Knowing if you are following a house trend or not?
How many times have you looked at your home and thought “I need to update this place!” This is a thought that many people have, and often for good reason. Home trends, just like fashion trends are cyclical and often do not last very long. Many things in your home may be easily changed but many are not, think bathroom tiles to kitchen cabinetry. The point of life is not to be constantly updating your home, unless you are into that sorta thing.
How can we as homeowners or renters minimize the need to swap out our things every 5 years or so? Simplicity, this is almost always the answer. During my childhood, the 90’s, my parents built a new house. It was very nice, but looking back there were many things that dated that house to that time period. The most dating feature that I can remember is the green marble laminate counter in the kitchen. Another room that dated that house was the master bathroom, it had biscuit colored fixtures with a tan/rose checker board porcelain tile floor. These are common 90’s elements. Yet, the main bathroom was all white and there was also natural oak hardwood flooring throughout the entire home. The kitchen cabinets were a beautiful cherry wood and exterior was a medium tone brown brick. So what makes a feature such as the tan/rose checker board floor dated vs the oak hardwood flooring not?
I believe the reason goes back to simplicity and long noted demand. When making an important choice in your home always think “Have I always like this?” and “Will I get sick of this?”
One of the largest decisions that I made in the past year was to renovate my 1930 craftsman style home. The kitchen was the most expensive single cost in the home, so making sure I did it in a timeless fashion was key. I was drawn to the appeal of a soft grey or pure white shaker style cabinet. Lets explore these two options.
The soft grey while beautiful is a current trend, that has not been a long standing option. The concern with this choice is how long it will be current. Think the vessel sink of 2006, what a trend that was! It was everywhere and all the rage, and now it clearly places that bathroom in the mid 2000’s. Why? they were impractical, expensive, and very taste specific. The same holds true to the grey cabinet, it was more pricey and frankly with the strong grey trends currently I knew that not everyone would like it in a few years.
I ended up choosing the pure white shaker cabinet for its simplicity and long standing color option. Looking throughout history you will see white cabinetry, so white is not a trend. This classic way of thought is how I approached the remaining elements in my kitchen from the Carrera marble backsplash to the wood flooring and the solid light grey quartz counter. I wanted simplicity that wouldn’t date with time.
So how can we avoid getting stuck with an item that is terribly dated within a as little as a year? Don't follow the crowd! If its all over Pinterest and filling your local TJ Maxx run far far away. If its cheap and your don't care that everyone and their mother have it, fine but don't be surprised when it looks as dated as avocado bath fixtures. As I said simplicity is key, natural colored leathers, natural woods, and satin finish metals are all good not trendy materials. When looking at renovation elements white is always a good bathroom color, stones that have always been well regarded "classic", and material of integrity (not fake versions of what they are supposed to be) are great options.
Hopefully, you have learned a little bit on how to identify a trendy item. So next time you go to buy a sofa, kitchen cabinets, or even a throw pillow remember the fate of the 2014 chevron design trend, that design is on clearance for a reason!
Till next time!
-Sean
How can we as homeowners or renters minimize the need to swap out our things every 5 years or so? Simplicity, this is almost always the answer. During my childhood, the 90’s, my parents built a new house. It was very nice, but looking back there were many things that dated that house to that time period. The most dating feature that I can remember is the green marble laminate counter in the kitchen. Another room that dated that house was the master bathroom, it had biscuit colored fixtures with a tan/rose checker board porcelain tile floor. These are common 90’s elements. Yet, the main bathroom was all white and there was also natural oak hardwood flooring throughout the entire home. The kitchen cabinets were a beautiful cherry wood and exterior was a medium tone brown brick. So what makes a feature such as the tan/rose checker board floor dated vs the oak hardwood flooring not?
I believe the reason goes back to simplicity and long noted demand. When making an important choice in your home always think “Have I always like this?” and “Will I get sick of this?”
One of the largest decisions that I made in the past year was to renovate my 1930 craftsman style home. The kitchen was the most expensive single cost in the home, so making sure I did it in a timeless fashion was key. I was drawn to the appeal of a soft grey or pure white shaker style cabinet. Lets explore these two options.
The soft grey while beautiful is a current trend, that has not been a long standing option. The concern with this choice is how long it will be current. Think the vessel sink of 2006, what a trend that was! It was everywhere and all the rage, and now it clearly places that bathroom in the mid 2000’s. Why? they were impractical, expensive, and very taste specific. The same holds true to the grey cabinet, it was more pricey and frankly with the strong grey trends currently I knew that not everyone would like it in a few years.
I ended up choosing the pure white shaker cabinet for its simplicity and long standing color option. Looking throughout history you will see white cabinetry, so white is not a trend. This classic way of thought is how I approached the remaining elements in my kitchen from the Carrera marble backsplash to the wood flooring and the solid light grey quartz counter. I wanted simplicity that wouldn’t date with time.
So how can we avoid getting stuck with an item that is terribly dated within a as little as a year? Don't follow the crowd! If its all over Pinterest and filling your local TJ Maxx run far far away. If its cheap and your don't care that everyone and their mother have it, fine but don't be surprised when it looks as dated as avocado bath fixtures. As I said simplicity is key, natural colored leathers, natural woods, and satin finish metals are all good not trendy materials. When looking at renovation elements white is always a good bathroom color, stones that have always been well regarded "classic", and material of integrity (not fake versions of what they are supposed to be) are great options.
Hopefully, you have learned a little bit on how to identify a trendy item. So next time you go to buy a sofa, kitchen cabinets, or even a throw pillow remember the fate of the 2014 chevron design trend, that design is on clearance for a reason!
Till next time!
-Sean
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