March 29, 2024

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Fourth Rule of Design: Trendy equals Temporary -

Fourth Rule of Design: Trendy equals Temporary –

I often get the best quotes directly from my followers! This one was from Instagram.

That said, there are definitely moments when timeless finishes are also trending. But in general, as you know from following me, it’s important to tread with caution when you are sourcing items that cannot just be lifted up and carried out of your house as soon as 1) they’re dated or 2) you get bored.

Is it Trendy (aka Temporary) or Timeless?

Since we are about five years into the black and white trend, I thought I’d review what’s trendy and at the same time the trends that are timeless: 

Timeless: Cognac sofas 

I’ll say it again, this is the best colour for a leather sofa if you’re going to have one, and now, thanks to the fact that it’s trending, a cognac leather sofa is much more affordable than it ever was in the past. 

Of course, because this colour is trending, stained wood floors are warming up too. 

Read more: Is a Cognac Sofa Timeless or Trendy?

Tricia’s Living Room Refresh

Temporary: Overdone black & white

This includes black exteriors, black garage doors, black accent walls 

As I said in this post and the updated module I added to my Exterior Masterclass for Colour Selection, even though there are 3 styles of homes that happily looked amazing in white, this trend has slowly killed every black and white house (good or bad) and will forever place them inside the trendy homes of the pandemic.

Please do not shoot the messenger. Looking back 5 years from now when this trend is over for those of us in the know–but still going strong–because there’s so many that don’t know, we will always remember the time frame that a black or white house was born.

It’s sad actually. I didn’t have this opinion a year ago, but this trend is ruining entire neighbourhoods because black hits the tipping point quickly. 

No one needs to tell you when you’ve overdone black inside or outside your home. You can feel it.

While a mediterranean style home can pull off white, black does not belong anywhere near it and please, do us all a favour and DO NOT paint your orange tiled roof BLACK.

Yes that is also happening right now much to the chagrin of the neighbours.

Timeless: Black and white checkerboard floors

This is a trend we talked about here. Checkerboard remains classic pattern that is showing up in painted wood, marble, simple vinyl, or in area rugs.

Redesign Home

Temporary: Black plumbing fixtures & hardware 

This is a trend we talked about here. Don’t simply make black the default choice for everything. 

5 Design Trends to Ditch Right Now and What to do Instead

Timeless: Gold or brass hardware 

It’s not the shiny brass of the 80s so I’m declaring it timeless. I’d rather see a white bathroom entirely done in brass than black since black is the darkest colour it looks bitty and wrong immediately (above).

Brass is busy warming up all the overdone black and white bathroom and formerly all the grey ones and I’m here for it!

And can we include chrome and polished or brushed nickel in the timeless category? Yes.

Colour Forecast written in 2013 (gold had been trending for a couple years already)

Temporary: Solid marble backsplashes

The cover of this magazine probably launched a thousand kitchen designs that include a marble backsplash. 

This is a pretty kitchen, and I bet that House Beautiful looked at hundreds of kitchens that were similar before they landed on this cover.

Why?

Because a kitchen like this without an experienced designer to consider every detail is hard to pull off in the builder kitchen world.

The world that most of us live in.

And that’s why I’m calling this a temporary trend and it’ll be a trend done badly everywhere and now the next homeowner will have to deal with pulling slabs off the walls not just countertops.

Read more: Magazine Worthy Kitchen Designs Cannot be Easily Copied

Timeless: Colourful cabinets

White kitchens are timeless and so are white finishes. But colourful cabinets are also a timeless look to coordinate with white finishes.

When we  move into our new house (we take possession October 1, so you’ll hear a lot more about my plans then), I am overjoyed that all I have to do is paint the kitchen (well, that and replace the perimeter violet grey countertops) because otherwise so many details (including the marble subway backsplash) were already done well and the huge island already has white quartz countertops (check).

I love this blue kitchen, I might paint the cabinets blue in our new kitchen in the entertainment room upstairs.

Interior Design by Michael Kaskel

Over to you my lovelies? What did I forget? Let me know what you think about my list!

And remember this phrase next time you are sourcing finishes for your home.

If you’d like to become a True Colour Expert, register here for one of my virtual Specify Colour with Confidence workshops this Fall.

True Colour Expert Certification

The first workshop this season is SOLD OUT. We have two more left to register into:

October 5 & 6, 2022 (SOLD OUT)

October 15 & 16, 2022 (weekend)

November 10 & 11, 2022

PS. I’m doing a series on all 9 undertones in my system on Instagram here.

Related posts:

First Rule of Design; Boring Now Equals Timeless Later

Second Rule of Design: Waiting Now Equals Beautiful Later

Third Rule of Design: Expensive Does not Equal Timeless