Similar to the fashion industry, trends in home design go in and out of style. While the fashion industry has fast cycles, the home industry moves at a slower and more deliberate pace. Designing a space takes a thoughtful plan, a creative process, and a refined eye. It makes sense that you want to be discerning and selective when designing a room in your home. Avoiding trends will help ensure you create a timeless design that won’t make your home feel dated in just a few short years. However, some design elements may seem questionable. You may see these elements all over social media, but they have been used in home design for many decades. These elements may be currently trending but certainly are not trendy. Read on for examples of these design elements.
White subway tile
White subway tile may get a bad rap because it’s been used in nearly every new build or construction bathroom project over the last decade. However, it’s a classic, tried and true material that will keep your bathroom feeling current long after the wave of white subway tile has passed.
How to make it feel current: Lay the white subway tile in different patterns, such as herringbone or a grid pattern, or select a more textural white subway tile while still laying it in a classic, off-set pattern.
White kitchens
Colorful kitchen cabinets or cabinets in warm wood tones are being favored in many kitchen remodels. These saturated and warm spaces are a fresh way to visually revamp this hardworking area of the home. Many before and after photos show the white kitchen as the before and the colorful, punchy space as the after, with the headline that white kitchens are out. However, a white kitchen is like a classic white button-down — it will always be in style.
How to make it feel current: Select a warm, creamy shade of white instead of a crisp and cool white tone.
Wall murals
Wallpaper has been the recent go-to design choice to inject color, personality, and texture into a space. Recently, many design enthusiasts have gravitated towards enveloping areas in wall murals instead of wallpaper. Murals can be painted directly onto the wall or can be a wallpaper that looks like a mural. Wall murals are currently having a moment in homes that welcome color, personality and lean towards maximalism; however, they have been around for centuries and are even one of the oldest forms of art.
How to make it feel current: Lean into a wall mural by applying it to a room’s four walls and selecting a complementary paint color for the trim and ceiling.
Checkerboard floors
Images of checkerboard floors are all across social media, making this design feature feel trendy. However, checkerboard floors are a tried and true, classic flooring selection. You can be creative with the checkerboard pattern combinations, such as using warmer colors like light tan and creamy white or a warm gray with a heavily veined white tile.
How to make it feel current: In addition to creatively pairing different shades of marble, consider painting a checkerboard pattern on wood floors.
Animal print
Animal print is another frequently used pattern on stair runners, carpets, rugs, and pillows. While this pattern is prevalent in many design schemes and social media photos, this organic print will have staying power long after the influx of photos has ended.
How to make it feel current: Using animal print as a neutral in your design scheme, and use it with other classic design elements, such as stripes, plaid, or floral.
