“Trendy” is not really in my vocabulary…

Honest truth: I really don’t care what’s trending most of the time. Yes, I’m very well versed in the trends and can spout off many, many trends for you if you really want to know what’s “trendy.” I read interior design articles and magazines in my off time. I subscribe to tons of industry periodicals and get hundreds of manufacturer emails every week. I go to large trade shows like High Point Market where I have access to all of the latest and greatest in home design.

However, designing a home based on ONLY current trends pretty much guarantees your home will be outdated in 5 to 10 years.

If you plan to entirely redecorate your home every decade, great! But most folks who hire me don’t want to do that – they want to decorate right one time , and then maybe make minor tweaks here and there over the years.

HUGE CAVEAT: The only exceptions are for kitchens and baths, when I know the homeowners are going to be moving within the next 5 years. In that case, you do need to be concerned with what will be the most appealing to the widest range of buyers. But this conversation isn’t about those folks. It’s about the rest of you who hire me for your forever homes.

ANYHOW – If you’re staying in your house for the foreseeable future, I’m really not going to be concerned with what’s trendy for your kitchen, bathroom, or any other room in your house. And honestly, you shouldn’t be concerned either. No matter how “classic” you make your home, it’s likely some element of it will be outdated in 20 years. And that’s ok! There are ways to update your home so even the outdated elements play well with everything else.

Here’s a good example. Remember that tan and brown granite and those espresso cabinets everyone put in their houses in the early 2000’s, since it was such a “timeless” look?

Yeah, it’s not so timeless now, but there are certainly ways to update it.

A simple backsplash change was all this clients’ kitchen needed to get rid of the “dated” appearance.

Now, is this kitchen “trendy?” No. It’s contemporary and fun and a little moody – just exactly like my clients wanted. This is their forever home, and it is decorated for their style, not for the stark white farmhouse style that’s considered “trendy” in Northeast Ohio.

See? It works REALLY WELL for their style!

I’m also a HUGE proponent of the “you do you” philosophy. It’s completely ok if your favorite color is red, yet all you see online and in stores is white, gray, and blue. I have access to every color of the rainbow, and I want you to express who YOU are. Yes, you might not be “trendy,” but who decides on the trends anyhow? Listen, I have a marketing degree. The reason why trends are always changing is to get you to buy new stuff. You don’t have to fall for that. Do your red.

Sorry for the pathetic photo – I haven’t gotten professional photos for this project yet. But you get the gist. ANY color can be GORGEOUS when done well!

Bottom line: let’s work together to figure out who YOU are, and what you want YOUR house to look like. I’m never going to chastise you for wanting to keep your mama’s dining room set or your grandfather’s ottoman. We’ll always make it work. And it’ll work because it’ll be yours alone.

Now, let’s have some fun!