I love your mirror story, MarinaGal.

Love your post, brownwynsmom.

I think in this world we live in it's nearly impossible for anyone to truly know what their own taste is how could you when we are bombarded with advertising.

I would have to disagree. I am 100% certain my own taste has evolved from my childhood spent in the family furniture store and the two lovely homes where I grew up. Mixed in life experiences and traveling to Europe - which had a HUGE impact on the look and feel of my home. Yet, you wouldn't come into my home and think furniture store or Europe. The biggest compliment (or at the least one that has meant the most to me) was our next door neighbor at our last home coming in and saying "this is not a house, it is a real home." It is where we lived for over 20 years and raised our three children, but our new "old" home of only six years feels just as warm, inviting and comfortable to us, our family and friends.

I can honestly say I do not see myself changing, as the NYTimes article mtnrdredux posted about, because I really haven't changed the past 12 years. Although I do agree that until I reached my 40s I changed styles every decade. I went from eclectic, to country/vintage, to a formal country-traditional-eclectic and now whatever-you-want-to-call-it. (I never know what to call my style! Pal can "label" it for me. lol)

I wonder if Susceptibility to advertising or media plays into this a lot.

I know one interior designer who does not get a single interior design magazine, except one professional journal that is heavy on sources. He does Not want to be influenced by seeing whole rooms together.

In General a think I am non-susceptible to advertising beyond a piquing of curiousity.

Actually when I am working on projects, I tend to stop looking at anything but the catalogs, so I can see things in their disembodied, non-contextual states. The last thing I want to do is copy something from a magazine.

"In General a think I am non-susceptible to advertising beyond a piquing of curiousity."

For me, it depends on what you mean by susceptible. I rarely buy something because I saw it in an ad or magazine article's accompanying picture, so in that sense, I'm nearly 100% non-susceptible. However, I OFTEN see things I'd been unfamiliar with or by people I'd not heard of that I absolutely covet. In that sense, I am very, very susceptible.

Personally, I do not like the terms "good taste" or "tasteful" - they seem judgmental to me. I like other statements to describe decor like "harmonious with the home's architecture" or "fits with the family's lifestyle"

Oh, there's judgment involved for sure, but it's not like having good taste bad taste is such a big deal. But I think there is an objective quality to it--it's not purely subjective. What does "fitting the family's lifestyle" connote about good taste if you are the Kardashians, the Honey-Boo-Boos, or the Whites of West Virginia? --not much.

This post was edited by palimpsest on Wed, Jan 16, 13 at 17:41

Last month I went on our area's local holiday home tour. The house that I liked best was a renovated 1800's house, with many original details, but also many modern touches. The decor was eclectic with a "collected" feel to it. And it was obvious that the owners had very good taste. The house on the tour that seemed to get the most oohs and aahs was a large brand new home owned by a local builder and his "designer" wife. It looked like the furnishings and decor had been bought at "Tuscany R Us". Those two home reflect the topic of "popular vs. good taste" to me.

"but it's not like having good taste bad taste is such a big deal"

I think it seems to be a very big deal to a lot of people! lol It's a class-conscious, status way of looking at things around which many people get "offended" or stratify themselves and each other.

I understand what you are saying, but I think that speaks more to concerns about what Class you think you are in compared to other people vs. "taste" in isolation.

But what I should have said is *I don't think having good taste vs. bad taste is such a big deal. I am very judgmental about it, but I have friends with taste that I think is terrible (and I think most people who pay attention to these things would agree), but I don't hold it against them.

Snookums, I think you are being a little hard on those of us who set some store by what we consider to be in good taste.

Good taste, in the sense of knowledgeable refinement and connoisseurship, should be something respected, like good manners, which people follow to be considerate of the sensibilities of others.

I think that what you are bothered by is when people use the idea of good taste as an intentional insult. But people of real refinement would never stoop to such behavior. They don't need to.

So it is often a matter of standards, not status. And I for one am saddened every day by the lowering of standards in public behavior. But that's a topic for another day, and another venue...

Pal, Do your friends with "terrible taste" recognize your "good taste"? I have to believe everyone feels they possess good taste or at least recognize it when they see it and it is impossible for that to be true. "Good taste" is determined by the popular opinion of the time. Yes it changes at a slower pace than a trend but it does indeed change. What was in good taste for the hundred years before, during and after the Victorian era is not what we consider good taste now. "Good taste" is still a subjective and also fleeting concept based solely upon opinion. I also believe that "good taste" can be the enemy of creativity just as a trend is.

I agree with you, Roarah, and yes, it certainly does limit creativity.

I would say yes and no, and it depends upon the person. To stay more on a fashion level, I know someone who thinks basic suiting and coats from Brooks Brothers, are "ugly", for example...and their classic business clothes may be dull to some eyes, but ugly?

I know a couple people who will get a good, flattering haircut and color and HATE it, and then revert back to an unflattering cut and color (by others's standards). One of these people always likes my hair when it is sorely in need of a cut.

I don't think good taste in itself necessarily stilts creativity. I know some Very creative people that have great taste, interior designers and architects and fashion designers are all creative. I think Worrying about good taste may stilt it. But I also know people who have bad taste that call it being "creative".

"Thank you Bob!"

LOL Annie. Only those of us in the area of a Bob's furniture store will get this!

A lot of Victoriana falls into the category of "Popular Taste". There were people who still decorated with unpopular neo-Classical interiors and then newly antique 18th century furnishings. I have seen some early photographs of some local 19th century interiors that were very simply furnished with colonial period antiques. I am sure it was not popular, but it would Still be considered tasteful.

Brownwynsmom, I don't think I'm being so "hard" on anyone. I think it's more the other way around, actually, and I've brought up some legitimate questions or points, imo.

"Good taste" is generally associated with being well monied and educated. Of higher class and social status. So, it's a touchy subject to refer to some people's taste as bad because the connotation is lower class, cheap or uneducated. So I don't think it's true to say it's not a big deal one way or the other. It's why people get offended. Which they do and I think most people know that. On any level it's an insult because our homes and our taste is very personal.

Around here, if someone were to break out the pink flamingos or fake deer for the front lawn, it would be considered tacky, lower class and in some communities, they would be able to have them removed.

In terms of manners, as you bring up, this is a public forum with many people asking advice on how to decorate their homes in purportedly "bad" taste.

Many trends are started by those reaching out beyond what is currently popular to what may be perceived as ugly, weird, vulgar. To some, those new ways of looking at things are indeed in bad taste. In music, rock n' roll was distasteful for many years until it went mainstream. Throughout history, in any culture category it was that way.
Mark Rothko's essence is very Home Decorator's Catalog today but certainly he wasn't considered good taste at one time.

Thank you Beache! I meant to ask but got sidetracked by gravity. Funny Annie!

I think what pleases your senses is in good taste but what pleases someone else's senses may be very unpleasant to you and thus it is in "bad taste". Who is to say whose taste is right or wrong.

Pal, maybe your hair longer is the true "good taste" style and because you are to close to the subject at hand you are choosing a cut that is truly in bad taste. I am only making a point about taste being subjective with this example and of course do not believe it to be true.

Lets look at fashion again. In colonial days wigs and stockings were in "good taste"but for the last centuries they are no longer in good taste for they have fallen out of fashion.

For decades prior to the civil war it was in "good taste" to have slaves and I think we all agree that was beyond poor taste!

No one person can decide what is in good taste. It is deemed by a majority so that makes it nothing more than popular opinion and not much different than what makes for a trend.

I don't think that good taste vs. popular taste are mutually exclusive, they can overlap.

Do I think people with bad taste ask for help in here? Sure do. Do I think that people with way too much focus on the trendy as for help in here? Yes. And people with good taste, sure. And they all get help, and I think they all get their questions answered in helpful ways, most of the time.

I think we are trying to define something that has so many meanings to different people that it's as if we are each speaking a different language.

I've often found it amusing when poster #1 will say to poster #2 that they have such good taste. To me, basing that on a few pictures posted online is ludicrous and probably only means that poster #1 likes the same things as poster #2.

If anyone told me they thought I had good taste I'd probably have to redecorate. I equate good taste, most of the time, as not being overly original, unusual, or different from the current styles. I wonder if anyone has ever described a BoHo styled room as tasteful? I certainly never would. Fun, funky, unique, but not tasteful.

I agree there is authenticity to good taste but the question is, can one have authenticity without good taste and what does that look like?

Is a tastefully decorated room always beautiful? functional?

I know I am not very susceptible to advertising of home decor items as I rarely shop. However I do look at lots of pictures online and in magazines. I expect we are all influenced by media more than we suspect or would like however.

I like what sandyponder said "To paraphrase Charlie Tuna (and date myself in the process), I don't want a home that has good taste, I want a home that "tastes" (read: feels) good. Sandyponder, your home is one of the most interesting, personal, and unique I have seen on this forum and it's obvious you decorate for yourself, not to follow trends or strive for that elusive "good taste".

If we try for good taste in our decor but also take courage to do what we truly like without concern for 'taste' I think more people would be happier with their homes and their decorating would have greater longevity. I feel that too many are too afraid to make decisions which might show they have 'bad taste' so just follow trends or copy rooms as they feel that is the safer way. I'm at the point where don't feel a strong urge to change much in my house. Sure some things will need replacing as they wear out and I'll find new things I 'can't live without' so something will have to go, but overall it looks like me and is very comfortable to live in.

And Snookums,

To expand on what I meant...

"I think that the biggest things that can throw off the potential of good taste are restraint
Restraint, in that a super clean and well groomed space, without too many layers of accessories, can readily look good at many price points."

I'm not clear what this means, but it sounds like clean, simple lines, without clutter is good taste. I think the clean, simple lines thing is trendy, what's current and popular right now. Also a modern approach. That's a matter of style and personal preferences, not good or bad taste.

I also don't think lack of skill or instinct in putting things together means a person does not have good taste.

I agree with you that lack of skill does not mean someone does not have good taste.

What I was trying to get at, is that the amount of your budget isn't necessarily tied to having good taste, but that that over-doing it/going too far can take something that would have been fine, right past that into the realm of no longer in such good taste, because it becomes too trendy and forced and an overdone costume.

And I am no minimalist, but I think in both home design and fashion, that proportion and scale and visual clutter are more important than what you spent on the look. I hope that makes sense.

"I'm not clear what this means, but it sounds like clean, simple lines, without clutter is good taste. I think the clean, simple lines thing is trendy, what's current and popular right now. Also a modern approach. That's a matter of style and personal preferences, not good or bad taste."

I agree with you 100%.

I don't know whether I have good taste, bad taste, or something in between. (Maybe I have no taste!) While I still stand by my comment, above, that I rarely buy things because I saw them in ads or photos, I am sure I'm just as much influenced by what I have read or have seen as the next person, i.e., to the extent that our house "fits" into today's world, it's because many of the things we've bought were ones that were available today, e.g., we wanted some chairs in a transitional style. They're very nice chairs, and we like them; however, I'm sure there are chairs just like them or similar that can be found in any number of stores, photo spreads, and the houses of many other people.

"If anyone told me they thought I had good taste I'd probably have to redecorate. I equate good taste, most of the time, as not being overly original, unusual, or different from the current styles. I wonder if anyone has ever described a BoHo styled room as tasteful? I certainly never would. Fun, funky, unique, but not tasteful."

If anyone told me they thought I had good taste, I'd thank them. :) Why would I redecorate because of what someone else said or thought? It's my house and, in many cases, I presumably chose things to go in it because I liked them.

A question that I have is: why do people seem concerned that others might think they have good taste?

Also, is good taste synonymous with lack of originality? Or are people conflating "good taste" with an old, outdated, stodgy, etc., decorating style? Is that a valid way of thinking about good taste? The latter is not a rhetorical question BTW.

Oh, luckygal, thank you so much for your kind words, yes, I do decorate for me, well, us as in me and the fams, tho sometimes, I admit, it's for me and me alone. Take my current project, painting my kitchen hutch BM Gypsy Pink with accents of orange, red, yellow, green and blue, mr. sandyponder just looks at me bemusedly while I spend weekend time painting (and, ahem, repainting) something that was perfectly functional.

I agree with juliekcmo that the spare look is in style now, and I *love it*, but try as I might, I can't do it. I took down the holiday decs from the mantel (mantle, whichever is correct) and tried, I really did, to make a spare, interesting mantlescape. And my family and neighbor assured me it looked great, suited the room, etc. I took it down the next day, I could not live with 3 things on the mantel, simply could not. I am hopelessly untrendy, even when I want to be.

sandyponder

"is good taste synonymous with lack of originality? "

Absolutely not. But the predisposing idea or premise of good taste could certainly inhibit or interfere with risk-taking originality, I think.

I think of good taste as relating to quality, or being well done. That can be pretty indescript or slippery, I guess, but I don't think it's something that inherently belongs to any style (which is a personal preference).

When I think something is well done, or in "good taste", it doesn't necessarily mean I have an affinity to it personally, to appreciate its good qualities or execution.

Julie, I agree that overdoing can bring something down rather than improve it. I just don't feel that clean and spare is better taste just as I don't believe old is better taste.

If anyone told me they thought I had good taste I'd probably have to redecorate.

The reason I said that, and I probably should have explained at the time, is that every time someone describes a room as tasteful, or it's decorator as having good taste, I always think "nice, but bland". I've never seen a BoHo room, a very eclectic room, or a room that is very unique in some way described as tasteful. So if anyone said I had good taste after seeing my house I would understand they thought they were complimenting me, and of course I would say thank you, but I'd also know I'd missed my own goal of having a more interesting house than just 'tasteful'.

Now I don't personally believe that decorating that is at the high end of unique is necessarily not in good taste. However I do believe that the common perception is that a room done in good taste is at the opposite end of the spectrum and more classically traditional/transitional/contemporary and without too many unique features. Very often tends to a calmer, often monochromatic color palette. I believe good taste is often associated in people's minds with a higher social standing, which of course has nothing to do with it.

Now, there is nothing wrong with tasteful decor and I know it's the goal of most amateur decorators. However, my goal is to have a house unlike anyone else that allows me to express my own uniqueness, not to the world, but for myself. The best compliment I ever had was when a realtor was viewing my home and commented on some of my decor. When I told her most of my decorative accessories came from yard sales she said emphatically "I've GOT to start going to yard sales!".

What a great discussion! I have a couple of observations--

1. "Authentic" generally looks better to me, if it means a house where things are meant for use and not for show, if it looks "real"-- and I'd have a hard time defining real. A place where you engage life fully and it shows, I guess.

2. Looking back at things that appealed to me 20 years ago, probably 80 or 90% still looks good to me now. I do find myself with certain looks-- all white decor, lots of gray that's popular now-- and ask myself, do I like that because I think it's beautiful, or do I like it because it's been presented so often I'm used to it?

Authentic is such a great and elusive concept. I was reading the other day about San Ban Breathnach, who made a fortune in the 1990's helping people think about their authentic selves, and then lost every blessed penny chasing luxuries and dreams a decade later. I'm not even saying she's wrong-- well, I guess sort of wrong-- making and losing a fortune is engaging with life fully, isn't it? But there is the Pied Piper of "is it really YOU?" and a lot of money and agony can follow after it. I'm speaking of myself here-- some folks can unhesitatingly recognize what they feel belongs to them and exclude what doesn't.

Luckygal, I agree that "good taste" has a classical association. I've seen some eclectic or Bohemian rooms that I love and do think those people have good taste, so to speak, but that isn't the term I'd likely use to describe their space (though possibly them) even though I think it takes a great deal of inherent talent to pull off tastefully or effectively.

my two cents: decorate with things you love -- someone's arbitrary idea of "good taste" is useless unless you are all about impressing others and keeping up appearances. Which is my idea of "poor taste."

Trendy stuff, otoh, is more difficult, because it becomes dated very quickly. I'm already tired of white kitchens and blackboard paint. Just like clothes, imo, trendy stuff should be inexpensive and easily changeable. The "bones" should be timeless.

Although Popular taste and Good taste are not at all synonymous, they aren't the antithesis of each other, either. I am not talking black vs. white, right vs. wrong, etc. Just that the two are different entities that both overlap and do not overlap.

Similarly, just as Love is not the opposite of Hate, beauty and ugliness are close relatives, and so are Good taste and Bad taste. I think some very talented designers purposely approach the boundaries between good and bad taste, and even exploit "bad taste" to some extent, with some very good results.

The kitchen picture that started this round of the discussion was always in bad taste. It took every trend of the moment (some of which were fine) crammed the proverbial ten pounds of ---- into a five bound bag. Not every aspect of the kitchen is bad either, it's the sum total that was bad. The level of bad taste was MASKED at the time because many of the elements of the kitchen were POPULAR at the time. Now that they are Not Popular, we see the kitchen for what is always was. But I doubt someone with good taste would have put that kitchen together even at the time--and that's what makes it much more (or much Less) than just "dated."

I guess I did not see the "kitchen" that palimpsest was referring to in the former post. Would you please post it here again? What about it is not popular and "dated"?

Here it is: there are many elements here that were very popular at the time but sorry, I don't think this ever would have been considered in good taste to have combined all of this. So, its More than just Dated.

But in defense of the era, we have *so many more materials options than they did decades ago. This is why we also see a lot of colored bathrooms with near misses between the fixtures and tiles, I think.

Trendy is not necessarily good taste, just what's popular at the moment, so don't let the decorators/magazines confuse you. Nor is expensive, good taste. Nor having a high end designer do your decorating. Million Dollar Rooms might be a good example.

Having a 'good eye' could be considered just a part of knowing what looks good and what doesn't, kind of like having a sixth sense, and maybe that could be equated with having good taste. We have all been given creative talents, and IMO, it's a talent, same as singing or painting. We're very lucky if we've been given more than one.

Hmmmmm. I am not a fan of connecting class, classical associations, or even money, with "good taste", but feel good taste is connected with working with what you have, what you love, what you can afford, and what works functionally to produce spaces that are comfortable, and respect solid principles of design - color, balance, proportion, scale etc. ( If visitors or others choose to negatively judge choices, including color solely for not being the flavor of the moment/season, etc. than I think *they* are not exhibiting "good taste". - I've said this before but I love color far too much to allow others to dictate my use of the color wheel. Well. availability, maybe...) That said, some people have a natural knack for combining these elements into pleasing interiors and know when to stop/edit. I would think that someone with "good taste" would recognize when a room is well pulled-together and can respect that whether or not they personally like it. Rooms with "good taste" can be timeless but also not necessarily reflect any specific period in time.

I relate good to bad with art. And can be very judgmental regarding such. I won't point out specifics, but personally a lot of current popular art amazes me that they are making a bundle selling it. Good/bad is also why staging has become important in selling a home. But many do not see what we do, or can go beyond seeing what could be.

So much exposure now through the net, marketing and home shows has brought us to a wide swath of decor. The I can do it too without the full vision. I don't think it has to do with being able to afford the best either. If we have the good on or side, then we have been blessed with the ability and vision. Not all can do this.

Would love someone to post a list of good/bad. Right now I can't envision anything but the bad. And a lot of these have owners who love everything they have done. I could never tell them, their love of what has been created is so much a part of their good.

I think maybe timeless would be a better word in place of good taste. After all beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And if we all took black and white pictures of our homes would they really look all that different? Good taste to me is just a matter of opinion. But if something is timeless it has been proven.

In my view, successful interior design is like many creative endeavors - 10% inspiration, 90% perspiration.

I think talent is a necessary but not sufficient condition - to do exceptional work, you have to study everything, and train your eye, and practice, and learn, and keep trying to get better and better at translating an idea and a dream and a set of principles into rooms that are functional, manageable, suitable, sustainable, and happy-making.

Any competition should be with yourself, to keep making things more the way you imagine them or want them. And like everything else, we all need the humility to continue to learn from good ideas and deeper experience. Like good cooking, inspiration can come from anywhere, but execution is a skill and a discipline.

When we talk about home, so many things are at play that the emotional and psychological aspects of identity and family history complicate the purely aesthetic and practical aspects of design.

In this forum, I think we can congratulate ourselves that we are so kind and gentle with each other, and that we jump to soothe when we hit a nerve, and that in spite of the occasional ouch, we all want to help and to learn.

Good taste is being able to use a foundation of classic with a few trendy added to create an updated look.

You are an interesting group of people.

To taste is a prelude to consuming something. I think of taste as related to consumption, and therefore to class, as some of you have pointed out. For my taste, I find that class is a big impediment. I often can't afford my own taste! One of my main complaints is why can't people who design cheap things make them look as good as the expensive things? Just copy it, for crying out loud. And don't add a sparkly plastic crystal on top!

One thing that I criticize is a kitschy-commercialized fantasy of a style. Velvet and gilt wallpaper with ornate crystal chandeliers simulating Versailles in a ranch tract home, for instance. But I am ever-so-guilty of the exact same sin: my study is "faux-Victorian professor" with leather-bound books, curiosity cabinets with bird's nests and animal skulls, globes, astrolabes, and so forth. A re-presentation of a movie set professor's study.

But advertising is not usually the determining factor in my choices. I can usually pin down my preferences to particular life experience that sealed my taste: the first time I went to Tijuana and saw Mexican tile work, or the first time I walked into a house converted from a barn. Since I grew up in the land of stucco two-bedrooms, every time I left the place of my birth I saw something spectacular that I had never seen before. Like wood floors.

Aesthetic judgments of beauty and sublimity are in a different category for me and apply mostly to art, not to decor. Much of the art that I love is far too disturbing to have in the home.

I think that the designer John Robshaw is an example of someone who has Good taste, neither in the popular mode nor in the "classic,timeless" or "boring, stilting-of-creativity" modes.

He has very individual taste that is hard to time-stamp, and is pretty risk taking. When he opened the wall between the kitchen and living area in his current NYC apartment, it had plumbing pipes in it. He left the plumbing pipes exposed. Some people will call this stupid or ugly but for him, I think it is just a consistency of vision.

I am not sure that I could live in a house that was purely John Robshaw: it is a bit too earthy-global-ethnic for me, and I think as a somewhat-untraveled-irish-catholic, such an environment would ring false for my experience.

And I think that is probably a part of what good taste is: a consistency with your own experience, not trying to decorate in a style that is "foreign" to your life.

"And I think that is probably a part of what good taste is: a consistency with your own experience, not trying to decorate in a style that is "foreign" to your life."

I'm thinking about that statement, but I can't decide whether or not I agree with it. It sounds reasonable, and my immediate response is to agree. After all, if you decorate in a style "'foreign' to your life," it's akin to simulating Versailles in a ranch house. Isn't it? The end result presumably lacks a certain authenticity.

But here's where I stumble: suppose that, despite being a "somewhat-untraveled-irish-catholic," you nevertheless love everything about an "earthy-global-ethnic" room? In fact, you love everything about a Robshaw earthy-global-ethnic room (to pick one style as an example), so much that you have many of his textiles in it. Does the fact that you've never traveled to India, for example, mean that the room lacks good taste?

Also, wouldn't your argument mean that only people growing up with styles representing earlier eras - early American that came down in the family, or French provincial once owned by a French uncle, etc., could use them with good taste?

I know that's not what you meant. The consistency with one's own experience is, then, only a small part of what good taste is? There are other, more important aspects of good taste?

Like consistency with one's own idealized, imagined, or fantasy life? What about simply an aesthetic reaction to something, like a Robshaw textile on a bed? Using the textile on your bed may be in bad taste or at least not in good taste (this goes back to a post of pal's about not using or owning everything you like), but, if you have a consistent eye & react consistently to things, I would think that the things you use in a room could very well work together in a way that's interpreted as good taste.

I agree with what you are saying. You may really like something that is outside your actual first hand experience. I think as long as it has some personal resonance for you, wherever it comes from, then it's genuine.

I think the problem may come in when you are trying it on for size because it's trendy, but you don't have a particular deeper attachment to it beyond the trend or its current popularity.

I think when people choose something trendy, it's because they like it. It becomes a trend because people are liking it. It is resonating with them.

Current trends are also what's readily available.

duplicate

This post was edited by snookums2 on Wed, Jan 23, 13 at 12:37

Eh, I don't think it has much resonance if a year later they no longer like it because its "not trendy" or "dated"...I think the feeling has to go deeper than that. You have to like it In and Of Itself, for it to really have resonance, and Not be affected by what the masses are saying about it in 2015.

I think current trends really Limit what is available, especially at most price points and that is a real problem sometimes. Try finding a true green pillow right now, for example: not a yellow green, not a blue green, just plain ole green. Very difficult.

I think that's kind of a personality thing, too. Some people are fickle and just change their minds a lot. That can be sincere. I don't think you have to love something forever.

Some do like to choose what's popular. It can be a safe move when unsure with their abilities. A lot of people don't care that much. It's also a lot faster since that's what's being sold. Of course some like to update just to feel current. Or to fit in. Or even to impress.

You know, a lot of people just love new styles! Like with clothing. It's exciting to see new things, colors or combinations.

I do think we are exposed to so many visuals these days that it's not hard to be influenced, want something different, or to begin to feel like what you have is looking rather dated or dowdy. As a matter of fact, it can make a person feel fresher and less dowdy themselves! lol It can also be hard to figure out what is right for you with all the choices that are available.

I'm thinking of painting my powder room gray. I've never been a gray person. Didn't care for it much at first. But I've seen it so often now that I've grown to like it. A lot. I'm not sure how much gray I could live with but I am glad I've come to appreciate something new. Will it be a love that lasts or that I could live with forever? Who knows.

It is very difficult to find what you really want! It's either unavailable or unaffordable a lot of the time.

This post was edited by snookums2 on Wed, Jan 23, 13 at 13:51

"I do think we are exposed to so many visuals these days that it's not hard to be influenced, want something different, or to begin to feel like what you have is looking rather dated or dowdy."

I'll agree with that 100%, at least about the first part of your statement. What also happens, I think, is that you see something completely new to you, in a shelter magazine or on a blog or here on this forum, and suddenly, you, too, want to own A Whatever or paint a bathroom in Whatever. This has happened to me so many times. pal's example of Robshaw comes to mind. I first saw a bedspread in a book, and I immediately coveted it. I'd never heard of John Robshaw before; all of a sudden, though, it seemed his textiles were in every issue of every magazine that came into my house. I realized, after seeing pictures of his own place, that I really didn't want to decorate much in his style: what I REALLY REALLY want is that first bedspread. That particular fabric seems not to be produced now, and I probably won't ever be able to get it. But I might end up with some other fabric of his on a bed. It might seem like I'm following a popular trend/designer, when in fact I really like some of his textiles. To the extent that having a Robshaw textile on a bed is a trend, it's undoubtedly because I'm hardly the only person to see an example, like it, and want it.

As for things looking dated or dowdy, I could not give one whit what anyone else thinks of my stuff. However, and it's a big "however," when you regularly see new or updated things, I think you do begin to look at your own things with new eyes. When you do that, sometimes your things don't hold up well in such comparisons; sometimes, you've become exposed to different versions of what you have. These versions may be more expensive, better designed, or of different materials, or just plain different.

"I'm thinking of painting my powder room gray. I've never been a gray person. Didn't care for it much at first. But I've seen it so often now that I've grown to like it. A lot. I'm not sure how much gray I could live with but I am glad I've come to appreciate something new. Will it be a love that lasts or that I could live with forever? Who knows. "

I know what you mean. I don't want to live in gray rooms, with gray furnishings; it's not a neutral I'd ordinarily find pleasing. However, we have a couple of stone walls and stone floors, and their main color is gray. In one room, I'm actually considering a gray trim to match the walls. I don't think of myself as someone who would ever slavishly or blindly follows trends, but I can't say I'd have considered gray as a trim color if it were not for this popular craze for gray. Anyway, except for the person who starts what becomes a trend, isn't everyone else a follower? :)

There is "good taste", " bad taste" and " no taste". Good taste is always better but between "no taste" and "bad taste" I prefer people with "bad taste" because at least those people take strong stand on what they like and everyone be damned.

Good taste is just a poor way of describing "good design". Good design can be ancient, vintage, contemporary. I like a traditional house filled with lovely English antiques, beautiful fabrics and accessories I've collected for 50 years. BUT...I also can appreciate the highly contemporary houses shown on the British TV series, "Grand Designs", multiple episodes of which can be found on YouTube.

Good design is predicated on scale, color, relevance, comfort. And I can promise you, it is NOT these bigger than a football field, overstuffed leather sofas and sectionals that are in practically every room where help is asked for. They may be comfortable, but they are all wrong in most rooms today.