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gw_oakley

What Fad did you fall for, and now wish you didn't?

Oakley
12 years ago

Mine are the two round end tables in the living room. When I bought them I noticed a lot of people used round end tables and I liked how they looked.

They don't hold all my stuff; lamp, books, drinks, etc. They move too easy on the wood floor, especially when I scoot them over to vacuum, I can never get the table back in the right place where I had them.

Do you all have regrets with what you bought that you are pretty much stuck with?

Sure, it would be easy and not all that expensive to replace my tables, but try explaining it to DH. :)

Comments (46)

  • jlj48
    12 years ago

    Yes. My yorktown psaltsgraff china. Also a chair that I ordered from a catalog and never sat in before buying. Also my sectional sofa. Love the sectional, not the style that I picked. And it was WAY to much money Also, my bonded leather club chair and matching ottoman. Love the style, wish I had spent more money. Aso, I painted my laundry room red 5 years ago. Love the color, but it makes the room too dark. But that would be an easy fix if I could just get off my hiney and repaint it. That's pretty much it.

  • lynxe
    12 years ago

    At our previous house, I fell for shiny brass for bathroom fixtures. None of it matched; there were those fake Victorian faucets, the kind with the cheesy "hot" and "cold" on white porcelain handles and shiny brass faucets. Shiny brass towel holders, but a different shade and finish to the metal. I also fell for the whole Victorian fussy wallpaper under the crown molding look. A misguided real estate agent told us we had to fix those things before putting the house on the market. Fortunately, we ignored his advice and listened to a far more experienced agent. She told us to leave those things as they were, and the house sold to the second set of buyers, at full price. (The first set made an offer as well, but we rejected it.) She saved us a nice amount of money, not to mention the time it would have taken to fix those supposed issues.

    Here, I've fallen for oil-rubbed bronze. So far, I still like it, but I'm sure that one of these days, I'm going to look closely at the doorknobs and wonder what on earth I was thinking!

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  • graywings123
    12 years ago

    A big sort-of gothic looking dining room chandelier recommended by a designer. I didn't like that look even then and should have said so.

  • dawnp
    12 years ago

    Tuscan!

    When we built our house 6 years ago, I purchased a big family room rug in "Tuscan" colors and style. Now, I'm going to have a hard time talking DH into buying a new one as it was expensive.

    I will never again purchase an expensive item that is a "trend". That is my new mantra.

  • les917
    12 years ago

    The glass bottles that are filled with vegetables or fruit, preserved in vinegar. I bought 5 of them of various sizes to use in the kitchen. Obviously this was a number of years back, and the colors have faded, they really scream dated - but I haven't been able to bring myself to just throw them out, because it seems like such a waste of money.

    Maybe today - I need to just do it, and consider it a lesson learned.

  • sweeby
    12 years ago

    Cultured stone. Our fireplace looks great from a distance, but we'd like it to look wonderful up close too. We should have gone with natural stone and are actually thinking of ripping it out and redoing it now.

    And brushed nickel in the boys' bathroom. I never really liked that finish, but thought it would be best with their stainless steel sinks, which I do like.

  • LuAnn_in_PA
    12 years ago

    FAD?
    None really...

    DH and I have always marched to our own beat.
    It was tough sometimes. Like when the colors you are looking for are ones that aren't "in" at the time, but we managed!

  • andreadeg
    12 years ago

    I'm way too cautious and slow to fall for a fad! By the time I get ready to purchase or remake a room the thing that I fell in love with is out of style! So, the turtle wins this one:-)

    I didn't fall for the glass mosaic in the master bathroom trend. So glad! I went all crema marfil but in various sizes to add interest.

  • Ilene Perl
    12 years ago

    I re did my bathrooms in my old house all with low boy toilets, that didn't flush well. In my new house the bathroom I re did haa powerful flushing toiet which is comfort level.
    ilene

  • Oakley
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    LuAnn, I'm not one to follow trends and fads either, but I really liked the look of round end tables, until I bought them.

    Les, I don't have one of those jars but I still think they're pretty!

    One trend I'm still on board with BIG TIME, are decorated apothecary jars, mason jars, and other glass I can decorate with.

    Do any of you still use apothecary/decorated glass?

  • nancybee_2010
    12 years ago

    I fell for brushed nickel. Even had all the doorknobs inside and out changed. It looks fine, but now I'm wondering, why did I do all that? The old stuff looked nice too.

  • Bumblebeez SC Zone 7
    12 years ago

    I have come so close to falling for fads but thankfully have limited them to trendy inexpensive pieces like the birdhouses in the basement. I haven't bought any lanterns either, like Park Hill from PB but again,it's been a close call. I do have some glass mosaic pieces but when I tire of them, which is getting close, out they'll go.

  • ttodd
    12 years ago

    That whole 'hotel chic' thing. What was I thinking?!

    At least when I went totally jumped on the Paris Apartment bandwagon I was following what I liked. 11+ yrs later while I find Paris Apartment style from 10yrs ago a bit over the top I can say that I haven't parted ways w/ many of the major elements that I gathered from it. I may have pared it down and incorporated elements of other styles but the core will probably be w/ me yrs. from now.

    That hotel chic stuff that I fell for? Gone - sold it. Only thing left from that style are the white sheets.

  • B H
    12 years ago

    I am way too poor to fall for fads which makes things around here a bit eclectic (for our neigbors' tastes anyway!). LOL

    I guess it would have to be paint colors that I "fall for". I have so many swatches and paint samples I could open my own BM and Valspar sample store. :)

  • Fun2BHere
    12 years ago

    Not a fad exactly, but I fell for a curvy little French-style settee that fit perfectly in the breakfast nook in my last house. Unfortunately, it doesn't fit anywhere in my current house. I'd like to sell it, but I know used furniture has no value and it's a good quality piece. I just wish I'd bought a more versatile style.

  • work_in_progress_08
    12 years ago

    Never was a fad follower, and the thought of themes makes me nauseous. When I was pregnant with DD, my DM kept insisting I needed to go with a "theme". No, I didn't want that for the nursery. Too many of my friends who were having babies at the same time were doing "theme" nurseries. I don't buy or read decorating magazines, I know what makes me smile. Marching to the beat of my own drummer makes me happiest, and saves alot of $$ which makes my DH happy as well.

    I've had "Tuscon" colors in my LR long before the advent of that being a fad, as those colors made my rooms very cozy. However, after the holiday things were stowed in January, the house, more particularly the LR, (read: me) needed a change.

    Now I am experimenting with changing those colors out in the LR for a lighter look for Spring/Summer. I am now experimenting with using blues and greens. Once I removed the drapery, accent pillows and a few very Tusconesque accessories, I was left with a blank canvas in order to go in another color direction which I am enjoying immensely. I somehow thought I could keep my former drapery and incorporate the new colors. A fellow poster told me what I already knew but didn't want to face - I needed to change out the window dressings as well. Thankfully, the color I chose online for my LR sheers works really well with the SW Blonde walls. There's no way DH is going to repaint the entire first floor. With a very open floor plan, it is an endeavor as one room flows into another so repainting just one room would look very odd, lol.

    Also, the majority of our furnishing is antique. Alot of family pieces and certain pieces we've chosen over the years. I've always loved "old things", and our rooms are furnished in a traditional manner. There are bits of whimsy/eclectic thrown in here and there. If that's a fad, I can't imagining every falling out of love with those choices. Antique and eclectic are what make me happy. If I like something, it's never really occurred to me whether it is "in" or not.

  • polly929
    12 years ago

    Somehow when I painted my whole first floor a taupe/beige color and creamy white, I also ended up with some beige linen silk pottery barn drapes, and beigey off white sofa. I realized that my whole first floor looked like the monochromatic restoration hardware doom and gloom look.
    Just finished some new drapes, and next I'm buying new toss pillows and maybe some lamps. Now I realize I have jumped on the aqua/tan bandwagon, but I wanted a color to brighten the place up. Glad they are just accessories, I can jump cheaply on the next bandwagon in a few years.

  • schoolhouse_gw
    12 years ago

    Does a bookcase of Harry Potter books and misc. HP memorabilia count? I need the Smiley emoticon for embarrassed put here.

  • Oakley
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Schoolhouse, don't feel embarrassed, I have about 10 books of "Pretty Little Liars" in a prominent place on my bookshelf! I'm too lazy to move them so it will look like I'm "educated." lol

  • juddgirl2
    12 years ago

    Anything I have in my house now that could be considered a trend - ORB hardware, granite counters, real stacked stone fireplace and exterior hardscape, rustic neutral furniture, vessel sink in powder room - is my natural style. Still love them and no regrets. Most of these things I've had before they became trendy.

    Back in the 80's and 90's I completely renovated my first house and decorated in a very trendy style. Mauve and fern green fabrics, tiled floors with contrasting grout, and sponge painted walls. The house sold quickly in the terrible mid-90's market and I think it was tasteful but it didn't reflect my previous and current tastes.

  • birdgardner
    12 years ago

    Like Polly929, I fell in love with the beautiful neutral rooms in magazines - white, taupe, ivory, and one green plant or bowl of moss balls. Something like that. It looked so good in the magazines and then so dreary in my own house.

    Luckily for me, I saw one of Beth Russell's needlepoint books in the library. I was SO making those William Morris fox and hare pillows. And those pillows gave me the warm aqua blues for my walls, and the navy and rose for my rug, and green for the Arts and Crafts vase and peacock feathers...color color color give me color. And luckily again, I wasn't out any money because the ivory drapes and taupe sofas worked with the colors in way they didn't with all neutrals.

    The master bedroom also started out monochrome also but my mother gave me an Afghan rug in rust with a little blue, and I found an Eastlake chair with some rusty rose and cream upholstery that played astonishingly well with the rug, and there's enough color in my bird prints and warm wood in the furniture to save me from the pale neutrals that I just can't pull off.

  • pfmastin
    12 years ago

    joanie38,
    We also had the Pfaltzgraff Yorktowne dinnerware that was given to us by my husband's parents 42 years ago. :) I finally freed myself of it this year by putting it on Freecycle and the most wonderful gal came to pick it up...she was thrilled. But no more than I was!

  • avesmor
    12 years ago

    Oh crap, I live in the midwest. By the ime something is a fad here, it's over. So I've managed to avoid a lot of the fad crazes. I did however make the mistake of trying to go Moroccan. I just loved the look of it in magazines and travel brochures. I spent way too much money on it and did it all wrong.

    Anyone want a rubberwood and iron trifold screen? :)

    I did sort of fall into the fad of the stark beechwood furniture, with or without white tile tops. Not a fad so much as all I could afford at the time (circa 1996/1997 while I'm working part time for minimu wage while trying to double major in college). I had the dining set, the kitchen cafe table thing, coffee table... you name it. I'm sure whatever Kmart carried, I had.

    If it redeems me at all, the beechwood junk was paired with the most vibrant treasures I could bring home from my European trips. RTA beechwood and handcrafted Norweigan wool rugs just scream SYMPATICO.

    I also, right around the same time, fell into the "celestial" fad. Suns, moon, stars on everything.

  • blfenton
    12 years ago

    I fell into the same trap as Polly929 and birdgardner. We did a whole house reno and when it was finished all the rooms flowed from one to the next in nice monochromatic beige colour. Not a speck of colour to be found. Lots of "texture" but no colour. My home before had lots of colour (albeit all from the 80's) and I missed colour. I liked the look in magazines but not so much in my own home. I called in an interior designer and through area rugs, window treatments, pillows and things that I already own colour is slowly making a comeback.

  • suero
    12 years ago

    Just the opposite of fad. I've got a 3 by 4 foot photo above my desk - that I've had for umpteen years - of the Andromeda Galaxy. I look at it to put things into perspective.

  • macybaby
    12 years ago

    fake greenery - I had it all over the last house, and dragged it to this one. I think I may still have some in a few places, but most of it is gone and I sure don't miss it.

    Well, not exactly gone - I have a large box of it in a closet. I may need to hang on to it for a bit more before I'm ready to let it go. If I put something in storage and don't even remember I own it a few years later, then I know I'm ready to part with it.

  • deeinohio
    12 years ago

    macybaby, I used some of my old faux greenery to make a dinosaur box for my grandson's dinosaurs. They made great trees. Always one to recycle....:)
    Dee

  • beekeeperswife
    12 years ago

    I wore a hat when I got married. One side had the brim turned up. 1986. Think Dynasty, Linda Evans. Pretty sure that was a fad.

    that's all I'm sayin'

  • maggie3_2006
    12 years ago

    Can someone please define Tuscan for me. Is it just certain colors?
    ,

  • fivefootzero
    12 years ago

    Polly, your house is anything but gloom and doom. It is very warm and comfy and inviting. I like the monochromatic look to an extent, my curtains, couches, and walls are all different shades of the same color swatch...it started with my walls which are BM Rich Cream. I have a few punches of black and cranberry thrown in. I don't think I've followed many fads...I like mismatched furniture and tables, and antique finishes that show a piece has been used and loved. I have antiques that I wouldn't part with and I design around them like they're members of the family, and I have 5 different lamps in my living room. Too matchy matchy or trendy makes me uncomfortable.

  • differentdreamer
    12 years ago

    I didn't fall for it but I wish the previous owners hadn't...I have master bath with grey commode, jacuzzi and grey and white tiles - kind of a weird light purply-grey. I have never been able to find a replacement seat for the commode that really matches, and since my tastes definitely run to much warmer colors, it's always been hard for me to figure out just how to decorate that room.

  • graycern
    12 years ago

    I've been through quite a few fads over the last 20 years of marriage. The goose-patterned kitchen accessories (thank goodness not too expensive to replace). The dusty rose and slate blue living room furniture (long gone now).

    The trend I am living with right now is the big green couch and chair, bought when burgundy and forest green were "in". They are covered with some sort of impervious chenille fabric. This is the furniture that will not die!

  • arcy_gw
    12 years ago

    I like what I like and over time I have not been sorry for my choices. I too am bummed at the choices others made in the name of 'fads'. #1 being VERTICAL blinds. I have disliked them from the first time my MIL gushed over her new ones. Since then I have had the misfortune of purchasing two homes that used them liberally. Boring, sterile and blah!!

  • Laurie
    12 years ago

    Like grayce, I am living with a couch that won't die. It's burgundy, forest green and navy (in a large plaid print from the year 1994). What was I thinking?

    The couch (& loveseat) "scream" at me every time I enter the room. I am looking forward to reupholstering them someday with a solid fabric.

    Laurie

  • katrina_ellen
    12 years ago

    At first when I started furnishing my house I didn't realize what I was seeing so much of was a fad, so I did follow some until I realized that in order to sell more stuff they would change whatever was in style to something different, just like in clothing. Once I went through a couple of fads that died out I started going with my preferences and have been much happier, I get comments from friends that my house looks like me, and it feels more comfortable to me now.

  • User
    12 years ago

    I hate the "comfort toilet" we put in our master bath after everyone was saying how wonderful they are. The only comfort they offer is to tall people which I'm not. Luckily, we have other bathrooms in the house I can default to. :c)

    Other than that, we pretty much do what feels right for us and don't think about whether its a trend or not.

  • jillinnj
    12 years ago

    I wish the previous owners had not fallen for the dusty rose carpet in 1980s. Or at least if they had they'd put in lesser quality carpet. Almost 30 years later and that stuff still looks new. Therefore, something else always has higher priority. I guess I have the carpet that will not die!

  • Oakley
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Another one of mine is my Venetian Gold granite. I had an inspiration picture that helped me do my kitchen reno. Venetian gold granite, white cabs. BEAUTIFUL!

    In the picture the kitchen was just finished, so no accessories.

    Try accessorizing with those colors. Bad. Venetian gold looks better with dark cabs.

  • polly929
    12 years ago

    Fivefootzero.....you are too kind. You have to come over and see my new drapes I made.

    Here is one thing I probably I will grow tired of in a few years, no one tell DH please.
    Just sold my schoolhouse pendant lights on ebay and replaced them with crystal pendants. Fortunately they were not too expensive so when I grow tired of them I can change them again. I love them now, but we'll see how I feel in a few years.

  • dedtired
    12 years ago

    The big white overstuffed sofa in my living room. That look was so "in" when I bought it. I hardly ever sit in there so it has not worn out. I will say that it is comfortable, so not a complete loss.

    I already regret the glass tiles in my new bathroom and they've only been there 1.5 years. I think they are gorgeous now but I know they will scream "2010" one day. My sister got the white kitchen cabs with the wood "stripe" in them back in the 80's. I was so jealous and now they re so dated. Glad I went with traditional maple in mine.

  • terezosa / terriks
    12 years ago

    You know just about all of us are following the trends to some degree. I remember a recent poster saying that they were repainting from warm colors because they now seem to be more attracted to cool restful colors. That person is actually following the trends, and I don't think that there is anything horribly wrong with it. I can't afford to redecorate my home every few years, so I try to keep my large, expensive and more permanent items neutral. Then I can add a few "trendy" pieces here and there if I want.
    And I don't know how, but I must have missed the entire round side table "fad".
    ;)

  • busybee3
    12 years ago

    i'm not a big fad follower, but---

    20 yrs ago or so, i found a lovely loveseat on clearance that had a mauve and blue print on cream backround- i needed a small sofa and loved the price and really did like the pattern... i had blue panels made for the living room and wanted to buy 2 wingchairs, so i brought a pillow to find chairs that went with it---ended up with 2 mauve chairs- and i have never really liked pink!! ugh! i'm sure i wouldn't have ended up with those colors in my house if they weren't the 'current colors'!

    i also bought a rooster cabinet 10 yrs ago for the kitchen and family and friends picked up on the rooster fad and began giving me rooster accessories, etc for the kitchen!

    and, fully aware that it is a fad, i put a crystal chandy in our master bathroom!

  • andreadeg
    12 years ago

    Someone mentioned a chandelier over a bathtub as being a fad. Eesh, I totally fell for that fad. But, I'm loving my Currey and Co chandelier over my bathtub so no regrets. I can't imagine ever not loving it...fingers crossed.

  • leafy02
    12 years ago

    I've never had the $ to go with fads or trends, really, but 3.5 years ago when we bought our couches, the store we went to had a million fabric options and not a single one in the color I really wanted for my couches--I wanted a dark emerald and all they had was sage and hunter in the green category; the other 199,998 options were gold, red or brown.

    So I went with brown--even though my other upholstered (actually slipcovered) seating in that room was already brown.

    And that is why I am trapped in brown hell today.

    I understand that with kids and pets and shoddy housekeeping, brown is serviceable. I know that accessorized with things other than dog hair, dropped Crocs and a handful of Connect Four pieces, brown can be elegant and rich looking.

    But in my house, it's just plain brown. Snooze.

    I wish I had bucked the trend (what was that color trend that made all the fabrics red and gold? Tuscan?) and held out for the emerald sofas of my dreams....

  • francypants
    12 years ago

    Terriks said "You know just about all of us are following the trends to some degree. I remember a recent poster saying that they were repainting from warm colors because they now seem to be more attracted to cool restful colors. That person is actually following the trends, and I don't think that there is anything horribly wrong with it. I can't afford to redecorate my home every few years, so I try to keep my large, expensive and more permanent items neutral. Then I can add a few "trendy" pieces here and there if I want.
    And I don't know how, but I must have missed the entire round side table "fad".
    ;)" and I totally agree. A color can't be a fad. I've kept the same color palette for many, many moons. Maybe I'll jazz up an extra room every few years just to have a bit of fun but I stick with what I like. Now, if you paint with a color you never much cared for just to be trendy....that's different.

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