Room for Thought – Chapter 3: Ten Years of Dream Catchers

We have been selling dream catchers for almost ten years.

Of course, dream catchers have a much longer cultural history than our little shop.

But over the past decade, we have watched the styles sold in Australian gift shops change dramatically.

At least in our shop, the journey happened in four stages.

Stage One: Colour Everywhere

When we first started selling dream catchers, the most popular designs were the familiar commercial styles most people recognised.

A woven web in the centre.

Brightly coloured thread.

Beads.

And lots of colourful feathers hanging underneath.

I still remember the reactions from our customers when we first displayed them in the shop.

Everyone said the same thing:

“They’re so beautiful!”

Stage Two: Everything Turned Neutral

After the colourful designs had been popular for a while, the style began to change.

White and beige became the new favourites.

The basic design stayed the same—a woven web with feathers underneath—but the colours became softer and more neutral.

The dream catchers also became much bigger.

Less rainbow.

More boho.

Stage Three: Crystals Appeared

Then crystals slowly started finding their way into the designs.

At first, they were simply small crystal details added to otherwise familiar dream catchers.

Later, we began seeing circular designs with a Tree of Life made from crystal chips in the centre.

These pieces often had no feathers or decorative pendants hanging underneath at all.

This was also how we first entered the world of crystal hangings.

Stage Four: Following the Light

Now, feathers have almost disappeared from the designs we sell.

Crystal chips are paired with crystal prisms, and the focus has gradually shifted towards sunlight and suncatchers.

Today, we mainly see two popular directions.

The first is a modern version of the dream catcher, combining crescent-shaped crystal slices with small crystal chips.

The second is the simpler, more contemporary suncatcher, designed around crystal prisms and the rainbows they create.

So naturally, we followed the change.

We selected a small collection of crystal home hangings that feel lighter, simpler and more suited to the way people decorate their homes today.

These two designs show just how far the style has travelled in ten years.