Like many of us, you sit down on the couch and start scrolling social media. You love design and find yourself looking at some design reels. You see, all white everything, impersonal bookcases and crazy organizational videos and you find yourself thinking, is what everyone is doing? So, de-influencing design; what you should avoid in your home.
Influencers and design right now consists of white wash everything, weird trends, too much furniture, crazy fabrics etc. Where are the timeless pieces and design elements? So here are some design trends that need de-influencing.
Boring bookcases
Okay, I get it; they look nice on social media. It’s the perfect bookcase with vases, random stone abstract pieces that we’ve seen on every book shelf and all-white books or worse books displayed backwards! But the problem is, this is overdone; you see this all the time in every photo, and it starts to feel bland and cheap.
But the thing is, it’s not cheap, it’s a lot of money and, worse, impersonal. Purchasing all of your bookcase decor from a country-wide retailer wastes your money. How should you style your bookcase?
Use them for books. If you have a book collection, use it for storing and displaying books. It will look aesthetically pleasing to cram them full of books, like a library compiled over generations.
An emerging trend right now is Dark Academia, think Hogwarts. Use this trend for your bookcases instead. It will look practical and beautiful, like old libraries, colleges, old homes, etc.
If you’re not into a book collection, you can get some interesting leather books from bookstores, yard sales, or antique stores. If you want to create a collection but need help figuring out where to start, consider your hobbies or interests and try to find interesting books on that topic over time.
You could also add personal items like framed photos of your family, interesting pieces you bought at local retailers, small framed artwork, and library lights. It will look timeless and interesting.
It’s okay if your bookcase isn’t perfect because the more you travel, shop, or thrift, the more unique pieces you’ll find, the more authentic your bookcase will look. If you want to fill it more, research one or two decor items from Amazon that are well-reviewed.
But remember, a bookcase or home, for that matter, shouldn’t be all bought and assembled in one day. It’s okay if it’s bare in the beginning; it will still look good if the items are personal and one-of-a-kind. That is a motto I live by any way: quality over quantity.
Massive Media Consoles
I can’t think of a less practical storage solution. The compartments tend to be too shallow, too narrow, and not very tall. You can only fit a blanket, games, and barely a gaming console in some of these. Plus, they are expensive and cumbersome.
If you have the $5,000-$10,000 budget to buy one of these, you’re better off going to a local cabinet seller and buying precisely what you need to fit anything you would have in your living room or movie room. It’s great to store all of these things in the living room.
You could even combine a bookcase with a media console all in one. I recommend the base cabinets be about 30″ tall and 18″ deep, but you can order the exact size you need to fit whatever you have.
Too many pillows
It looks so good in photos! But these pillows take up all the seating space and end up on the floor. Get two decorative pillows and a lumbar or pillow cover for your existing pillows. For me, these are essential because we use them.
It can be fun to change out decor each season. But these pillows or linens should work for multiple seasons. If you want to change out the pillows each season, it can help refresh a space; only get a few themed pillows.
Accent Walls
I’m guilty of this one. I’ve had clients nervous about committing to paint or install millwork on all the walls, and I tried to convince them but ultimately didn’t help them out of their comfort zones. An accent wall can feel like you didn’t go for it.
You can do anything; there are timeless trim designs or colors you can try. But don’t just do one wall. It will be dated soon enough. Do it on all the walls; if you’re going to try something bold, do it all the way.
Super organization
I’m all about organization, toys, food storage, drawer inserts, etc. But what needs to stop is these videos of nonsense organizing. For example, you don’t need to waste your time color coding Legos, separating them into each bin, and then labeling them by color when you can see the color.
Or buy “aesthetically” pleasing glass milk jars to put all your drinks in. They can’t fit all the liquid in them, so now your fridge is running out of space. And what about expiration dates? You don’t need a beautifully curated, unrealistic, organized fridge or Lego set. It’s pointless. Save your time.
Too much furniture
It can be tempting to put more furniture in a space, especially if you have an empty corner, and while Instagram is a wonderful place to find design inspiration, it can lead you in the wrong direction, too.
Many images you see on social media are filled with furniture, two sofas, three chairs, a bench, two poofs, a built-in TV unit, and a large coffee table, but what can be hard to see is that these rooms are enormous. Don’t copy this look if you don’t have the space for it.
The average living room is 16′ by 20′, which only leaves enough space, considering traffic patterns, a sofa, a small media console, a chair, a coffee table, and maybe an end table. So remember, if you see six or more pieces of furniture in a room, it’s a big room.
Use them to search for a look you want, but measure your space before shopping for furniture; get a 25′ tape measure because it’s perfect for measuring most rooms and isn’t crazy long where it becomes a hassle. Remember that you need 18″ between seating and tables and a minimum of 30″ for walking between furniture and walls where doors are located, and ensure your sofa doesn’t take up the entire wall.
Boucle
Boucle fabric is everywhere, especially in celebrity and influencer homes. But the thing is, it looks like it’s piling, and people are going to change their spaces fast! So, that trendy fabric will be out of style, but most of us can’t afford to replace the fabric on our chairs, sofas, or ottomans. Instead, use classic textiles like linen, cotton, leather, or polyester.
Pot Fillers
They break a lot. How often are you using it? You have to take the pot to the sink anyway to pour the water down the drain. How much time are you saving? Fifteen seconds, you’re saving fifteen seconds.
White everything
White kitchens started in the 50’s but about in the 00’s or so a designer did an all white kitchen for a client who wanted it, but then, amazingly, it was published on the cover of a magazine, and here we are—all white kitchens once more.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with an all-white kitchen; it can make a space feel bigger and timeless; however, it can be a little safe and boring. The only bad thing to come from this is the all-white home and all-white filters on Instagram, where you can’t see any detail, texture, or people’s faces!
If you want a white kitchen, go for a nonwhite countertop, introduce wood and brass, and paint the base cabinets or island a different color. If you want a white bedroom or living room consider white linen wallpaper, an upholstered bed, textured sheets and add some color in the metals or decor.
Pantry design
Yes, they look beautiful on social media, all staged with basically nonfood items, but a pantry is for food storage; that’s its purpose. And also, let’s be realistic; they are only sometimes going to look beautiful.
Pantry design can get into the nonsense organizing as well. You don’t need a new container for everything, so it looks perfect and color-coordinated. Nor does it need non pantry items.
If you want it to look great, add drawers to the base cabinets; drawers are easy to organize, use, and hide everything. Organize similar items, use wire baskets for veggies and fruit, and put staples like flour and pasta in vacuum-sealed storage containers.
All beige children’s rooms
All beige children’s rooms are akin to white everything. You want your home to look cohesive, but taking all the color and joy of a kid’s room is unnecessary. Despite the Spiderman sheets and bright toys, you can still make your kid’s room look good.
Start with a good foundation, like panel molding and a beautiful wood floor, and try to get them to a color that works with your home. Get a color wheel to help you get ideas on what colors work. Or, better yet, paint the room the color they want and go with it.
Despite common knowledge, colors do not affect a person’s mood; at least, it needs to be studied more adequately. It depends on cultural aspects or your own experience with that color. But as far as childhood development goes, color is essential.
When a child identifies shapes and colors, it’s an essential indicator that their brain is developing descriptive language. We teach them to sort all the colors or define objects like “blue mug” or “big pink teddy bear.” Colors help children perceive the world around them, like recognizing patterns. So I know this may hurt, but give your kids a colorful room.
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