I don’t think the white kitchen will ever go out of fashion. It’s so easy to customise with a few bright appliances, a unique light fitting, some plants or a bold floor rug.
I agree. Minimalist kitchens maximise the things that actually matter: light, countertop space, floor space, prioritising functional concerns. You can't just phase that out like its a trend, you'd need to let minimalism evolve over time rather than just juxtaposing itself like clothing fashion does. White may become a more natural sand marble, we may want to reintroduce handles to the cabinets to add a subtle texture accent throughout the kitchen space. A runner rug to force your eyes to percieve the kitchen space as longer than it is. We can keep minimalism and it will always matter for as long as we need to sell our homes.
The color white is unlikely to go out of fashion for a kitchen, but material choice will. I've walked into 30 year old all white kitchens that are dated because of glazed ceramic tile, Formica countertops and scalloped drawer fronts
I find the best way to achieve a timeless aesthetic is to design according to the character of the space. I live in house built in 1936 therefore we opted to go for a mid-century style, from the baseboards to the fireplace to the window trims, everything feels cohesive. Dont design for a farmhouse in a Manhattan condo.
I’m in an 1860s terrace and tried doing this (while keeping electricity of course). Then I remembered that these houses were built for workers who didn’t own a lot of books, clothes, shoes, or gadgets (no electricity then) nor have fridge-freezers so went shopping every day at the local market (still exists!) because food couldn’t be stored. I resisted covering the walls in shelving because I wanted to maximise space in the small rooms, but now with much of my stuff still in boxes in the attic, after many years I’m going to get the drill out…
Agreed. I also think quality goes a long way. Not price or brand, but actual build quality. Solid, well crafted pieces are always appreciated. Authentic age can add a lot too. A well aged leather couch beats a brand new one every time. The warmth of real reclaimed floors is hard to replicate exactly. The weight and feel of a vintage stove or fridge would be another good example. I guess I have just always felt that a big part of what makes for timeless design is something that can actually hold up to time in the first place; it’s much harder for something to be timeless if it easily breaks before it’s longevity can even be considered.
We are currently renovating an 1800s Coach House but used to serve horses and carriages. When we bought the house, all character had been stripped out, only leaving late 80s and early 90s decor. It’s funny because Crittle doors and window are in fashion at the moment, but I believe this is truly suited to our property because looking at the old pictures that is the closest match to what they would’ve been using i.e. not white UPVC doors
Or, alternatively, just install the kind of kitchen that YOU like, right at this moment - and stop seeing your home as an investment that requires you to keep second-guessing what someone in 10 or 15 years might want.
People don't focus on trends. They focus on what they like. And they like what their environment made them like. Therefore, they follow trends even if they don't want to. That's the same for you. I don't know you, but I know you're not dressed as a person living in the 1800s. You don't speak like a person living in the 1800s. And you don't think like a person living in the 1800s. You just do what others around you do, just like me.
There’s nothing like downsizing (which we’re currently doing) to highlight that the only things you end up keeping after many years (25 in our case) are the items where form follows function. Yes we want to be surrounded with creative design that inspires us, but that artsy chair that no one wants to sit on bc it’s so uncomfortable, is wasted at the end. The magic happens when you have a sanctuary that is cozy and comforting that is also gorgeous to look at, especially if your personality shines through. 😊
This is one of the most elegantly stated descriptions of trend acceleration. Top notch production quality too - pace, graphics, explanations. Well done!
I'm surprised that how many of fellow science people think that science isn't art or design isn't logical. I've never seen Mathematics and Computer Science any different from an art form.
One of the most interesting videos on home design! Thank you! Our old 1950s tiled bathroom in the 100 year old apartment rent is now in fashion (47 years later). And our 'thrift store' esthetic (born out of necessity) is now on point. Like most of my clothes, if I just keep things long enough, I become (however briefly) fashionable.
My dad's midlife crisis was to "modernise" our family home: out with the 90s yellow pine, beige wallpaper and linoleum, and in with the 2010s grey, rustic and nautical/industrial. Looking back I wish he would have kept some of the warm tones, we live up north and we have enough grey outside some warmth indoors is really needed
Way too much emphasis is put on just about every aspect of life these days, causing stress and disappointment when you find it's unachievable... Just live your own life in your own way, adopt your own individual style and to hell with what people think you should or should not be doing. Decorate your home for YOU and nobody else. I'm 63 and I'm telling you, life is way too short to be bothered by short lived nonsense 'trends'
The white kitchen may go in an out of popularity but it is not a trend. No one will ever walk into a white kitchen and think it looks dated - but they sure will think that about many other trendy kitchens. White kitchens are a blank slates which you can keep up to date via appliances and other accents - try doing that with a Tuscan kitchen ( I’m have 90s flashbacks as I write 😂).
I think how you feel about white kitchens may depend on your age. The first I knew of a white kitchen, outside of a manor house from the turn of the century, was cheap laminate in the 80s. Then the 90s diy had people painting cabinets white. Then the early 2000s had upscale white. It all looks dated to me.
I think trends are great when you see them as introducing you to something you may not have thought of before. When I read up on trends, it's to see if there's anything I never realized I liked before. For example, having a pop of red is trending right now, and I realized how much I love seeing a bold pop of red in a space, and. I want to try it somewhere in my home. Overall, though, I think it's best to look at lots of things for inspiration and buy what speaks to you. A lot of what is trendy right now doesn't speak to me, so I don't buy into it. My design style is more traditional/eclectic, so things that fall into those styles are going to catch my eye before anything else.
I’m in a home that was remodeled in 2017. It has white cabinets and in trend or not, I absolutely love them! It is also open concept. Which I hear is out. Not for me. Our home is small, and walls would cramp things up. As long as my home is clean and well taken care of, I don’t think my white cabinets would hurt resale value. I believe they are timeless. ❤.
@lormor460 •Ours is just badly designed bad quality and not functional so if I am living here have to keep it clean that's fine but it needs be more accessible and easier to clean like the range cooker is in front of the Boiler you need use a knife or something impossible to get to the boiler that's not exactly great planning double doors would have been far easier plus if it was Matt it would have been so much easier the main plumbing is via the window so having a sink in a totally in accessible place like sure we all need a sink but ours is like the black hole of binoculars ,reminds me of the beautiful converted Chapel I rented had a beam over the loo that everyone especially me managed to knock themselves out on and Spotlights I loved but if a bulb blew you needed get someone with extendable ladder to actually change it ?
I really appreciate the professional and balanced tone you use on your channel. I've been following your series on makeovers with great pleasure, but I think I've enjoyed your ideas of solutions for small interiors the most. Your channel is a pleasant change from the overly flashy trends on TH-cam and other social media.
I was thinking of this a few weeks ago, when i started the renovation of my house. To me, you gave the best advice you can give and we could also had that the more you improve your tastes on some materials (what kind of wood do i like the more for example ?) the more you can be sure that you are focusing on tones of colors and materials you really like, instead of taking those which are trendy. Thanks for your work Daniel, love your content 🙌🏻
when looking at wood trends through time, it's not really the different kinds of woods that ever get out of stile-it's the different treatments on top of the wood -the lacquer /stain, since I was born 50 years ago the only thing that was beautiful 50 years ago and still is today is natural raw looking wood-light, medium dark does not really matter choose mat or silk mat and it will look beautiful 50 years from now, the same with tiles and stone don't go for very shiny, it's not only now mat or silky mat is beautiful, my mom and dad built a house 33 years ago, they choose silky mat tiles in the bathrooms and it looks timeless, their kitchen has mat wood with clean lines and after 33 years it also look great, ecxept from the fact the cabinets are not going all the way to the ceiling as is done today, but overall it's timeless, the floors are terracotta also timeless, popular 33 years ago and popular today - so always think when choosing stile was this beautiful 30, 50 or 100 years ago-it will be beautiful 50 years from now like a Persian rug
I received the same Forbes article straight after renovating 6 wet rooms with grey concrete look floor tiles and white walls. The next article I received was completely the opposite with curved furniture, etc. Every year it’s the same, “what’s in and what’s out”. Take it with a pinch of salt. My chrome taps are always going to look clean and shinning. The golds, blacks, pewter etc. tarnished before my eyes in the showroom shops. 😅
I think there's another layer to this calculus: barrier to entry/exit. If a trend doesn't steer you into some sort of structural or functional change that's hard or costly to pull back from, you can be more free to jump in and out of it. In which case, fine. Repaint my wall: sure, tell me what 2024 has to say. But if a trend is urging for a deeper renovation, it merits more skepticism.
Indeed, I've already accepted that I probably need to repaint my house and replace my kitchen doors if I want to sell this place in 10 years, but it will be a fraction of the cost compared to moving around the toilet or the shower.
Indeed, I've already accepted that I probably need to repaint my house and replace my kitchen doors if I want to sell this place in 10 years, but it will be a fraction of the cost compared to moving around the toilet or the shower.
Twenty years ago I bought my first house and had it adapted to my taste. I looked at many interior decoration magazines and chose everything according to my taste. I really fell into the trap! Today I can see the trend of the tiles that really dates my home. Now, after my kids are gone, I am considering downsizing and I am wiser. Probably will make different mistakes! 😂
First I do not make enough money to be able to follow any trend nor do I really want to. So for the past 2.5 years I have been curating my own look. However what I want to design seems to be what is in style and the second hand furniture I was buying piece by piece is now expensive and I have to take a forced design break. So there you have it my style is patience. LOL. But I really like the design ideas you bring together in you videos. So thank you and keep up the great info💕
I am beginning to appreciate you more and more. In my opinion, design in all of its forms should never be about trends or fashion. Balance and harmony never age. Honesty and integrity last forever.
Really great perspective and points presented - thanks! And as an engineer by training, I’ll always subscribe to function first, looking to see if the latest “trend” can offer me anything new to improve that. But as a “moderate” binge-er of social media content on home design, I totally agree that I am susceptible to being influenced or else I wouldn’t keep watching! The “rise and fall” slope effect was very interesting and totally makes sense - now if we could just quantify that in real time!
❤Like yourself I too decided on an all white kitchen with no shine nickel hardware in 2023. However, just recently I added the warmth of wood to my kitchen by getting rid off 3 white cabinets and installing thick raw wood for shelves, I also introduced a lamp plus old kitchen items from my great-grandmother. Surprisingly this gave a warm elegant inviting life to my kitchen. Having said that, white kitchens will never go out of style, all one has to do is add some color with your items, like kitchen towels, coffee, sugar, & flour canisters, etc.
@@sct4040by wiping it with water damp cloth, and before first use priming /wiping with a generous amount of cooking oil or cooked linseed oil top coat. -Gives a water and dirt repellent non toxic surface-. I used linseed oil on floors and counter tools& cooking oil on kitchen raw wood shelves and chopping boards , just wipe off / polish the excess oil after 24h absorption time.. the natural colors also look cleaner than white surfaces for much longer. If you need a fat removing natural cleanse for your surfaces (white or wooden) use sprinkle of baking soda with a sprinkle of water + gentle brushing being brush + wipe clean with damp cloth, very effective (and edible) cleaning product& results 😊
I agree with not focusing on trends but it can become very difficult when shopping for home goods to find items that are outside of the current trends; the stores are saturated with them as they have bought into what’s trending now and what they expect the public will want. This has been my experience in fashion for instance
We have completely different style preferences. However you talk a lot about functionality of items or trends which is why I watch your videos. You have great insights on some things I never thought of.
The hardest thing is to not be at least a little influenced by trends. I wanted vinyl plank throughout but the cold grey made my existing grasscloth look dirty. I searched high and low to get at least some tan tones in the floor. I finally got it at a deep discount because nobody wanted it. I was lucky with that.
Sometimes it is easier to inherit a feature that came with the house and just work with it. We have been debating about adding a high-efficiency wood burning fireplace ever since discovering a 50 cm deep closet that someone closed in years ago. It's been 5 years of decision paralysis. We would currently dislike the Scandi designs we considered early on. 2 weeks ago we had a power failure scare at -40C so this needs to happen.
Trends are interesting, but I don't follow them. I base my decisions on how colour and objects tap into my emotions. I find too much fussiness in terms of visual stimulus causes me anxiety including things like kitchen door handles and even a multitude of different colour product bottles in the bathroom. I love my white lounge but hated the white colour in my bedroom because it tapped into my distress as I spent a prolonged period in hospital with my mum. Mauve makes me feel calm and helps me sleep, and I don't understand why.
My belief is decorate with the colours and designs you love. Your home should bring you joy and comfort (both physical and emotional comfort), not concerns over resale value in the future.
I live in a manufactured home in the U.S. I am not a victim of trends because I can't afford changing my interior at whim. My wall to wall carpeting has been replaced with wood and oriental area carpets. My furniture is partially my own and partially inherited from my parents and are of excellent 1940s quality. I'd like to remodel my kitchen and bathroom but don't have the money to do it right. So, I've renovated the plumbing and brought in a new toilet and sink. I've got a new energy efficient furnace and H/Vac system. Colors are soft, except in the bedroom, which is a rich blue. My philosophy is, you do the best you can do with what you have.
What I like about a white kitchen is the neutrality. The walls can be painted to bring in the color and drama someone wants but after seeing so many horrible kitchen cabinet choices when house hunting, when I saw white cabinets I was always pleased.
As long as you get the layout right in the kitchen it doesn't really matter if it goes out of trend because you can always change the cabinet fronts and handles at relatively low cost. Just make sure you select a neutral worktop and tile or backsplash.
Of course we follow trends … whether we like it or not!! The manufacturers eagerly grasp either a design style or fad and make it to the exclusion of all else ! It’s amazing how you see the same thing over and over in soo many stores! Can I find a soft ash brown rather than the very orangey tans that are out there …no of course not! Or if you do it costs so much more! If you buy the faddy stuff they will also make the ornaments and rugs and pillows and you can blend and match. When you want something different it’s much harder to find complementary pillows throws etc! I so appreciate your almost scientific analysis of interior design, it has given me a lot to reflect upon while attempting to furnish my home. So thank you! 😊
Great filmmakers often say that inspiration shouldn't be limited to just great movies - learn from paintings and books and nature and people. I wonder if the same could be said of interior design, the best designers looking to the past but also the rest of the world for inspiration when creating something timeless.
Such deep thinking for a youtube video; I like it! Having also recently renovated my apartment I've thought a lot about this too. And I think partly it is (as you say) unavoidable, what I like is influenced by trends, and it'd be stupid to buy something that I don't like, just because it is not trendy. I also noticed these things you mention, that if you go for functionality first, the highest costs are made on the most durable things. It's a lot easier to switch out kitchen cabinet doors than it is to re-plumb my bathroom. And second I noticed that the bigger the room the more classic my choices became. So the toilet it's super on trend, while the living room is much more modest.
Hmm, I think you missed a spot. One more reason people tend to remodel interiors according to the current trends is because that's what's on sale. There's very little else, especially if you're on a tight budget. Yesterday's trend will be on deep discount, and today's trend will be EVERYWHERE, in every store. If you're looking for something else, you best hope your budget can afford custom, bespoke, or you're good at DIY.
Heaven help you if you have an item in a color you love and want to design around it, but it clashed with the current palette of housewares and soft furnishings at Target , IKEA or wherever retailers you can afford. I spent years trying to make a sofa I loved look good. Even being willing to see didn’t help a lot, JoAnnes fabrics follow the current trends too. The growth in online shopping since then might make this easier if I was in this position again, though that brings its own set of issues.
I currently have a warm wood kitchen and just ordered white cabinets. I think white kitchens are classic and can be updated with decor or a change in backslash or wall paint colors.
White kitchens aren't/weren't a trend, much less a dying trend, White kitchens have been around forever and they seem to be preferred by most people, so I would not worry. Even if they are temporarily out of style, it does not affect the resale value of the house at all.
Thank you for this video that takes a balanced stance. I just renovated my house and installed custom white cabinets only to discover this is now out of style while still in the process, but I'm okay with it. I do my best to be as neutral. as possible for the expensive, hard to replace items, like cabinets, and choose other finishes that are easier to replace. I don't have tile floors because tile dates quickly. Instead, I installed LVT that wasn't inexpensive but is easily changed when the styles change. I try to remember that there was a time when we covered hardwoods with carpet because hardwoods were completely out of style and old fashioned.
It's a struggle. I have learnt not to jump on the fad bandwagon. I wait it out for a bit to see if it is something I really love. When it comes to trends I have fallen for it. But when you truly love something I also think it is important to not worry about the trend factor. I was on the early adoption of the grey trend. Very few were doing it. I did it but then I noticed I was doing too much of it. So I scaled back and created a balance with it. I am in the process of starting to re paint and I am still chasing grey but a lighter version in some cases. The beige trend is one for me that I just can not see myself living in, even the newer versions of it. To me it feels blah. So if you love something ignore the trends.
Hearing about the psychology behind design trends and their longevity was very interesting, and your examples made the concepet very easy to understand. Thank you for sharing your insight on this!
I love the kitchen you did in your mom's home. I think your style is awesome. I consider myself to be mixture of mid-century, Scandi but I really think I fall into Organic Modern. Simple, clean and not overdone. I would never feel comfortable in an overdone room.
I installed a self designed kitchen to our home, an Australian Contemporary design, 9 years ago. It combines a simple white tall shaker style doors and deep under counter drawers, and accented with black v-groove pantry and integrated fridge wall, in addition to the are area around the black cooking appliances. The only nod to trend was concrete look engineered stone bench tops. The v groove echoes some of the exterior treatment. Simple white hand pressed, rectangular tiles. Just sold the house. All the prosective buyers commented on the "new" kitchen! Assumed it had just been installed! It was a great lesson to not be too safe, but steer a classic, proven style direction, and take in the whole house as a guide.
Thoughtful observations and agree some trends do recall a specific time period. I think we all need to observe how interiors; colors, furniture, flooring, lighting ect. function and feel when we are in them. On a realistic level we need to ask ourselves how long we plan on living in a specific property as this can affect our choices.
I really enjoyed this video. I’m in the middle of a renovation and I have been trying to convince my husband that we don’t need beige grey white walls. For me I want our new home to reflect on who we are as a family and our heritage, and if we do choose to sell it one day in the future, then that’s when we can see the painting walls page to make a home look less personal.
Well said. As someone who is studying interior design as a profession, to focus more on functionality, sustainable design that have positive social, environmental and economical impact is a wise way forward. By constantly focusing on what is on trend now for a living room for instance, will be outdated by a few months. This will cause headaches and a lot money down the line as well. To incorporate who you are as a person with a specific design will always be on trend for YOU. By studying specific problems of a space, getting solutions, working on making it better for the person using it rather than keeping up to a trend that drains the overall potential of a space and this can cause the user of the space to feel unease.
Follow trends if you want to, but do it with things that are easy to change. Stick with timeless for the expensive stuff. Pretty safe advice. (I would put a white kitchen in the timeless category.)
White kitchen is the way to go, you have a neutral color to work and you can "dress" your kitchen in accessories. If you are rich well you can change kitchen every 3-5 years, if not, just go for white :)
I think the most important elements to have in mind, other than your budget, are comfort and coherence. It doesn’t matter the style really if it looks well in a defined architectural context. For example: I’m looking into buy a house with very high ceilings and original frescoes on them so it will be very difficult not to do a light limewashing on the walls because a flat paint doesn’t look well, but in other areas of the house you can go with flat tones without problem. Other important thing is to avoid buying everything in a rush: it’s better to wait and see what works in different scales and you can adapt or send back stuff you feel doesn’t adjust properly to your lifestyle. What I’ll absolutely avoid is to decorate in a style you don’t feels comfortable and lacks of any real functionality because it will look bad faster and you will hate yourself for ages. Nice video!
Working in the residential sector, especially on developer lead housing projects, the interior design decisions focus on the trend, the instagrammable aspect, in order to sell or rent the units quickly upon completion. I have seen this transitioning from everything grey or white (I get sick to my stomach every time I have to specify another grey vinyl, grey tile, grey splashback, grey carpet), to scandi, to eclectic interior designs which do offer more freedom for architects but ultimately end up in the same dead end of cheap finishes and materials with a 5 year lifespan. Personally and professionally, I have always been of the opinion that, the use of natural, good quality, durable materials: wood, marble, granite, concrete, terrazzo, ceramics, terracotta, linen, cotton, wool, leather, is what gives an interior space the timeless quality that it needs. The result could still be a white kitchen, but full of the rich textures given by the white stained oak veneer (or solid wood), possibly a white granite or terrazzo countertop and white glazed ceramic tiled splashback (or the countertop returns onto the wall to create said splashback). The focus should be on quality and durability, rather than fads.
I never go with trends. I buy waht I like and live with that; if something I like becomes "trendy" or cool, fine, but I don't care. Who can afford to follow trends anyway, in decorating? only the super-rich. Things that just existed are now given cutesy, catchy names so they can be easily dismissed and disdained. Like "bookshelf wealth". They used to be just shelves, now they have to have a certain "ethos" atttached to them so they can be pigeonholed. what an industry.
The living room @2:03 looks amazing! That is a very nice and full of character living room, timeless as well. Not everyone´s cup of tea, but brilliantly solved, nonetheless, from a spatial distribution point of view.
I like the objectivity of noticing how fast a trend has been adopted. As much as people say “just ignore trends and and focus on what you like!” the truth is that we’re social creatures, and for the vast majority of us, what we personally enjoy IS shaped by our social context. It’s not like people in the 70s were all getting shag carpet and wood paneling against their will; most of them genuinely liked it! And most of those same people who are around today have happily moved on to other styles. While individual pieces can be timeless, I think it’s impossible to design entire spaces to be timeless while still making them cohesive and enjoyable in the present. Just avoiding fast-moving trends, at least for investment pieces or things that are harder to change, seems like a sensible approach.
I picked exactly the white matt kitchen he showed (I think it is from IKEA), but with black worktop. I really don’t think it will go out of fashion. Will install it also in one of my client’s kitchen, he loved mine.
Trends lose significance when you recognize that they exist and are fuelled only by the businesses that make money by inspiring you to (or scaring you into) replacing, rebuilding, and throwing away perfectly good stuff. Agree the most important thing is function, then cleanliness (who wants to dust all that clutter?), then avoidance of all Extremes, and then does it make you happy? It’s your space. Cool or warm, casual or formal…do what works for you. That said, I find I’m happiest with results when I honor the vibe of the home vintage. My smallish 70’s townhouse bedrooms accommodate mid century furniture far better than any other simply due to scale. [when I found a bed that fit perfectly under the 96” wide window, it all just worked as the original designer likely intended. Thank you Daniel, for introducing me to Article :) ] But my living/dining/kitchen area is a warm eclectic mix of art deco to mid-century with timeless shaker cabinets, French doors with the clean lines of art deco inspired textured glass, and minimal mouldings. Certain eras and styles merge easily, so no need to be a slave to any style.
Great video! Love the inclusion of the scientific paper to help understand which trends might stay for longer than others. BTW, I'm definitely inspired by the white kitchen, even if it's going out of style... my current kitchen is only 8 years old, but it was put in by house flippers and parts are falling apart. It does have white cabinets, but everything else is dark grey. I think the white countertop looks great though.
I subscribe to interior magazines via Zinio, and can therefore easily look up 10 year old magazines. It is very interesting to see what still looks good and what doesn't. In short, this exercise can help to identify timelessness.
Multumesc pentru opinii si imagini. Sunt de acord cu dumneavoastra ca trebuie sa imbinam functionalitatea cu esteticul si chiar eram un pic mirata ca se vorbeste in designul interior de tendinta anului x in privinta culorii, faiantei, gresiei etc. Sigur ca exista anumite tendinte, dar cred ca ele se mentin macar câtiva ani, doar nu vom fi intr-un permanent santier pentru a schimba interioarelw noastre in fiecare an!
Enjoy the style you like as you are the one that lives in it. Less clutter makes life simpler and white kitchens are always good even though I don't have one.
When we realize that we simply need to like our environments we can end the constant change and spend our $ on travel or what makes you content. *The value of "enough".
Awesome video! What a great analysis! Personally, I am avoiding slats even though I love them. I don’t want to have a home that looks really dated quickly and I am sure that slats will go this way. I love them now, but if everyone is dissing them in a couple of years. I will hate them!😂
Just got a 1940’s little cottage bungalow. (In a rural setting). I’m gonna keep all of the nostalgic charm from that era that I can. Always have loved that era (complete with mostly tongue and groove walls). I think it works for me tho as I wound up getting a lot of furniture from that era, some of which I’m refinishing. I also have other things not exactly that but I think it flows together quite well. And yah. Idk what they did in the 40s but I also keep my chatzkies in a refinished curio, a number of which are retro. (They go pretty well with my deep red super comfy sofa also lol). 😬 Also might be the first time ever that I didn’t have white kitchen cabinets. They’re nice tho. Stained a pretty greenish/blue color.
Trends are for merchandisers. So many times, I have tended to use paint, lighting, and furnishings to correct proportions, add illumination, and improve traffic flow. I select a fantastic fabric for the color scheme. I don’t chase trends, but have a home I love.
I may love some trends but having a limited income I can't buy them before they go out of style, so I have to stop and look at practicality instead of impulse buy. We just had our senior apartments renovated and it was an epic fail because the designer chose form over function. Lighting is bad, replacement floor to ceiling windows lost us an entire wall , kitchen redo leaves us with less living space , a dark kitchen and unusable to the ceiling cabinets, bathrooms with safety grab bars removed, lower and smaller toilets and smaller sink cabinets.
In my kitchen and bathroom I used black and white on the more permanent surfaces as a kind of neutral color base that almost any accent colors will look good with.
I pretty much watch design videos as entertainment. With the exception of the colour I chose for my basement renovation, which came from a small AD article about a hotel on Vancouver Island, I don’t think I’ve ever chosen an item for my home based on a video or magazine. To me, interior design videos are like couture fashion, interesting to look at but highly impractical. I do love your videos though. You have some practical ideas that seem well thought out. It’s still just entertainment to me though.
What I was surprised the most about, is a TH-camr saying in a clickbait titled video is to stop listening to clickbait and fads. And while I was amused by the irony of it, I greatly appreciate a candid and honest take. Personally, being an academic sort of a person, I prefer to follow designers that have that sense of philosophy or professor like touch to them, like say Ilse Crawford. It's more rewarding to follow the principles than following the virality. I have a Luxe corner with the most expensive electronics, a frolic zone with a bright coloured ikea couch and a simple and functional scandi-mid-century kitchen and dining.
I agree that it is very hard if not impossible to see outside of the time/era you live in. I always shrugg a little as soon as someone sais ”classic”! I think that with cloths & interior designe you should look back and see trends past maybe a 100 years and study details! I think a stunning home as well as a stunning warderobe is completely depending on time, climate, continent, culture & surroundings. Anything can look brill when this is in the right place but awful in the wrong place! A collection of cloths/ furniture that stretches past times but grounded in the surrounding climate & culture AND with a hint of the current moment if you feel it will fit in. So with this too long, well I wanted to say that you are soo right! It is a good reminder to take a second look at what you like and what is in fashion. And your mums kitchen. With the right colours, curtains, plants, furniture and nicknacks you can make it look anything but but all white and minimal…
White kitchens are timeless. Wood tones are constantly changing trend. In a white kitchen you can paint the walls if you want a change.The only part of our white kitchen I regret is white countertops.
It doesn’t matter what’s popular, blond wood with pistachio green, millennial pink and grey will always be my colour scheme. They were my colour palette when I was 18, and still in my 30’s I’m always reaching for these colours or tones that compliment them.
I'll always remember my senior lecturer's advice in second year Interior Acrhitecture at TAFE in WA, "always design for the space and lifestyle of the client - never focus on what the sale in some amount of time will be...because there's always going to be people that love what you've done, and those that hate it, but there always be a buyer in the end"
I know what you mean .. how ever did all black become a thing? Good designers rarely use pure black. If you look closely, it's very dark, rich tones of green, brown, purple, red, etc.
I loved scandi/japandi styles with grey/white/pale wood years before it was named and still love the grey/white/pale wood aesthetic now it’s being shamed … I’ve just added lots of green plants, which was a trend way back when (I had the obligatory cheese plant!) and am enjoying the much wider variety this ‘new’ trend of biophilia is giving me … will I rip out my pale grey kitchen cabinets, paint my greige walls brightly, or throw out my pale wood floors and furniture? Not while my love affair with clean, minimal but textural and cosy continues … hopefully for decades more! Maybe I will even have the odd moment in the style ‘sun’ now and again! I love it like black and white photography … maybe not as warm as colour, but colour isn’t as calm for me … each to their own in what speaks to your lifestyle and emotional responses
Another eternal design is the black-and-white chequerboard floor. You can see it from 2,000 years ago in Ephesus, a few hundred years ago in Renaissance buildings, and a century ago, too. Ideally in marble, and laid diagonal to a rectangular room, it’s not anything that could be called fashionable or unfashionable. You could use vinyl or ceramic tiles and still have the same stylistic impact. In another video you mentioned a parquet timber floor. That is another thing, along with mosaics, that are always valuable because of the labour involved in producing them, plus the durability of the materials used - with the colour running through the material, not just on the surface. This adds a sense of luxury, irrespective of their colour.
Agree, form follows function, doesn't matter how wonderful a piece is, if you have chairs that are too big for the space, then they won't work. A few other ideals I follow, natural materials tend to age better than anything fake. Eg, natural stone, or wood will wear in, stone effect surfaces, and wooden veneer with particleboard behind will wear out. Lastly (and my tastes are very eclectic) I generally assume that if something looked good and was designed 25, 50, 100+ years ago, it'll almost certainly still look good in another 10, 20, 30+ years.
I don’t think the white kitchen will ever go out of fashion. It’s so easy to customise with a few bright appliances, a unique light fitting, some plants or a bold floor rug.
I agree. Minimalist kitchens maximise the things that actually matter: light, countertop space, floor space, prioritising functional concerns. You can't just phase that out like its a trend, you'd need to let minimalism evolve over time rather than just juxtaposing itself like clothing fashion does. White may become a more natural sand marble, we may want to reintroduce handles to the cabinets to add a subtle texture accent throughout the kitchen space. A runner rug to force your eyes to percieve the kitchen space as longer than it is. We can keep minimalism and it will always matter for as long as we need to sell our homes.
Yea easy design than with bold colours
You’re 100% right
Agreed. We fitted a modern kitchen without handles in white with a dark worktop. That was 12 years ago. The kitchen still doesn't feel old.
The color white is unlikely to go out of fashion for a kitchen, but material choice will. I've walked into 30 year old all white kitchens that are dated because of glazed ceramic tile, Formica countertops and scalloped drawer fronts
I find the best way to achieve a timeless aesthetic is to design according to the character of the space. I live in house built in 1936 therefore we opted to go for a mid-century style, from the baseboards to the fireplace to the window trims, everything feels cohesive. Dont design for a farmhouse in a Manhattan condo.
Thisssss!!! 🙏🙏
I’m in an 1860s terrace and tried doing this (while keeping electricity of course). Then I remembered that these houses were built for workers who didn’t own a lot of books, clothes, shoes, or gadgets (no electricity then) nor have fridge-freezers so went shopping every day at the local market (still exists!) because food couldn’t be stored.
I resisted covering the walls in shelving because I wanted to maximise space in the small rooms, but now with much of my stuff still in boxes in the attic, after many years I’m going to get the drill out…
Agreed. I also think quality goes a long way. Not price or brand, but actual build quality. Solid, well crafted pieces are always appreciated. Authentic age can add a lot too. A well aged leather couch beats a brand new one every time. The warmth of real reclaimed floors is hard to replicate exactly. The weight and feel of a vintage stove or fridge would be another good example. I guess I have just always felt that a big part of what makes for timeless design is something that can actually hold up to time in the first place; it’s much harder for something to be timeless if it easily breaks before it’s longevity can even be considered.
we need pics!!
We are currently renovating an 1800s Coach House but used to serve horses and carriages. When we bought the house, all character had been stripped out, only leaving late 80s and early 90s decor. It’s funny because Crittle doors and window are in fashion at the moment, but I believe this is truly suited to our property because looking at the old pictures that is the closest match to what they would’ve been using i.e. not white UPVC doors
Or, alternatively, just install the kind of kitchen that YOU like, right at this moment - and stop seeing your home as an investment that requires you to keep second-guessing what someone in 10 or 15 years might want.
My trick to this is to never focus on trends. And instead focus on lifestyles.
People don't focus on trends. They focus on what they like. And they like what their environment made them like. Therefore, they follow trends even if they don't want to. That's the same for you. I don't know you, but I know you're not dressed as a person living in the 1800s. You don't speak like a person living in the 1800s. And you don't think like a person living in the 1800s. You just do what others around you do, just like me.
@@brinckau Ay *tips top hat
There’s nothing like downsizing (which we’re currently doing) to highlight that the only things you end up keeping after many years (25 in our case) are the items where form follows function. Yes we want to be surrounded with creative design that inspires us, but that artsy chair that no one wants to sit on bc it’s so uncomfortable, is wasted at the end. The magic happens when you have a sanctuary that is cozy and comforting that is also gorgeous to look at, especially if your personality shines through. 😊
Nice comment, thank you for sharing.
This is one of the most elegantly stated descriptions of trend acceleration. Top notch production quality too - pace, graphics, explanations. Well done!
As a scientist, I never thought I'd see a PNAS paper cited in a design video. And the point is a great one. There's good advice here. Thank you!
Nice to see another fellow scientist around this corner of TH-cam haha, I was also surprised to see a PNAS paper 😂. Good stuff!
Both of you, get your broomsticks out of your behinds.
Art and science/philosophy have a relationship that dates CENTURIES if not millenia.
Don't worry, I get that, @@Untilitpases! I was just pleasantly surprised to see the journal article cited 🙂
I'm surprised that how many of fellow science people think that science isn't art or design isn't logical. I've never seen Mathematics and Computer Science any different from an art form.
One of the most interesting videos on home design! Thank you! Our old 1950s tiled bathroom in the 100 year old apartment rent is now in fashion (47 years later). And our 'thrift store' esthetic (born out of necessity) is now on point. Like most of my clothes, if I just keep things long enough, I become (however briefly) fashionable.
Amusing …. And soo true for most of us … yay for you!!
My dad's midlife crisis was to "modernise" our family home: out with the 90s yellow pine, beige wallpaper and linoleum, and in with the 2010s grey, rustic and nautical/industrial. Looking back I wish he would have kept some of the warm tones, we live up north and we have enough grey outside some warmth indoors is really needed
Way too much emphasis is put on just about every aspect of life these days, causing stress and disappointment when you find it's unachievable... Just live your own life in your own way, adopt your own individual style and to hell with what people think you should or should not be doing. Decorate your home for YOU and nobody else. I'm 63 and I'm telling you, life is way too short to be bothered by short lived nonsense 'trends'
The white kitchen may go in an out of popularity but it is not a trend. No one will ever walk into a white kitchen and think it looks dated - but they sure will think that about many other trendy kitchens. White kitchens are a blank slates which you can keep up to date via appliances and other accents - try doing that with a Tuscan kitchen ( I’m have 90s flashbacks as I write 😂).
I think how you feel about white kitchens may depend on your age. The first I knew of a white kitchen, outside of a manor house from the turn of the century, was cheap laminate in the 80s. Then the 90s diy had people painting cabinets white. Then the early 2000s had upscale white. It all looks dated to me.
😂
I think trends are great when you see them as introducing you to something you may not have thought of before. When I read up on trends, it's to see if there's anything I never realized I liked before. For example, having a pop of red is trending right now, and I realized how much I love seeing a bold pop of red in a space, and. I want to try it somewhere in my home.
Overall, though, I think it's best to look at lots of things for inspiration and buy what speaks to you. A lot of what is trendy right now doesn't speak to me, so I don't buy into it. My design style is more traditional/eclectic, so things that fall into those styles are going to catch my eye before anything else.
A white kitchen will never go out of fashion.
It's a neutral backdrop. It's easy to add decor, furnishings and art to warm It up or add colour.
I’m in a home that was remodeled in 2017. It has white cabinets and in trend or not, I absolutely love them! It is also open concept. Which I hear is out. Not for me. Our home is small, and walls would cramp things up. As long as my home is clean and well taken care of, I don’t think my white cabinets would hurt resale value. I believe they are timeless. ❤.
@lormor460 •Ours is just badly designed bad quality and not functional so if I am living here have to keep it clean that's fine but it needs be more accessible and easier to clean like the range cooker is in front of the Boiler you need use a knife or something impossible to get to the boiler that's not exactly great planning double doors would have been far easier plus if it was Matt it would have been so much easier the main plumbing is via the window so having a sink in a totally in accessible place like sure we all need a sink but ours is like the black hole of binoculars ,reminds me of the beautiful converted Chapel I rented had a beam over the loo that everyone especially me managed to knock themselves out on and Spotlights I loved but if a bulb blew you needed get someone with extendable ladder to actually change it ?
Designers have been announcing the end of white kitchens forever. Real people still like them. Let it go.
I really appreciate the professional and balanced tone you use on your channel. I've been following your series on makeovers with great pleasure, but I think I've enjoyed your ideas of solutions for small interiors the most. Your channel is a pleasant change from the overly flashy trends on TH-cam and other social media.
If you decorate your home to fit your and your family's lifestyle, it will never go out of style. It's worked for 44 years now.
I was thinking of this a few weeks ago, when i started the renovation of my house.
To me, you gave the best advice you can give and we could also had that the more you improve your tastes on some materials (what kind of wood do i like the more for example ?) the more you can be sure that you are focusing on tones of colors and materials you really like, instead of taking those which are trendy.
Thanks for your work Daniel, love your content 🙌🏻
when looking at wood trends through time, it's not really the different kinds of woods that ever get out of stile-it's the different treatments on top of the wood -the lacquer /stain, since I was born 50 years ago the only thing that was beautiful 50 years ago and still is today is natural raw looking wood-light, medium dark does not really matter choose mat or silk mat and it will look beautiful 50 years from now, the same with tiles and stone don't go for very shiny, it's not only now mat or silky mat is beautiful, my mom and dad built a house 33 years ago, they choose silky mat tiles in the bathrooms and it looks timeless, their kitchen has mat wood with clean lines and after 33 years it also look great, ecxept from the fact the cabinets are not going all the way to the ceiling as is done today, but overall it's timeless, the floors are terracotta also timeless, popular 33 years ago and popular today - so always think when choosing stile was this beautiful 30, 50 or 100 years ago-it will be beautiful 50 years from now like a Persian rug
sorry, i can't accept a white kitchen as a trend: some things are just timeless, classic backdrops.
I received the same Forbes article straight after renovating 6 wet rooms with grey concrete look floor tiles and white walls. The next article I received was completely the opposite with curved furniture, etc. Every year it’s the same, “what’s in and what’s out”. Take it with a pinch of salt. My chrome taps are always going to look clean and shinning. The golds, blacks, pewter etc. tarnished before my eyes in the showroom shops. 😅
I think there's another layer to this calculus: barrier to entry/exit. If a trend doesn't steer you into some sort of structural or functional change that's hard or costly to pull back from, you can be more free to jump in and out of it. In which case, fine. Repaint my wall: sure, tell me what 2024 has to say. But if a trend is urging for a deeper renovation, it merits more skepticism.
Indeed, I've already accepted that I probably need to repaint my house and replace my kitchen doors if I want to sell this place in 10 years, but it will be a fraction of the cost compared to moving around the toilet or the shower.
Indeed, I've already accepted that I probably need to repaint my house and replace my kitchen doors if I want to sell this place in 10 years, but it will be a fraction of the cost compared to moving around the toilet or the shower.
Good to watch and give a thought !!
' Who decides something is officially unfashionable ' - strong statement there 😂
This TH-cam channel is very valuable. Thanks for the effort you’ve been putting into it.
Twenty years ago I bought my first house and had it adapted to my taste. I looked at many interior decoration magazines and chose everything according to my taste. I really fell into the trap! Today I can see the trend of the tiles that really dates my home. Now, after my kids are gone, I am considering downsizing and I am wiser. Probably will make different mistakes! 😂
First I do not make enough money to be able to follow any trend nor do I really want to. So for the past 2.5 years I have been curating my own look. However what I want to design seems to be what is in style and the second hand furniture I was buying piece by piece is now expensive and I have to take a forced design break. So there you have it my style is patience. LOL. But I really like the design ideas you bring together in you videos. So thank you and keep up the great info💕
I am beginning to appreciate you more and more.
In my opinion, design in all of its forms should never be about trends or fashion.
Balance and harmony never age.
Honesty and integrity last forever.
Really great perspective and points presented - thanks! And as an engineer by training, I’ll always subscribe to function first, looking to see if the latest “trend” can offer me anything new to improve that. But as a “moderate” binge-er of social media content on home design, I totally agree that I am susceptible to being influenced or else I wouldn’t keep watching! The “rise and fall” slope effect was very interesting and totally makes sense - now if we could just quantify that in real time!
Impressive. So great to see a video that encourages introspection, rather than just pushing choices. ❤
❤Like yourself I too decided on an all white kitchen with no shine nickel hardware in 2023. However, just recently I added the warmth of wood to my kitchen by getting rid off 3 white cabinets and installing thick raw wood for shelves, I also introduced a lamp plus old kitchen items from my great-grandmother. Surprisingly this gave a warm elegant inviting life to my kitchen. Having said that, white kitchens will never go out of style, all one has to do is add some color with your items, like kitchen towels, coffee, sugar, & flour canisters, etc.
How to clean or dust raw wood?
@@sct4040by wiping it with water damp cloth, and before first use priming /wiping with a generous amount of cooking oil or cooked linseed oil top coat. -Gives a water and dirt repellent non toxic surface-.
I used linseed oil on floors and counter tools& cooking oil on kitchen raw wood shelves and chopping boards , just wipe off / polish the excess oil after 24h absorption time.. the natural colors also look cleaner than white surfaces for much longer.
If you need a fat removing natural cleanse for your surfaces (white or wooden) use sprinkle of baking soda with a sprinkle of water + gentle brushing being brush + wipe clean with damp cloth, very effective (and edible) cleaning product& results 😊
I agree with not focusing on trends but it can become very difficult when shopping for home goods to find items that are outside of the current trends; the stores are saturated with them as they have bought into what’s trending now and what they expect the public will want.
This has been my experience in fashion for instance
Always GREAT to see a video by you, Daniel!
We have completely different style preferences. However you talk a lot about functionality of items or trends which is why I watch your videos. You have great insights on some things I never thought of.
The hardest thing is to not be at least a little influenced by trends. I wanted vinyl plank throughout but the cold grey made my existing grasscloth look dirty. I searched high and low to get at least some tan tones in the floor. I finally got it at a deep discount because nobody wanted it. I was lucky with that.
i love the comeback of chrome or metallics..its timeless in my opinion and i like it a little more then messing or copper..
Sometimes it is easier to inherit a feature that came with the house and just work with it. We have been debating about adding a high-efficiency wood burning fireplace ever since discovering a 50 cm deep closet that someone closed in years ago. It's been 5 years of decision paralysis. We would currently dislike the Scandi designs we considered early on. 2 weeks ago we had a power failure scare at -40C so this needs to happen.
Trends are interesting, but I don't follow them. I base my decisions on how colour and objects tap into my emotions. I find too much fussiness in terms of visual stimulus causes me anxiety including things like kitchen door handles and even a multitude of different colour product bottles in the bathroom. I love my white lounge but hated the white colour in my bedroom because it tapped into my distress as I spent a prolonged period in hospital with my mum. Mauve makes me feel calm and helps me sleep, and I don't understand why.
My belief is decorate with the colours and designs you love. Your home should bring you joy and comfort (both physical and emotional comfort), not concerns over resale value in the future.
I live in a manufactured home in the U.S. I am not a victim of trends because I can't afford changing my interior at whim. My wall to wall carpeting has been replaced with wood and oriental area carpets. My furniture is partially my own and partially inherited from my parents and are of excellent 1940s quality. I'd like to remodel my kitchen and bathroom but don't have the money to do it right. So, I've renovated the plumbing and brought in a new toilet and sink. I've got a new energy efficient furnace and H/Vac system. Colors are soft, except in the bedroom, which is a rich blue. My philosophy is, you do the best you can do with what you have.
I think the minimalist trend of clean white kitchens can't go out of style, it's completely inoffensive.
the lack of color is offensive to some. some call it “contractor core” or “gentrification core”
What I like about a white kitchen is the neutrality. The walls can be painted to bring in the color and drama someone wants but after seeing so many horrible kitchen cabinet choices when house hunting, when I saw white cabinets I was always pleased.
@@cdw2468but it's very easily changed, which makes it ideal for resale
I say just do what you want and when you go to sell throw white paint on it so someone else can throw their pink paint on it.
As long as you get the layout right in the kitchen it doesn't really matter if it goes out of trend because you can always change the cabinet fronts and handles at relatively low cost.
Just make sure you select a neutral worktop and tile or backsplash.
Of course we follow trends … whether we like it or not!! The manufacturers eagerly grasp either a design style or fad and make it to the exclusion of all else ! It’s amazing how you see the same thing over and over in soo many stores! Can I find a soft ash brown rather than the very orangey tans that are out there …no of course not! Or if you do it costs so much more! If you buy the faddy stuff they will also make the ornaments and rugs and pillows and you can blend and match. When you want something different it’s much harder to find complementary pillows throws etc! I so appreciate your almost scientific analysis of interior design, it has given me a lot to reflect upon while attempting to furnish my home. So thank you! 😊
Great filmmakers often say that inspiration shouldn't be limited to just great movies - learn from paintings and books and nature and people. I wonder if the same could be said of interior design, the best designers looking to the past but also the rest of the world for inspiration when creating something timeless.
Such deep thinking for a youtube video; I like it! Having also recently renovated my apartment I've thought a lot about this too. And I think partly it is (as you say) unavoidable, what I like is influenced by trends, and it'd be stupid to buy something that I don't like, just because it is not trendy.
I also noticed these things you mention, that if you go for functionality first, the highest costs are made on the most durable things. It's a lot easier to switch out kitchen cabinet doors than it is to re-plumb my bathroom. And second I noticed that the bigger the room the more classic my choices became. So the toilet it's super on trend, while the living room is much more modest.
Hmm, I think you missed a spot. One more reason people tend to remodel interiors according to the current trends is because that's what's on sale. There's very little else, especially if you're on a tight budget. Yesterday's trend will be on deep discount, and today's trend will be EVERYWHERE, in every store. If you're looking for something else, you best hope your budget can afford custom, bespoke, or you're good at DIY.
Heaven help you if you have an item in a color you love and want to design around it, but it clashed with the current palette of housewares and soft furnishings at Target , IKEA or wherever retailers you can afford. I spent years trying to make a sofa I loved look good. Even being willing to see didn’t help a lot, JoAnnes fabrics follow the current trends too.
The growth in online shopping since then might make this easier if I was in this position again, though that brings its own set of issues.
I currently have a warm wood kitchen and just ordered white cabinets. I think white kitchens are classic and can be updated with decor or a change in backslash or wall paint colors.
White kitchens aren't/weren't a trend, much less a dying trend, White kitchens have been around forever and they seem to be preferred by most people, so I would not worry. Even if they are temporarily out of style, it does not affect the resale value of the house at all.
Thank you for this video that takes a balanced stance. I just renovated my house and installed custom white cabinets only to discover this is now out of style while still in the process, but I'm okay with it. I do my best to be as neutral. as possible for the expensive, hard to replace items, like cabinets, and choose other finishes that are easier to replace. I don't have tile floors because tile dates quickly. Instead, I installed LVT that wasn't inexpensive but is easily changed when the styles change. I try to remember that there was a time when we covered hardwoods with carpet because hardwoods were completely out of style and old fashioned.
It's a struggle. I have learnt not to jump on the fad bandwagon. I wait it out for a bit to see if it is something I really love. When it comes to trends I have fallen for it. But when you truly love something I also think it is important to not worry about the trend factor. I was on the early adoption of the grey trend. Very few were doing it. I did it but then I noticed I was doing too much of it. So I scaled back and created a balance with it. I am in the process of starting to re paint and I am still chasing grey but a lighter version in some cases. The beige trend is one for me that I just can not see myself living in, even the newer versions of it. To me it feels blah. So if you love something ignore the trends.
Hearing about the psychology behind design trends and their longevity was very interesting, and your examples made the concepet very easy to understand. Thank you for sharing your insight on this!
I love the kitchen you did in your mom's home. I think your style is awesome. I consider myself to be mixture of mid-century, Scandi but I really think I fall into Organic Modern. Simple, clean and not overdone. I would never feel comfortable in an overdone room.
I view a white kitchen as a blank canvas; many possibilities for a neutral & practical foundation
I installed a self designed kitchen to our home, an Australian Contemporary design, 9 years ago. It combines a simple white tall shaker style doors and deep under counter drawers, and accented with black v-groove pantry and integrated fridge wall, in addition to the are area around the black cooking appliances. The only nod to trend was concrete look engineered stone bench tops. The v groove echoes some of the exterior treatment. Simple white hand pressed, rectangular tiles.
Just sold the house. All the prosective buyers commented on the "new" kitchen! Assumed it had just been installed! It was a great lesson to not be too safe, but steer a classic, proven style direction, and take in the whole house as a guide.
Thoughtful observations and agree some trends do recall a specific time period. I think we all need to observe how interiors; colors, furniture, flooring, lighting ect. function and feel when we are in them. On a realistic level we need to ask ourselves how long we plan on living in a specific property as this can affect our choices.
I really enjoyed this video. I’m in the middle of a renovation and I have been trying to convince my husband that we don’t need beige grey white walls. For me I want our new home to reflect on who we are as a family and our heritage, and if we do choose to sell it one day in the future, then that’s when we can see the painting walls page to make a home look less personal.
You raise a good point, sometimes less is more in design.
Well said. As someone who is studying interior design as a profession, to focus more on functionality, sustainable design that have positive social, environmental and economical impact is a wise way forward.
By constantly focusing on what is on trend now for a living room for instance, will be outdated by a few months. This will cause headaches and a lot money down the line as well.
To incorporate who you are as a person with a specific design will always be on trend for YOU.
By studying specific problems of a space, getting solutions, working on making it better for the person using it rather than keeping up to a trend that drains the overall potential of a space and this can cause the user of the space to feel unease.
Follow trends if you want to, but do it with things that are easy to change. Stick with timeless for the expensive stuff. Pretty safe advice. (I would put a white kitchen in the timeless category.)
Hello and thank you for your work!! I've been following you from France. Your advice helps me a lot :)
White kitchen is the way to go, you have a neutral color to work and you can "dress" your kitchen in accessories. If you are rich well you can change kitchen every 3-5 years, if not, just go for white :)
Yes you can change your kitchen as often as you can afford, if you don't care about the environment or sustainability.
I think the most important elements to have in mind, other than your budget, are comfort and coherence. It doesn’t matter the style really if it looks well in a defined architectural context. For example: I’m looking into buy a house with very high ceilings and original frescoes on them so it will be very difficult not to do a light limewashing on the walls because a flat paint doesn’t look well, but in other areas of the house you can go with flat tones without problem. Other important thing is to avoid buying everything in a rush: it’s better to wait and see what works in different scales and you can adapt or send back stuff you feel doesn’t adjust properly to your lifestyle. What I’ll absolutely avoid is to decorate in a style you don’t feels comfortable and lacks of any real functionality because it will look bad faster and you will hate yourself for ages. Nice video!
Working in the residential sector, especially on developer lead housing projects, the interior design decisions focus on the trend, the instagrammable aspect, in order to sell or rent the units quickly upon completion. I have seen this transitioning from everything grey or white (I get sick to my stomach every time I have to specify another grey vinyl, grey tile, grey splashback, grey carpet), to scandi, to eclectic interior designs which do offer more freedom for architects but ultimately end up in the same dead end of cheap finishes and materials with a 5 year lifespan. Personally and professionally, I have always been of the opinion that, the use of natural, good quality, durable materials: wood, marble, granite, concrete, terrazzo, ceramics, terracotta, linen, cotton, wool, leather, is what gives an interior space the timeless quality that it needs. The result could still be a white kitchen, but full of the rich textures given by the white stained oak veneer (or solid wood), possibly a white granite or terrazzo countertop and white glazed ceramic tiled splashback (or the countertop returns onto the wall to create said splashback). The focus should be on quality and durability, rather than fads.
I love that white kitchen.You can add plants and beautiful ceramics to brighten it up.
If I like it, it’s in fashion… simple as that 💕
I never go with trends. I buy waht I like and live with that; if something I like becomes "trendy" or cool, fine, but I don't care. Who can afford to follow trends anyway, in decorating? only the super-rich.
Things that just existed are now given cutesy, catchy names so they can be easily dismissed and disdained. Like "bookshelf wealth". They used to be just shelves, now they have to have a certain "ethos" atttached to them so they can be pigeonholed. what an industry.
The living room @2:03 looks amazing! That is a very nice and full of character living room, timeless as well. Not everyone´s cup of tea, but brilliantly solved, nonetheless, from a spatial distribution point of view.
I like the objectivity of noticing how fast a trend has been adopted. As much as people say “just ignore trends and and focus on what you like!” the truth is that we’re social creatures, and for the vast majority of us, what we personally enjoy IS shaped by our social context. It’s not like people in the 70s were all getting shag carpet and wood paneling against their will; most of them genuinely liked it! And most of those same people who are around today have happily moved on to other styles.
While individual pieces can be timeless, I think it’s impossible to design entire spaces to be timeless while still making them cohesive and enjoyable in the present. Just avoiding fast-moving trends, at least for investment pieces or things that are harder to change, seems like a sensible approach.
I picked exactly the white matt kitchen he showed (I think it is from IKEA), but with black worktop. I really don’t think it will go out of fashion. Will install it also in one of my client’s kitchen, he loved mine.
Trends lose significance when you recognize that they exist and are fuelled only by the businesses that make money by inspiring you to (or scaring you into) replacing, rebuilding, and throwing away perfectly good stuff. Agree the most important thing is function, then cleanliness (who wants to dust all that clutter?), then avoidance of all Extremes, and then does it make you happy? It’s your space. Cool or warm, casual or formal…do what works for you. That said, I find I’m happiest with results when I honor the vibe of the home vintage. My smallish 70’s townhouse bedrooms accommodate mid century furniture far better than any other simply due to scale. [when I found a bed that fit perfectly under the 96” wide window, it all just worked as the original designer likely intended. Thank you Daniel, for introducing me to Article :) ] But my living/dining/kitchen area is a warm eclectic mix of art deco to mid-century with timeless shaker cabinets, French doors with the clean lines of art deco inspired textured glass, and minimal mouldings. Certain eras and styles merge easily, so no need to be a slave to any style.
Great video! Love the inclusion of the scientific paper to help understand which trends might stay for longer than others.
BTW, I'm definitely inspired by the white kitchen, even if it's going out of style... my current kitchen is only 8 years old, but it was put in by house flippers and parts are falling apart. It does have white cabinets, but everything else is dark grey. I think the white countertop looks great though.
I subscribe to interior magazines via Zinio, and can therefore easily look up 10 year old magazines. It is very interesting to see what still looks good and what doesn't. In short, this exercise can help to identify timelessness.
Multumesc pentru opinii si imagini. Sunt de acord cu dumneavoastra ca trebuie sa imbinam functionalitatea cu esteticul si chiar eram un pic mirata ca se vorbeste in designul interior de tendinta anului x in privinta culorii, faiantei, gresiei etc. Sigur ca exista anumite tendinte, dar cred ca ele se mentin macar câtiva ani, doar nu vom fi intr-un permanent santier pentru a schimba interioarelw noastre in fiecare an!
Enjoy the style you like as you are the one that lives in it. Less clutter makes life simpler and white kitchens are always good even though I don't have one.
So according to that article my kitchen with charcoal grey lower cabinets and pale sage green upper cabinets is so outdated…. And I LOVE IT!!!!!
When we realize that we simply need to like our environments we can end the constant change and spend our $ on travel or what makes you content.
*The value of "enough".
Great to see someone on social media have see though this! Great video ❤
Awesome video! What a great analysis! Personally, I am avoiding slats even though I love them. I don’t want to have a home that looks really dated quickly and I am sure that slats will go this way. I love them now, but if everyone is dissing them in a couple of years. I will hate them!😂
Just got a 1940’s little cottage bungalow. (In a rural setting). I’m gonna keep all of the nostalgic charm from that era that I can. Always have loved that era (complete with mostly tongue and groove walls). I think it works for me tho as I wound up getting a lot of furniture from that era, some of which I’m refinishing. I also have other things not exactly that but I think it flows together quite well. And yah. Idk what they did in the 40s but I also keep my chatzkies in a refinished curio, a number of which are retro. (They go pretty well with my deep red super comfy sofa also lol). 😬 Also might be the first time ever that I didn’t have white kitchen cabinets. They’re nice tho. Stained a pretty greenish/blue color.
Great video! On a side note, it's a "heuristic" :)
Good you noticed 👍
Trends are for merchandisers. So many times, I have tended to use paint, lighting, and furnishings to correct proportions, add illumination, and improve traffic flow. I select a fantastic fabric for the color scheme. I don’t chase trends, but have a home I love.
I may love some trends but having a limited income I can't buy them before they go out of style, so I have to stop and look at practicality instead of impulse buy. We just had our senior apartments renovated and it was an epic fail because the designer chose form over function. Lighting is bad, replacement floor to ceiling windows lost us an entire wall , kitchen redo leaves us with less living space , a dark kitchen and unusable to the ceiling cabinets, bathrooms with safety grab bars removed, lower and smaller toilets and smaller sink cabinets.
"Hueristic" would be quite a nice name for a decision process involving hues :)
What a wonderful input and video into the world of design ❤❤❤❤
White, grey or black are so neutral they’re quite literally timeless compared to other colours. I don’t think it would go out of style really.
In my kitchen and bathroom I used black and white on the more permanent surfaces as a kind of neutral color base that almost any accent colors will look good with.
I pretty much watch design videos as entertainment. With the exception of the colour I chose for my basement renovation, which came from a small AD article about a hotel on Vancouver Island, I don’t think I’ve ever chosen an item for my home based on a video or magazine. To me, interior design videos are like couture fashion, interesting to look at but highly impractical. I do love your videos though. You have some practical ideas that seem well thought out. It’s still just entertainment to me though.
What I was surprised the most about, is a TH-camr saying in a clickbait titled video is to stop listening to clickbait and fads. And while I was amused by the irony of it, I greatly appreciate a candid and honest take.
Personally, being an academic sort of a person, I prefer to follow designers that have that sense of philosophy or professor like touch to them, like say Ilse Crawford. It's more rewarding to follow the principles than following the virality. I have a Luxe corner with the most expensive electronics, a frolic zone with a bright coloured ikea couch and a simple and functional scandi-mid-century kitchen and dining.
White will *always* be an in style option for rooms that should be as sterile as possible like kitchens and bathrooms.
I agree that it is very hard if not impossible to see outside of the time/era you live in. I always shrugg a little as soon as someone sais ”classic”! I think that with cloths & interior designe you should look back and see trends past maybe a 100 years and study details! I think a stunning home as well as a stunning warderobe is completely depending on time, climate, continent, culture & surroundings. Anything can look brill when this is in the right place but awful in the wrong place! A collection of cloths/ furniture that stretches past times but grounded in the surrounding climate & culture AND with a hint of the current moment if you feel it will fit in. So with this too long, well I wanted to say that you are soo right! It is a good reminder to take a second look at what you like and what is in fashion. And your mums kitchen. With the right colours, curtains, plants, furniture and nicknacks you can make it look anything but but all white and minimal…
White kitchens are timeless. Wood tones are constantly changing trend. In a white kitchen you can paint the walls if you want a change.The only part of our white kitchen I regret is white countertops.
To heck with the "trendsetters".
It doesn’t matter what’s popular, blond wood with pistachio green, millennial pink and grey will always be my colour scheme. They were my colour palette when I was 18, and still in my 30’s I’m always reaching for these colours or tones that compliment them.
Way too many people confuse fashion trends with design…
it's "heuristic" not "hueristic" and what about this novel idea: furnish your house the way YOU like, not the way next buyer might find trendy!
I'll always remember my senior lecturer's advice in second year Interior Acrhitecture at TAFE in WA, "always design for the space and lifestyle of the client - never focus on what the sale in some amount of time will be...because there's always going to be people that love what you've done, and those that hate it, but there always be a buyer in the end"
Im waiting for the all black trend to go out. Natural wood is timeless.
I know what you mean .. how ever did all black become a thing? Good designers rarely use pure black. If you look closely, it's very dark, rich tones of green, brown, purple, red, etc.
I loved scandi/japandi styles with grey/white/pale wood years before it was named and still love the grey/white/pale wood aesthetic now it’s being shamed … I’ve just added lots of green plants, which was a trend way back when (I had the obligatory cheese plant!) and am enjoying the much wider variety this ‘new’ trend of biophilia is giving me … will I rip out my pale grey kitchen cabinets, paint my greige walls brightly, or throw out my pale wood floors and furniture? Not while my love affair with clean, minimal but textural and cosy continues … hopefully for decades more! Maybe I will even have the odd moment in the style ‘sun’ now and again! I love it like black and white photography … maybe not as warm as colour, but colour isn’t as calm for me … each to their own in what speaks to your lifestyle and emotional responses
Another eternal design is the black-and-white chequerboard floor. You can see it from 2,000 years ago in Ephesus, a few hundred years ago in Renaissance buildings, and a century ago, too. Ideally in marble, and laid diagonal to a rectangular room, it’s not anything that could be called fashionable or unfashionable. You could use vinyl or ceramic tiles and still have the same stylistic impact. In another video you mentioned a parquet timber floor. That is another thing, along with mosaics, that are always valuable because of the labour involved in producing them, plus the durability of the materials used - with the colour running through the material, not just on the surface. This adds a sense of luxury, irrespective of their colour.
Interesting at the end of the video when sustainability was mentioned, I want to use or incorporate bamboo in my next build. (in the Philippines)
Agree, form follows function, doesn't matter how wonderful a piece is, if you have chairs that are too big for the space, then they won't work.
A few other ideals I follow, natural materials tend to age better than anything fake. Eg, natural stone, or wood will wear in, stone effect surfaces, and wooden veneer with particleboard behind will wear out.
Lastly (and my tastes are very eclectic) I generally assume that if something looked good and was designed 25, 50, 100+ years ago, it'll almost certainly still look good in another 10, 20, 30+ years.