Saying goodbye to favorite decorating trends.

Parent Cafe
41

4 for me:

We inherited some glass block on one wall of the shower in the hall bathroom. We’ll change it at some point but it’s not one of the current priorities.

We still have a futon in our office. It gets used a couple of times a year when everyone is visiting at the same time. Without the futon someone would be sleeping on the floor on a blow up bed. IMO, the futon is a step up from that.

I have a pencil post bed with a “heavy” headboard. I still love it and goes super well in our 125 year old house.

I also have my great grandmother’s crocheted lace “doilies”. I have a large one draped on my drop leaf entry table with my mother’s antique clock. It reminds me of my family. Also goes with the age of the house…IMO ; )

42

I looked at the link and am only “guilty” of two things. One is that my kitchen has granite countertops but I now live in a rental apartment and have no control over that sort of thing (though think they look fine). As each resident moves out, they are redoing the kitchens and won’t have granite countertops.

I do have valances on windows that do NOT have curtains. I also did in my previous home I owned. In both places, I have very large windows with gorgeous views, and a lot of privacy as nobody can see in. I would not put curtains on the windows in either place as to hide any of the light or view. But the windows look more “dressed” with a valance, and it brings a finish to them and I feel coordinates with other fabrics in the same room. I never realized this was out of date.

43

I really like my oriental rugs. Twenty years ago, I replaced the ugly tile with wide plank wood floors. Now that has become a trend.

I do have wallpaper trim in my bathroom. I guess that will have to go when I sell.

44

My kid got an orientalish patterned, mostly red rug for her condo. She has: a grey fabric sofa with a few pillows in the colors of the rug (muted yellow, wine red, and blue), cherry midcentury modern wood table with red fake leather chairs, cherry midcentury modern TV console, a Poang chair that happens to match the yellow in the scheme, and wall decor, also matching. She scored a few artifacts at Goodwill to add to the scheme, like a giant floor clock that is broken but looks cool in the corner where it sits. Her apartment looks well put together.

45

Wow - I feel so modern! I do have a rustic curio cabinet, but that’s it from the list of sins.

46

@abasket , only one of my valances is #2. The rest I love. So since they really aren’t expensive sounds like time to replace the one! I also think it’s a jacquard print, which is another one if the list.

47

We really wanted granite countertops when we built our house in 2004 but went with formica for budget reasons. It’s a quick update so we thought we’d get to it when we got to it. Both kids are through school and we’re in good enough shape between finances and headspace. Now it’s out of style. Looks like we’ll have to put it in ironically if we do it at all.

48

I just acquired 30+ Architectural Digest magazines from the past.

Oldest one was from 2004 and it features lots of Tuscan style kitchens!! I remember the time everyone wanted to go Tuscan style!

49

“What does everyone put on their small windows? I still have valances on our bathroom windows, kitchen window and laundry room window. No balloon style. I think these small windows look really bare without something. The colors and texture add to the rooms.”

Nothing. We have white plain shades on our bedroom windows like this https://www.selectblinds.com/rollershades/premium-flat-roller-shades.html?ColorId=2575

But nothing anywhere else. Love it that way.

We have these partly frosted glass on our bathrooms. Like the lower portion of this. https://pin.it/Y9%2FemY5

Nothing else seems necessary. A friend of a friend who is an interior decorator recently told me that she like the no window treatment look of our house so much she recommended it to a client.

50

@BunsenBurner your D’s living room sounds like what I like. I love to mix styles and I really love a few midcentury modern pieces. I can even picture her rug!

Windows. There is no better look to a window for me than nothing on it. That’s assuming it’s an updated window and there is some nice wide trim around it painted “white” to pop off the wall color - even if the wall color is not saturated.

Obviously that’s not always possible.

51

Our home was built in the late 80’s and has stained trim on all baseboards, window and doors on the first level . We are ready to do improvements, what is everyone opinion regarding painting this trim?

52

I would think hard before I painted trim on a older craftsman style home (but I MIGHT still do it) but otherwise I’d say it depends what else you have going on in the room. I would say trim should NOT be a color - so something very light and neutral - something in the white/light family. No blue or green or whatever trim. That’s my opinion!

@Mabelsmom is it oak or another type of wood?

53

We have oak woodwork on our first floor. Stained like the hardwood floors. From what I understand it is expensive to have the woodwork painted (which is what we have on second floor but its pine).

54

I agree with @abasket . If it’s a craftsman style home, leave it. If not, I’d do a high gloss off white, or white depending on the color of your walls and other colors in the house.

I went to a home show this past summer and that was very popular and beautiful.

55

The previous owners of our 125 year old tutor repainted all the dark wood in the house, including trim. It looks great, fresh, and light filled. People who saw it both ways say it’s a total transformation, and for the positive. Not sure we would have done it ourselves though as I’m always twitchy about painting wood.

Our neighbors in our old neighborhood repainted oak trim from a home built in the 90s and it totally updated the look.

56

It is a traditional colonial home with stained oak trim. It does match the wood floors in living and dining room , but the family room is carpeted. This will be the first improvement , we are planning to install a wide plank hardwood and are debating painting the trim. The trim now, seems to limit the wall paint colors.

57

They aren’t the same thing at all.

58

I think you have to think if you are a matchy-matchy person. I am not. Wood floors do not = unpainted wood trim to me.

Painting trim is not hard especially if you just doing a room or two. I do all the painting at our house. I personally would use a satin or semi-gloss on trim. Not a gloss.

59

I am currently doing a whole house remodel, so I’ve been visiting tile shops, stone quarries,looking at tons of new homes, following Houzz for trends, looking at design magazines, etc.

At the stone slab stores, I’m still seeing some granite-but it looks different than what’s been in vogue in the past several decades. Some of it is stunningly beautiful. Probably pricey.

Quartzite (natural stone) and marble seem to be big for kitchens, as is quartz (man made). Marble is a no go for me in the kitchen because I don’t want the maintenance and the etching/staining that comes with heavy use. I cook a lot, love red wine and tomato sauce, so marble and I would not be a good match.

I have a blue/grey granite in my current home, and it’s quite lovely, but I’ve had granite for so long, I’m ready for a change. Will probably do quartzite.

Of course wood is still in style. Go to allmodern.com and you will see plenty of it. But it’s not old style Colonial or other styles which are dated if you aren’t trying to go for an authentic look in an old home. Clean lines rule, no heavy, curvy, ornate stuff. Upholstered pieces are sleek and not overstuffed. Brushed brass fixtures are very big right now, but also sleek chrome fixtures are plentiful even in multi-million dollar homes that I’ve looked at.

I love gray and plan to use it in my new home. But gray/white is simply a neutral palette that needs to be balanced with color in furniture, rugs, art, and accessories if you don’t want a sterile look. We are going to sand our wood floors and keep them in a “nude” finish. I’m sick of dark brown floors, but if I had light floors for years, I’d want to change that.

I’m done with oriental rugs. Yeah, I can hold on to them til they come back, but if that’s going to take 15 years, then I’m holding onto rugs for way longer than I am interested in doing so. I would be willing to give them away at this point. Because of my elderly pets, I have no interest in spending tons on rugs, as I have a few times in the past. You can find some great carpet and have it cut and bound like area rugs with a fraction of the investment involved. And they look really nice.

My new house is strange in that very few windows are able to accommodate drapes. I will do modern shades for privacy and nothing for areas that have plenty of privacy. Though I do love straight, simple panels to bring in color, I just don’t have much opportunity to use them in the new place.

I love following new design trends. At the end of the day, you do have to choose a general direction, but I admire any style that has been thoughtfully done.

60

There were a lot of bad ideas in that link, BUT!
Linoleum flooring is green and in some circles back in.
I’m working on a mid-century modern house with gorgeous terrazzo floors. We aren’t pulling them out.
We still have a futon and horrible cheezy wood paneling in the basement. The futon served it’s purpose when we were young and poor. The paneling came with the house…
Uh, my Ikea shelving has been going strong for twenty years!
Powder room still has the Hollywood lighting. Amazingly not a single bulb has gone out in twenty years! I find it sort of harmless.
I work with a designer who just sponge painted an entire basement we just refinished. It’s not what I would do, but it’s attractive.
I’ve got two glass block dividers in my master bath. I love them. They don’t go to the ceiling and are not in exterior walls. No way anything can leak the way they are constructed.

My house came with popcorn ceilings I did the happy dance when I got rid of the last one!