliding down the wall.

The trend is playful, avant-garde and maybe even a little bit gross, like the Loewe broken egg heels but for interiors. While the wave trend went hand in hand with 00s pastels, the splat aesthetic embraces the decade’s more vibrant shades. With both gooey contours and zingy colours, the trend appears to be channelling that 00s classic – the lava lamp.

If the squiggle handles, wavy-edged mirrors and soft, round sofas of the curve trend were a little too gentle for you, then the splat aesthetic is its slightly edgier, “psychedelic” cousin, as Clever notes. When asked what’s behind the new aesthetic, designer and ceramicist Ellen Pong told Clever she believes it’s a direct reaction to the cuteness of the curve and squiggle trend.

Splat aesthetic is the trend about to take over your Instagram feed