We built dual (mirror image) masters in our CO home 10yrs ago. JJ baths have been around forever. I don't see them going anywhere. Stone flooring has been around for centuries - Italy, for example. Tile bathrooms have been around forever, so has ornate wrought iron railings - Biltmore house, for ex.

I'm not even going to start naming things I think are trendy because feelings will get hurt. If you're having a hard time making decisions, go to a bookstore for an afternoon and flip thru a dozen books. Visit websites - Southern Living, Veranda, Southern Accents, Better Homes and Gardens - to get a better feel for the look you want and love.

It seems like some styles are classic, but there are homes that you can tell are dated. They were the in style at the time! LOL guess you never know.

I agree with Allison on the stone, tile etc. I at first wanted a two story house just so I could have wrought iron railings! LOL!

I also wouldn't want to get into what I thought were trends. I just looked through different websites, read different magazines and books to find what I liked.

Speaking of the Biltmore house, has anyone ever gone on the tour? I would love to!

It's all a matter of taste, and tastes and trends always change. I agree with Allison, about a couple of things in her post. One, I'm sure people would look at my home and say "trendy" about a couple of things, but I love it and that's what it boils down to. Secondly, the natural materials Allison mentions have been around forever and are always in my opinion a safe bet. Even when slate and stone wear, they just have more character in my opinion! Pick what you love and what you can afford.

Amy

kelntx, we drove to Biltmore for the day when we were in Gatlinburg years ago. Took the tour, walked the gardens next to the house, had lunch at The Stables and toured the winery. The children were 4th-8th grade and had a great time.

My sister and I gave my parents the Christmas at Biltmore package two years ago for their 50th anniversary. They had a wonderful time. They had been on a daytime tour, but said the candle light tour was beautiful. Carriage ride was included also.

I wanted to avoid trends with this house as I had done a lot of trendy stuff in my last home which I grew to dislike ie: dusty rose jetted tub in master bath (read: pink!).

I think it is fine to do trendy stuff that is easily changed, but my mantra while building this home was "anything that is permanent has to be neutral".

I agree with Allison that most of the things she mentioned are not trendy but timeless.

Allison - I bet that was beautiful. Maybe we can plan a family trip there next year. I know I would love it!

Many things will always be stylish, though not "in style". For the same reason that many types of clothing, especially for women, will always be stylish, though not "in style."

As for trends that will last a long time and are now beginning to show up, I think that whatever serves the demographic group with the most money to spend will be it. So, that demographic used to be the World War 11 generation, but is just now becoming the BabyBoomers.

The Baby Boomers are beginning to age and are already trying to cope with several other facts of their lives: adult children remaining/returning home; their elderly parents coming to live with them; their own bodies starting to age. So, we're going to see more self-contained "suite" arrangements, two masters, semi-detached quarters, etc. Already the demand for ranch/one-story homes has exceeded the demand for 2-stories for the first time in a long time. That will continue because the boomers are aging and their visiting/live-in parents also need a single story.

Along with that, Universal Design will be an enduring trend, that will change kitchen and bath design significantly.

These trends will filter down into less expensive, production housing as concern for resale catches the attention of the young and healthy who don't yet need the layouts that the Boomers need.

As to the more superficial areas of style, we'll all have to wait and see what new materials show up that can either mimic older/more expensive materials, or that are newly available due to technological changes and reduce callbacks for the trades that install them.

I was a big fan of BBC's 'Changing Rooms' when it first hit American TV-- this is the original that TLC's 'Trading Spaces' is based on, where people redecorate rooms in one anothers homes in 2 days.

I mention this because the things they were doing when the show first came out are now things they are UNdoing: painting entire rooms in dark red, etc.

Luckily, paint is realitively cheap and easy to change: It's the more permanent elements that need a bit of thought.

Go with what you love, of course-- we need some sort of shorthand for that, it shows up so often-- but when all things are equal, your home won't seem dated as quickly if you avoid the hotest trends.

The 'peak' of the stainless trend has passed, but I don't think it will ever be out.

Natural stone will always be treasured, but travertine in the usual colors won't be a selling point when every home has it.

White subway is bound to be less popular tommorrow than today: it HAS to be.

But the real trend is towards green building. Today's helpful suggestion is tomorrow's essential. Southern exposures, wide overhangs, renewable materials like cork and bamboo. Fewer exotic hardwoods, fewer petro-products like vinyl. Probably smaller, probably lower ceilings, definetly less manicured green lawns, more trees. Low flow everything, grey water recovery systems, etc.

I read this in a book that had been published sometime back in the 50s or 60s -

"Over the years, it is the simple, straight forward house that does not go out of style that has the highest resale value."

I think those words ring as true today as when they were first written.

I totally agree with lorraineal. As I'm finishing my house, I'm doing some really cool things in tile and lighting but not getting too carried away. Some of the "unique" things are the ones that date a house. And some of these unique things require special cleaning or just MORE cleaning and over the years, we all get tired of maintainence issues!!!!!!! Very often, less is more and the KISS principle is more what we desire. One of the most "timeless" things I can think of is to keep bathroom fixtures in white because they never outdate. I have no problem with colored fixtures in a 1/2 bath because THAT is easily changed. But changing a tub is a major affair. My friend's mother has a chocolate brown toilet in her 1/2 bath and even tho it is a dated look, I think the color of it is so cool.

To add to lorraineal and green-zeus - maybe I'm just at that stage in life, but the more simple it is, the lovelier it is. The finishes in the home should not stand out and take away from the architecture of the home and the personal furnishing that make a house a home. For me, I enjoy seeing a space and thinking "this is just beautiful" while not being grabbed by one particular thing - like tile accents, for example. The room as a whole is comforting, soothing. Everything in the space is equally as exciting to see, yet nothing is stealing the show. Even the "ta-da" pieces blend in seamlessly.

restaurant style ovens/ranges. Those are just not elegant but bulky and also unnecessary. Those are the Hummers of the kitchen. In 10 years, people will ask "what were they thinking".

Colors seem to be trendier than styles, and luckily, they're relatively easy to change.

I think vessel sinks might be considered trendy (and I say that, even as we plan 2 copper vessel sinks in our master bath). The look lovely, but I wonder if the lessened functionality (lower countertop, narrower choice in faucet/fixtures) will have us scratching our heads in a few years, thinking "why'd we think that was a good idea?")

(now I'm freaking myself out, thinking about our 2 sinks that we already own.....even before our plans have been drawn up.....)

Obvoiusly we won't know until we get there what trends will stay or leave. Granite to me is something that is now a trendy thing. However, it's durability will likely mean that those same countertops will still be in those houses in 50 years. Will we still like them as much then as we do now? We won't know until we get there.

I agree the big kitchen appliances, not just range but fridge too, are something that are becoming much more common in new homes today. Doesn't mean it's not a good thing to have them, most wish they could.

We've put a lot of thought into this as we've been working on our house's decor. Certainly, being bold and taking a gamble on easily-changed things like paint colors, lighting fixtures, furniture, draperies, etc is much less dangerous than more-permanent things.

As the trend is for people to be spending ever-more money on permanent decor like stone countertops, natural stone and ceramic tile, major plumbing fixtures, major appliances, exterior stone, major patio fixtures like outdoor kitchens, and innovative architectural features, it's very important to think about trendiness both for resale and for the "what was I thinking?" factor.

The guiding principle for our design has been to look at what has stood the test of time. Some design elements, like hardwood floors and ceramic tile, fell out of fashion in the 60s during the craze to carpet-over everything, but they have prevailed in the end. Ultimately, it was the over-use of carpet that was trendy.

We have determined that hardwood floors are a safe bet. Ceramic tile is also a winner, though a neutral color is safest. (We chose white, in a combination of square, subway, and octagonal). Pedestal sinks are safe, though we opted for some awfully contemporary ones. White bathroom fixtures, I'm afraid, are by far the most prudent choice. Maybe almond. Cabinets with a clean design and a neutral stain or paint. (We chose a shaker style maple with a honey stain).

In other cases, we're taking a gamble because you just can't live in a beige house. We chose a bold granite countertop that will be expensive to replace. But we think that in high-end homes granite is here to stay. Though people's tastes in colors and patterns will certainly evolve. We chose travertine marble tile in our entry, because thousands of years of Italian architecture can't be wrong. We chose stainless-steel appliances of an professional/industrial look, because that's practically expected nowadays. Also, I think that stainless is here to stay, though I suspect we may see a movement away from restaurant-look to a more sleek modern look in the future.

Today's looks that I think will end up in the "that's so 2000s" category in a decade: vessel sinks, the use of ludicrously expensive Sub Zero and Viking-type appliances in relatively modest homes, earth tones (I think we'll see a trend toward more color).

Things I wish would cease to be trends: "Potempkin Village" homes with stone or brick on the front facade and vinyl on the other three, phony-looking fake stone, builders who spend money on flashy flourishes like expensive appliances or countertops, but skimp on craftsmanship, insulation, good building science, and other things that can't be upgraded later.

My parents built a house in 1962 with a stainless cook top and stainless ovens. Everyhouse they have built since then has had the same. Their cook top in the 70's had a grill in it. They had granite in the 70's. Since that is what I grew up seeing in our houses, I never considered it trendy until I started seeing people on this site label it that way.

We currently have one of the professional-type cooktops with a wok in our own home. We also have one of the big refrigerators and some smaller under cabinet ones also. They are not there because they are trendy. They are there because they are functional. We use them every single day. Cooking is our hobby. We designed our kitchen for functionality to suit us, not looks or trends.

So, jrldh, we do not think a kitchen should be "elegant". That is what the bedroom, greatroom, or living room (if you have one -- we don't since we wouldn't use it) is for. A kitchen should be functional. Our appiances were necessary for our style of cooking and having been in our house for 7 years now, we are not yet asking " What were we thinking?".

My kitchen is both functional and elegant. So is my laundry room. So is my bathroom. Why should elegance be sacrificed when it's not necessary?

I know several people with those professional appliances. And they rarely ever cook. It is just for show.

It is a fashion and of course subject to trends. In other parts of the world (like Austria, my former home country) the trend went towards totally concealed and sleek appliances. Which are plenty functional for a family.

Well, I don't actually think my wok is elegant and there is no way to conceal it. We use it on a daily basis and wanted the BTU's that it offers, so we had no choice (other than to sacrifice our cooking style so that others would find my kitchen "elegant"). We are very pleased with the looks of our kitchen and don't mind the appearance of a cooktop with a huge hood above it. The applainces that could be concealed are. Our dishwashers and refrigerators are not stainless. They are all covered with cabinet fronts. We have several food processors and they are all behind closed doors, but there is no way to hide the cooktop, wok and ovens.

jrldh, you and the people you know may rarely cook and find these appliances just for show, but I can assure you there are many out there who do use these types of appliances as they are intended. Just lurk on the Cooking Forum for a while and you will see many on there who do serious cooking.

I am not a professional chef but cooking is one of my favorite things to do, my whole family gets in out kitchen on weekends (kids, husband etc.) and we all cook. I had several requirements for my rangetop and double ovens (range of btu's on each burner so I am not constantly moving pots around, solid construction, high btu's to sear, low to simmer etc., double oven must have convection broil, bake, two fans for even cooking etc.)I went to an appliance store where they let me take apart burners from multiple brands and look at their construction, I then tried the burners, checked out reliability etc. I went with a higher end brand(wolf)because of all of this, I could care less about the show factor, I wanted the power and functionality lower end brands could not give me (I lived in the Caribbean for two years with a tiny stove with a portable gas tank, I've cooked all over on everything). I think stainless is classic, it's been around forever, it's become trendy with lower end appliances but it will endure on the professional higher end level always because of the practicality. My kitchen will be functional and I think seeing my appliances is beautiful, they give me a thrill just looking at them because I waited so long for them. I think natural materials such as stone and wood are classics too, they may be trendy at times but they will be a constant always!!

If I could afford it, I would have professional appliances and granite. I love to cook and would use them daily. BUT I don't see anything wrong with having them just for the show factor either. It feels good to have nice "trendy" things if you can afford them. Even if you only just look at it.

Oy. I guess kitchen appliances are a hot-button issue.

They still are trendy and of course candidates to fall out of fashion just like any other trend.

I am 100% sure that many people in the 60s thought that harvest gold and avocado green stoves and fridges were the non-plus-ultra. And how did that turn out?

So what's here to stay? Who knows? Most likely nothing that is "in" at the moment.

I think the what pushes people's buttons are blanket generalizations about what they need, how they cook, or what would be 'plenty' for their families.

I don't say this to start a war, but to explain why jrdh's post of Monday got people's hackles up.