Remember the every so hot combination of mauve, hunter green and brass in the 80's? Oh...and floral wallpaper...lots of floral wallpaper.
Well, I've been looking around at this here decade and wondering what we'll look back at and laugh about someday. Here are my predictions:
(PLEASE Keep in mind, I LIKE ALL OF THESE THINGS. Don't be offended if you have them in your home right now...I do too! I'm just looking to the distant future.):
1) The Tuscan Craze
2) Oil Rubbed Bronze: We'll think it's hilarious that we were all in a mad dash to spray paint everything in sight ORB.
3) Birds: I love birds...I really do, but I can just imagine them being the equivalent of harvest colored sunflower patterns in the 1970's.
Photo: Art.com
4) Burlap, Sisal, Jute, etc.: Again, these are a decorating staple for me...but in 10 years we might wonder why on earth we thought it was a good idea to decorate with a potato sack.
What do you think? Do you agree with my list? What do you think we'll look back and laugh about? Let's chat :-).
62 Suburbanites Said:
Ugh, my parents (well, my mom is more like it) has never grown out of the mauve/blue/brass phase. Ewww!
I'll agree with you on everything but the wainscotting...that was in style 100 yrs ago and still will be years from now. Promise.
Oh I hope you're right about the wainscoting!!! I love the stuff, and I have plans to put more of it in my house.
I love wainscotting too and hope it never goes out of style because I want to remodel my kitchen with it for the backsplash! They even have special wainscotting now that is specifically for kitchens and bathrooms! =)
I agree with all but beaded board. It's not the same as fugly faux paneling from the 70s and 80s. I see it in houses from 100 years ago and it's totally classic.
I think the really dark cabinets that are really popular today may end up on this list. And accent walls. Even today, I see them and wonder what people are thinking, so I don't think that will last.
Oh! I thought of another one. That tin stuff people use for backsplash today will be on the rip it out renovations list tomorrow. And hey, I love the stuff and how it looks today. I just don't think it's classic.
totally with you about burlap and birds (I have them in my house and LOVE them though). I think wood furniture in "espresso" finish will fade in popularity.
beadboard: sure it's classic, but people are putting it ALL over the house. I think it's going to be less popular again eventually.
I'm with you on everything but the wainscotting/beadboard - please God!! If I EVER move I plan on using that or that new wallpaper look alike! I've already ordered a roll and have it waiting to go up and have the place in mind. Love the burlap now, but I'm like you, I wonder what my daughter will think in 10 years? Well, I don't have to wonder, she's pretty vocal about my style now - we are pretty opposite already!
Let's just HOPE that avocado, harvest gold and that awful rust don't come back - those were terrible!
Oh, one more - distressing - everything!! I love it and would distress anything I could get my hands - that stupid cat better watch out!
I don't think that will be as popular ten years from now - or the whole vintage-y knock off look - although I love me some vintage, distressed anything!
This post is TOO FUNNY! I believe you have some good predictions...
Ooh, you guys are good.
Emily: I didn't even think of the tin stuff. I think you're right.
Tiny: Good call on the espresso. That could be the oak of the future.
Lynette: I love distressing too but I almost added that to the list. I think we'll want a break from it in the future.
Keep 'em coming. Love hearing from you guys!
I love the birds but I have a feeling it is going to go to the birds in the next 5yrs. Also cloches and things trapped inside of them.
I find it just about impossible to imagine that beadboard could EVER go out of style, but, then, I loved leg warmers too...:)
What about the ever popular chocolate brown and ice blue combo? Think it will be the next harvest gold and avocado green?
I was just looking thru a 15 year old copy of Victoria's 'At Home with White', and it was seriously hard to find anything to date the book...it was full of classics such as natural fibers, tone on tone neutrals, wood floors, wainscotting, etc. The ONLY think I noticed was a bit more use of shiny brass, light colored wood, and a more 'cluttered' look. So perhaps our more streamlined approach to decor (in both contemporary and cottage styles) will go out and feel 'sterile' to our children someday.
Katie - no, not cloches! I never thought about anything being "trapped" inside of them - not quite like that! I'll never look at a cloche the same way again!! ;-)
Yep. I agree with everything. However I'm not sure I can fully agree with the beadboard. It feels like too much of a betrayal. I would totally add "vinyl wording!!!!" to this list. Again, I love vinyl but it will be at the top of the list and made fun of very soon.
I 100% agree... and am laughing too! The beadboard...oh dear in ten years we will be redoing every wall if that's the case. I hope it last longer!
thanks for the look into the future!
I was just thinking of this last night! When we bought our current home 7 years ago, brushed nickel was all the rage. So all our light fixtures and plumbing fixtures are all brushed nickel. I do still love it, but I fear it will be on that list too. And gosh I hope cloches don't make the list!
i've totally been wondering about the FAKE beadboard, as i've been contemplating putting some up, myself! (I have no patience to install the real wainscoting!) i'm wondering if the REAL beadboard will always be a classic, but the knock-off stuff will be a dead giveaway to our decade in a few years.....who knows. i assume the 1970's dark paneling was mean to look "traditional" at one point--just a bad fake.
also (shoot me!) i think the whole painting every piece of furniture in sight white (or black) trend will fade. heck, that's already been around: i inherited a LOT of family furniture that had been "antiqued" by my Grandpa in the 1970's (that's what they called painting and distressing back then!) I always wondered "why, oh why would they do that to perfectly good wood furniture???" anyhow, i'm in LOVE with the white furniture look, but I am drawing the line and not going hog wild on paintint over the good wood family pieces that are still in nice condition. my house looks a little more dated because of it, but i feel better knowing that the wood will always be a classic.
I love the tall white kitchen cabinets, black soapstone countertops and the subway tile but I always think that ten years from now the look will totally give away this time period. Especially the blue and green subway tiles that are so popular. But of course I love it all now!
Kim P
I think beadboard is from such a long time ago that it would be hard to call in "2009ish"...but the "old world look" with the dark dark cabinets...that has seen its day.
Such a fun topic! I'm not too big on birds or oil-rubbed bronze. I too agree about the list, but wonder about the beadboard. I wonder if it might be something that lasts if it suits the style of the home, the other architectural elements and trim.
I agree about the espresso furniture comment too, especially the fake wood stuff. And the vinyl wall lettering.
How about shiny comforters/duvets? Chocolate brown or otherwise.
TOTALLY agree on the birds, and it's a shame b/c I am loving the birdie stuff (since my little one's middle name is "Byrd.") :)
I love your suggestions. Here are mine:
1. Stenciling everything with numbers.
2. Accent walls.
3. Vinyl wall quotes.
4. That abstract colorful art work you can buy everywhere ... Bed Bath and Beyond, Target, Kohl's, etc.
6. Fake pumpkins.
The future list will probably also include... cherry cabinets, granite, goose neck faucets and sunburst mirrors.
It's like you read my mind! I was just wondering about this as I painted about 1/3 of my furniture black this past weekend... Probably a mistake, but for right now I like it & there's always more paint & citrus stripper ;)
This is so fun to read!! I think the trend of tiling the backsplash all the way to the bottom of the upper cabinets will be out - it's just too permanent and limiting! Also I wonder about the vessel type bathroom sinks. Love them but I wonder if they'll be a passing fad.
Linda
I totally agree with the Tuscan thing. Having lived in Tuscany, I can assure you that no one has a kitchen that looks like that! My vote is for stainless steel appliances and dark granite countertops. That combination is already looking a bit dated to me.
Hi, I just found your blog and I am so laughing. We just moved into a new home after 7 years of base housing so I am so into decorating and doing it with a budget. My hubby has been on board with all my projects so far but a few. He said, black furniture, we had that when we got married 15 years ago. We did,we had a black laquer set. And that was popular, kinda like the waterbed! Anyway, love all the list, I too love birds,but don't see them staying., sad but I made my first tassel last nite and all hubby could say today was a tassel belongs on a grad hat! I wanted to hit him!,so I don't see them in 10 either. Sure hope the beadboard stays, its one of the things I have talked him into!!! Anyway, great list, thanks for the laugh.
This is such a great post! I always wonder about that - like what will be the next craze in appliances? Soon stainless will be terribly outdated. And what about granite countertops? And I wonder what will be in style? Hmmm...
Danielle
Just like everyone else, I agree with it all but the beadboard!
Well, wait, I don't agree with the burlap being a trend. Just because I have been using it forever and I intend to continue using it forever. :)
Ha! Great picks, interesting. I LOVE my birds, showing one in my post tomorrow! If they turn into a bygone fad, that is okay with me...and you're probably right. Anything that gets so popular has farther to fall.
I have to say though, I never did like the whole mauve hunter green brass mix, never!!
Janell
I agree - maybe not the beadboard because it's a little more architectural. It'll be interesting to see.
I like to think through these things, too, though. I'm trying to avoid expensive choices based on trends as we redo this house. Some trends are easy to replace - bin pulls, for instance. They're classic in a house that historically would have them, but trendy in a house (like mine) that clearly added them to try to look older :) Larger pieces of furniture are so easy to "date". I think the only real way around that is to try to find something old enough that it's free and clear of current styles. I think it can be tricky trying to keep a home looking young and current, yet flexible enough to not date quickly.
Jacci
How about the red accent wall? Or what about those long bar-like cabinet and drawer pulls?
Oh and, by the way, you forgot one of my faves, which I know well, since it was my teenage bedroom: peach and forest green. Ugh.
Not sunburst mirrors! But vinyl lettering? yeah. how about microfiber? I don't know if that was ever "trendy" but there sure is a lot of it around. (guilty!)
Coming back to mention...chalkboard paint!
I loved this! I have been considering a kitchen redo for over a year now and have probably changed my mind about 1000 times as to what I want! I started a blog about it way back when and when the plans were put on hold in kind of morphed into a blog about nothing! haha...anyway, last January they were saying granite was "so yesterday"...ugh...now what? I guess if you don't have resale on the mind, you do what you like to look at right, on the other hand, I'd hate to spend all the $$ only to have it look passe in two years!
I have often thought of this myself. Those are great examples (especially the Tuscan thing, ugh). Oh and the birds. I don't get the birds. They are the Owls of this decade.
I think sticking with the classics is best. Things that have been in style in every decade. I also think you should look at your kitchen and LOVE it. Feel like you are HOME.
Great post!
I was so into the icy blue and chocolate brown combo, but I'm afraid it will be like the avacodo green and harvest gold, Williamsburg blue and dusty mauve, hunter green and burgundy combos of the past.
I don't have granite, but it's been such a big fad lately along with the stainless steel appliances, I wonder if it will seem dated or is it timeless?
I'm sure in a few years we will be distressed that we distressed everything in sight and wonder why we needed so many chalkboards.
Something I don't really care for, but is very big here in the southeast is putting big bright polka dots on things, like mailboxes and birdhouses. And if it isn't covered in polka dots, it proably has some sort of animal print.
wainscoting in my humble opinion is Classic and timeless...Unless it is painted metallic sponge painted or something similar...
I agree with vinyl lettering addition above...And think you are pretty spot on with your other predictions...Good thing I am poor and can't afford trends! ahha
Don't usually comment but couldn't resist this time! I don't always think that it's specific things that always go out as much as a certain style. Does that make sense? Not so much the avocado toilets/sinks/tubs as much as them just being colored in the first place.
Now that being said...
Vinyl signs/decals/lettering for sure...only because I've already made fun of it for so long. All the "Live Laugh Love," "Family," blah blah blah wooden letters- enough already! I was just arguing with a friend who's got 'em in ever corner of her house, and she firmly believes it's "classic." WHAT? Of course, she said the same thing about those charm bracelets years ago (you know the ones that were all the rage and everyone was having parties for?) Haven't seen her wear that classic piece for-eva! HAHA
When we got married (20 years ago) mauve and blue were all the rage(still have some lingering plastic kitchen utensils in the blue). I wonder, now, what was I thinking, but see that the light blue is making a come back! All in moderation, right?
I often wonder why people hang plates on walls...it's a huge thing. I do like the look. But for how long?
Funny post! I have much of what is listed! Decorating is NEVER done!
I have so thought that about the bead board before! I so love it but I've thought- "you know this really isn't to far off from paneling". Oh well- we'll worry about it in 10 years right?!
I agree with the tuscan stye-in fact, I think it's already on it's way out. But beadboard?? NO!!! I love that stuff! My brother lives in a 100 year old home and it came with original beadboard, so I think that it will be fresh for a long, long time.
I think about this all the time, maybe this is why I repaint every year or 2! But I have to say that beadboard has been around forever, I can't imagine it being "ugly"... but who knows....
Oh don't say it about the wainscoting!
I agree, maybe the birds will be like the goose with the blue ribbon around its neck in the kitchen...anyone? I also agree with vinyl lettering. When it first came out I thought it was way cool to be able to so easily write on your wall, but it has been sooooo overdone!
All the glass tile/chandelier and crystal stuff- I love the sparkly, slightly shabby-chic look but I think it will eventually look dated.
What about woodwork? Right now white is THE thing to have (and it's the only color I would personally want- I think it's very classic), but a lot of great old design includes dark woods- or painted colors on trimwork. I wonder when that will come back in style.
I agree with all of your list, and here's a few to add: all decor remotely Shabby Chic, chandeliers even in bathrooms, neutral rooms of white on white on beige on taupe (with black, green, or red accents of course), distressed painted furniture, birdcages, architectural salvage used as the odd decor item instead of its intended purpose, numbers/lettering, open kitchen shelves, and all things 'French'.
Add to that the laminate flooring, granite counters, stainless appliances, and garden tubs builders put in 95% of all homes built today. Someday we'll all go, "Crown molding! Why?"
Yeah, we will. Or at least the next generation will.
HollyM
OMG...just have to say. I think the "FAKE" bead board will be OUT. I cringe everytime I see someone blogging about bead board only to find out it is paneling. Face it folks. Paneling is paneling. I think the real deal stuff, you know it's two strips and tongue and groved...that will never go out. It's timeless. Also, subway tile...never out. I can look back on magazines and books from decades ago. I wonder about stainless steel...I just cannot wait until people get past the whole faux everything trip. Oh well fun to look back and laugh!! What a hoot!
I love mercury glass but think it will look very dated someday. Mosaic glass vases and candleholders already are, to me. I fear that by glass tile backsplash will be dated but I LURVE it. I think sleigh beds will probably go "out" at some point, classic as the design is. For a while there, there was no other style to be found in the stores.
Oh and WHAT is with the peel-and-stick faux wood flooring??? EWE!
Love this post!!!
I just build a house and had oil rubbed bronze fixtures installed throughout. And when I selected those fixtures (which I love ... for now), I told my husband, "These fixtures are cool now, but they will definitely define the period when we bought the house."
I agree that dark cabinets are just a trend. They look beautiful, but they are a trend. So we got lighter birch cabinets. My sister, put pretty dark cabinets in her house even told me the other day, "If I could do it over, I'd get light cabinets, like you."
I also think stainless steel appliances and granite countertops are a trend that will go by the wayside. The home we're renting right now (soon to move out of) has stainless steel appliances and granite countertops, and they are a pain to keep clean and smudge free - they are way too high maintenence.
So in the new house, I got white appliances, which I think are timeless.
Oh, and like Erin, my teenage room was peach and forest green (late 80s/early 90s). Good times, good times! :)
well, if you own a Craftsman Bungalow, Oil Rubbed Bronze is just coming back to the period. I was honestly surprised that it got popular to put into houses of other periods. It won't look dated in context.
Agree with others that say beadboard is timeless. Goes into Victorian, Craftsman, beach house, even mid cent modern in utility areas. Anything that has that kind of staying power is around for the long haul.
Aaahhh! What am I supposed to buy then? :)
We built a new house and I spent hours agonizing over the details, because I didn't want it to look dated. I went with brushed nickel because I had a feeling that the ORB thing was going to end sometime. But you have to put in Stainless appliances, nothing else has the same resale value. But Espresso/dark stained wood furniture? There isn't much else out there to buy...
This might have already been mentioned, but how about all the chalkboard painted doors and walls and silver trays and storage jars and....
This is a fun post, Annicole. I agree with everything you posted except sisal; decorators have been using sisal rugs for years.
I'm tired of seeing people glue plates to candles sticks. The Goodwill is full of these creations. And stop spray painting EVERYTHING black, including those darn birds.
What is your opinion on topiaries? Are they timeless or a blast from the past?
I'll be one of the first to admit....I love the bird trend, I number just about everything, and I love me a chalkboard. But yeah, in the next few years, I'll probably be laughing at myself.
You know what else I bet will go out fairly quickly are cement countertops. And ugh! can you imagine trying to remove them?
HA!! OH my, my whole house in college was burgundy and hunter green. :) I was just going through some decorating mags from years ago today, so I could get them out of my house, and they were from 2003, 2005, 2007 and they were all SO dated!!! It was crazy!
I'm totally with you on the ORB -- but I will continue to SPRAY PAINT EVERYTHING POSSIBLE WITH IT!! Ahhhhhh!!! :)
i worry about the same thing with bead board but i think it's like wainscoting ... always in style.
I know I'm late to the party (I just found your blog and have been devouring the archives), but I just wanted to add glass mosaic tiles to the list. I already want to rip them out wherever I see them.
Totally! Especially the tuscan craze, that only looks good in Tuscany! But I was really happy that I had finally decided to redo my living room chairs in burlap, and now I have to start agonizing on the issue all over again!!!!!!!
xxx
Isabel
PS I don't know why, the eighties pictures are blank for me.
We bought a 1986 house and it still looks very 1986. Partly because I'm having a hard time making choices. As an artist, I was thinking about this the other day - are the things I'm creating now going to end up in the trend section of tomorrow's yard sale? I hope not. :-)
I'm just going to paint everything that's still 1986 looking and hope for the best. You saved me from buying the ORB doorknobs but is the 1986 brass any better really?
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