When designing or decorating your home, you should know what is trendy and what is classic.
If you go with something that is trendy, you should use an up and coming trend instead of the trend that is going out of style.
Here is a list of some home design trends that are in, others that are out, and the classic ones that are here to stay.
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The Trend Cycle
Interior design trends tend to last around 5 years, however can be shorter or longer (especially shorter now that social media is so quick to spread trend information around the world instead of us getting our trend information from magazines that are published once a month).
These trends typically start in multimillion dollar homes with big budgets, specialty products, and professional interior designers with access to these products.
The following year, the trend tends to enter the million dollar homes when the interior design products become popular and more available in specialty shops.
By year 3, the trend is picked up by Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, and other comparable stores who have created their own lower priced version of the trendy item. At this point, the trend has now become more mainstream and peaked in popularity.
By year 4, the trend has typically gone into Kirklands, Target, Pier 1, and other lower priced stores who have created their own even lower priced version of the trendy item. Once an item has entered these stores, the trend is on its way out.
If you are not interested in chasing trends or having items in your home that are out of style, then you might prefer to decorate your home with classic items and perhaps only use trendy items when you plan on replacing the item every few years.
What's In
Several decorative items and design styles are currently in style and very popular.
The interior design trends that are currently in style include waterfall countertops, gray wood-look floors, open shelving in a kitchen instead of closed cabinets, black plumbing fixtures, barn doors, grommet curtains, Edison light bulbs, shiplap, and concrete countertops.
What's Out
Many home decor trends were made popular by the website Pinterest.
Pretty much every overly popular DIY item or craft is out.
This includes chalkboard painted items, mason jars or wine bottles used as decor, pallet anything, faux painting, words or phrases on walls, and excessive use of monograms - one monogrammed item or one collection of identical items (towels, pillowcases, etc) is OK.
Other items that are out of style include wood looking ceramic tile (or any other product that attempts to look like something it is not), chevron pattern, Tuscan style, letters or symbols used as art and accessories, pillows or artwork with a popular saying, oil rubbed bronze, wallpaper, 1990's shiny gold, brightly colored glass tile (gray, clear, white, and pale blue or green is OK), painted accent walls (paint the entire room the same color, else it looks like you ran out of paint and only painted one wall), overuse of ikat (one ikat item in a room is OK), many different intricate accent tiles used together, tile countertops, vessel sinks, dark espresso wood, matching furniture sets, large generic homes, home theaters, builder beige, clutter, ombre, 9" x 9" floor tile, square floor tile laid in a brick pattern (rectangular tile is OK in a brick pattern), glass block, and homes that are boring and predictable.
What's Here to Stay
There are several interior design trends that have remained popular for a long time.
These trends would be good to consider using in your home since they should be timeless, but who knows what the future will bring.
Some decor items that are here to stay include wood floors (not laminate or vinyl), stainless steel appliances, traditional sized white subway tile that looks handmade (not the basic perfect ones), tiles and countertops made of natural materials (slate, granite, marble, etc), living plants, framed beveled mirrors, hardback books on display, a little bit of exposed brick, large kitchens open to the living room, 9 to 12 foot tall ceilings, under mount sinks, accessories that have sentimental value instead of mass produced items, eco friendly design, low maintenance materials, outdoor living rooms/kitchens, hidden televisions and other electronics, natural light, crown molding, taller baseboards, more kitchen cabinet drawers than doors, under cabinet kitchen lighting, and quality products.
