I've never been one for "trendy" interior design. I love 18th and 19th century English mahogany antique wood, traditional, very comfortable upholstered furniture, and good lamps in proportion to the tables and furniture next to it. I love antique porcelain, silver, antique brass and copper and oriental rugs. To me, these things will never go out of style - they are timeless. And I still adore chintz and have it away in several rooms. Good chintz lasts for decades, if properly lined and interlined with English bump. I decorate for ME, not for others and resale value.

If I like something, it's just not "dated". I really don't think anyone else really has a say. Probably by conventional "wisdom" some of my stuff is dated. Or was dated once, and has come back into style. I'm not really concerned about trends for trend's sake.

Dark wood cabinetry, really dark. I'm sure in this day of weathered and bleached wood tones, some will think it's dated, but I love it. It's really beautiful. We have it in the kitchen and on the built-ins in the library. Someone will probably paint it white someday, and I do love white cabinets for a beach house, but in this house, I love my dark antique mahogany stain.

Stickley bookcase. China cabinet. Red oriental rugs.

When I first read this thread I had my current home in mind, a 1920's Craftsman. I don't have a lot of modern elements in this home, but I think classic or vintage applies more than dated.

But then I was thinking about my previous home, a 1949 tract home. I realized that some of my design choices were true to the house, but at the same time, more dated than classic..

Tile counter tops. Definitely out of vogue, with the hated grout. I recreated the original damaged counter tops when I purchased the home.

Parquet floor, original to the house. I loved the almost textural interest.

I almost jumped on the chair when I read Artemis's response-she basically wrote what I thought, just so much nicer. I think like this: I'm not dated, and never will be. Thus, the things I really love are not dated and will never be:)

In addition, I have this magical thinking of a five-year old: the things are basically alive and have characters, relationships, and talk at night when people go to sleep:) It's very hard to start talking in terms "dated" when you think you're going to offend.. something..:)

All this if I love them of course; and I strive not to have anything I don't love.

Not much luck with boring things like air conditioning vents of course..:)

I have my grandmother's mission style quarter sawn oak buffet, table and chairs. When I was a child, at some point I remember thinking it was really special (in her tiny very modest home), and asking her if I could have it when she died! My mother was appalled by my lack of tact about it. She had promised it to one of my older cousins, but at the end of my g'ma's life, that cousin was MIA from the family, and I'd been very attentive, so the rest of the relatives gave me the set. My son isn't interested in it, but my 6 year old grandson wants to know all about it and other old things from family.

I love my unstained oak floors and my natural wood cabinets and trim. I have no interest or appreciation for white kitchens or woodwork, but I think my style is more common in the PNW than in other parts of the country. I suppose the newer subdivisions are putting in white, but not certain about that.

Our guest bath has white corian countertops with integrated white sinks and a white acrylic shower surround (fake tile pattern) above the tub. They are so easy to care for that I don't think I will ever replace them. We don't have a lot of guests, but when we do its minutes to clean up and they still look new after nearly 17 years. Also a rather modern style Yamaha walnut console piano in the study that I will likely keep for a while longer.

We also took all the light fixtures out of the bedrooms and kitchen in my parents' house (painted tole), and the chandelier from the dining room (Georgian period polished brass), and they are now in my sister's and my house.

I am very drawn to 1930 and 40's Duncan Phyfe type mahogany furniture, since it is the first I can remember growing up. But it was sold and replaced with 60's furniture. So... over the years I have collected a couple of pieces to make me feel home,and take care of my nostalgia, like a buffet and round drum table.

I would LIKE to think that I don't ever give in to trends, but I'm such a visual person, and I see so many things I love, I just want to include everything, old and new, so my house ends up being a mishmash of everything. Stuff tends to break a lot around here, too, I'm sure in part because I buy stuff at places like Target because I LOVE them, and it's inexpensive, but then it breaks (I have kids, they're hard on stuff) and I never invest in any real furniture.

My new house is very white, and I love it, but I don't see it as a trend, even though i know it is. I find that terrifying because I know I will love it forever, and it means my house will most definitely look dated in a few years. It actually reminds me very much of the house my parents bought in the 90's, which was very white with medium-light wood. I have a very conflicted psychology when it comes to decorating because I hate all of the oak of my parents' generation, yet I find I gravitate towards white walls and medium/light wood trim, which is not at all popular right now - I wonder what it reminds me of?? I love "boring" medium wood doors and window trim, too. How practical are wood doors? No fingerprints - I love them!! I actually looked for that when we were buying our house, and it's practically nonexistent around here. We even talked about building because I wanted the whole house to be white with light wood floors and wood doors and trim, but in the end we found a new construction house that we liked and was practical so it won out.

It's funny because even as a kid I remember thinking that my house would be SO modern, and all the walls would be painted bright colors. Now here I am, basically recreating my parents' white and wood color palette, maybe with a few more modern lines and a different species of wood! At the same time, my mom just finished "updating" to paint her walls greige and replace of a lot of her oak furniture. Personally, I can't believe I'm admitting this out loud, but the grey walls against some of the yellow oak is really striking - it has me rethinking some of my hate for oak.

Ha, @elizabetheva! I remember my teenage years' love of dark rooms with sleek modern furniture in black and bright red. In retrospect I'm thrilled nobody let me decorate anything! Now my mother has more modern tastes than me.

I love my bright brass lamps, and wouldn't consider giving them up for a minute. I love bright brass fixtures, etc, and don't understand why bright brass is not popular anymore. It adds shine and sparkle to an area. Light also bounces off of it. I hate the oil rubbed bronze fad that is popular now. It's so dull and unattractive. Every room needs something shiny that reflects light.

Everything old and out of date comes back again. Seriously. My grandmother used to love, love, love avocado green. It was big back in the day. Then it became the hallmark of "out of date". Not too long ago I saw something in House Beautiful or one of those decorating magazines and it was all avocado. I think white and black appliances will make a come back.

1. Cozy Rooms--NOT open concept--I have the perfect house for blowing out walls. I live in an area where everyone has the same floor plan--our houses were built in the 60s. I am one of the few people who hasn't blow the walls out of the kitchen and the two small 9x12 bedrooms to make one ginormous 18 x 24 bedroom. I like small and cozy. I made one 9 x 12 a tv room for me and the other my office.

2. My percolator for coffee--no Keurig for me!

3. Too reclining chairs in the living room. I can't help it--my elderly parents like to visit and they love recliners--they each get one and watch tv. I know they are not attractive (the recliners not my parents). I did buy leather which seemed better than the upholstered ones. I will have them as long as I have the parents!

4. Single sink vanity--I like the extra counter space. I can wait my 3 minutes to brush my teeth.

5. Tiffany light fixtures--a real estate agent told my friend that they would have to be replace with those drum lights for staging. I have tiffany light fixtures in my hallway. They are pretty!

If dated means not current then that describes just about everything in my main rooms and my bedroom. The kids' don't like vintage/antique, though they're starting to hint that it does look cozy. Maybe all is not lost.

Anyone that follows trends has no imagination, buy what you like. How many more chevrons can we look at in all of those gray rooms.?????

The previous owners of our house were in love with plate mirrors. Whole walls, floor to ceiling! Through our kitchen redo, we've ridded our house of the dining room and kitchen backsplash mirrors, which is great. However, our upper guest room has plate mirrors on the far wall and I can't bring myself to think about getting rid of them.

The mirrored wall makes the room look so much bigger and brighter. It's cheerful and...different.

We'll probably be told to get rid of the mirrored wall when we sell, but until then, I can't be motivated to change it!

I am always baffled watching those house hunting shows where these 20 somethings go through a really pretty and interesting house and say we have to take that wall out and put in granite and stainless steel and the color of the year. Why??? I have always wanted a white kitchen and when I asked for advice on Gardenweb several people told me to replace rather than paint my cabinets - that the wood grain would show through and that the cathedral shapes on them were horrible. I LOVE my painted cabinets and am so glad I kept the doors-that curve is echoed all over my house and I love the old fashioned softness. Now that my kitchen is white I can appreciate the wood paneling in my living areas. It is nice wood - with picture frame molding and would cost a fortune to create now. It is cool and comforting to come home to on those 105 degree Texas days, and in the winter looks great with a fire. The best part is that everyone else in the neighborhood has replaced or painted - so now mine is unique!

Do you have any design items you won't change regardless of "dated?

Maybe some that no longer fit my lifestyle or house style. Mostly though, an interesting room is a mix of recaptured "dated", a tiny sprinkle of trend and the rest a style that jives.

Our gym (in finished basement) is the only room painted gray and I dislike the color. It works fine in there though. The rest of the house colors are beiges and warm deeper colors. I prefer stained wood. I like dark cabinets. Our ceiling fans are practical and I can't see replacing them. I like that our house isn't an open floor plan. I like my white top loading washer and matching dryer. I like the stained pine hutch that was my grandma's even though it's not antique. I like my large frameless mirror in the master bathroom for the same reasons Amck2 likes hers. I'm totally fine with a solid fiberglass shower. I like my stainless steel kitchen sink and don't care that there are scratches. It's a workhorse. While I greatly look forward to the day of having a fireplace and built ins put in the living room, I've decided I actually like my huge, stained entertainment stand in the meantime. I know it's absolutely not trendy, but it's well made, solid, and has practical storage areas. And truthfully I like the appearance.

I think I'm the last one left standing that likes my bone-colored corian countertops in my kitchen. They clean up so nicely and go with everything. At Christmas the reds and greens really pop against it and in the fall the browns and oranges look great. Pastels at Easter are also pretty with it. I have very busy dishes which look great against the solid background. That being said, I may be getting rid of them soon because I'm refacing my cabinets and want to get an undermount sink. If I find the right granite for the island though, I just might keep the corian on the perimeter.

I have bone-colored Corian in kids' bath, in this current home. I like it. Very nice color. It does go with anything. And cleans up surprisingly easy too.

To add to the ceiling fan commentary, I honestly think it's regional. I have never heard of it being out of trend or "tacky" until I came to houzz, which almost made me turn around to never return. ha. But it's such a weird thing to even discuss--so I pay it no mind. Not tacky, not apart of a trend, it serves its intended purpose.

Hear, hear babbs! I second your comment. Although I love gray, I was unaware it was a trend until I came here. But I'm technically a millennial so my exposure is limited.

Anyone that follows trends has no imagination, buy what you like.

But this is impossible. For more than 30 years you haven't been able to buy anything that doesn't meet what the trend machine allows. I can remember when kitchens gadgets only came in colonial blue, dusty rose, and gray, for instance. Wanted a cheery red teakettle? Forget it. It's always the same. Don't want MCM styled lamps or shades right now and not Bill Gates or Warren Buffett? Good luck, or learn to make your own lamp.

All these replies about "I never follow trends" make me smile, because to a certain extent, unless you do all your shopping in thrifts, you can't avoid it.

If you think you don't follow trends, you should hear what Miranda Priestly has to say in "The Devil Wears Prada".

TLC's "Trading Spaces" single-handedly demonized ceiling fans, which is just one of the reason I grew tired of, and eventually came to loathe, that show.

I never have watched decorating shows really. Yesterday while in a waiting room I decided to pay attention to what was on and couldn't believe how many changes they wanted to make to the he poor house. Stain the flooring dark (it was medium stained), oh no, this nice woodwork has to go too. Not even paint it, but take it out. Blah, blah. I can see way some may get in their head those ideas if that's what they're watching all the time.

I do agree that it is impossible to completely ignore trends unless you don't buy anything at all or do everything custom. Sometimes it's the only thing available at whatever your price point is.

Or, buy a time-capsule home ;-)

Which is why I rarely buy anything for my home. Most of what I have is cast off from someone else, or antique, with a few IKEA pieces thrown in. I used to be able to get basic furniture there, with the idea that those pieces would blend with lots of different styles. Now I see that even IKEA is following the mode of making many of their pieces in "trendy" styles rather than classic ones.

For me it's more of a design style rather than the items. I adore Bauhaus type of design for clothes, jewelry, furniture and obviously architecture.

Just love clean lines that showcase the function of a piece I guess. No chintz, china displays, or clutter for me.

If I could have decorated our weekend home in MCM I wold have, but hubs prefers slightly softer lines.. ahh well.

Not sure if I agree with the subsequent comments after mine. Sounds like splitting hairs to me. After I graduated, I did a small remodel of a home and just took my time and bought what I liked. And now that I am apart of houzz I broke every sacred rule--such as buying a ceiling fan for my living room (the shock and horror I know). Wall to wall carpeting in the living room and dining room. And I'm sure plenty of other unspeakable acts. There was no "trend" I was aware of or followed. Compared carpet samples, picked the one I liked. etc. There's nothing "trendy" about what I did. I just bought what I liked, and received plenty of compliments.

I don't know if I'm against trends. I'm happy, for example, that MCM was a trend and it passed ;) I'm also happy that farm-style dining tables became a trend -- it was love at first sight and mine is here to stay.

Oh, I agree to the extent that many many things are available that are not technically on trend. I did a project where the carpet chosen by the daughter was essentially dusty rose wall to wall, (although it had a different name), and you can get thousands of "off-trend" paint colors, door and cabinet hardware in any sort of finish, and things like that.

But 5 years ago when I was trying to sell my apartment, I only needed to stage one room, really, the second bedroom, and I wanted to find some pillows to coordinate with the artwork, which was the only real color in the room.

I could not find a pillow in the right shade of green ready made Anywhere. And I looked at hundreds of pillows. Domino still had a resources page on their website with dozens of online catalogs in multiple categories. I could have gotten one for a couple hundred dollars. or found fabric and had one made. But relatively inexpensive and off the rack, nothing doing.

I could find plenty of other shades all of which were on trend colors of the time. And I could find popular patterns, early chevron and medallion patterns and all sorts of stuff like that, but not a plain green pillow of the right shade.

Try finding an actual bedspread instead of a comforter--other than the Martha Washington ones, or seersucker or something from your summer camp. Try finding a tailored bedspread, except the two styles offered at Touch of Class--at all.

@palimpsest This is one of the more modern tailored bedspreads I've seen.

Ellie, I actually found that one when I was looking for a picture of something to send to the woman who is making my drapes (different thread, workroom fire, etc.).

It looks like people aren't buying it, with a price reduction like that.

What I have found is that they still seem to be popular in Australia or something because that's where a lot of images seem to pop up from.

I am essentially going to have her make something that looks like the one you posted without buttons on the vented corners, and I can pick the quilting.

I really like tailored bedspreads because they fit on the bed one way, they hang straight and they cover everything.

Very unpopular and dated right now, but that's what I want.

aww.. that's what I liked about it, the buttons. Thought it added a slightly modern element to it. Oh well. Hope you love yours! :)

I've had a few homes which were minimalist/contemporary style in city spaces, which I definitely loved but when I did another project in a brick 1920s condo building I took advantage of adding some things I was always fond of:

-unlacquered brass (all exposed hardware and including original 1920s art deco pieces)

-white powdercoated kitchen faucets and handles
-all white walls, all white kitchen

-all white appliances, white sink, white trims on sink and hardware

-stained medium/dark variegated oak flooring-matte finish. matching stained furniture (MCM)

-white panelling and beading/5.5" baseboard & ceiling trim, 1920s wall panels

-antique panel windows

-white mini hex tiles in bathrooms (making a comeback although I kept the original floors).

-antique cast iron tub & sink
-brass separate hot & cold taps
-exposed & painted brick

-push button switches

-unlacquered brass switch & outlet plates

-brass geometric (1920s revival style) hooks & knob items

-frameless beveled art deco mirrors

I have to say though, sourcing everything and finding replacement parts for 1920s originals was time consuming and very difficult if they existed at all. Much of what was remodelled was purchased unfinished on etsy, internationally, or piece-by-piece on salvage shops online (if the carpentry couldn't be done/items sourced locally). I think it turned out very well but for the first while it seemed the people renovating thought I was off my tree for giving them these items to install. One thing I like is that people can't usually tell if it was just renovated recently or if it was a very new and modern looking 1960s art deco revival.

The buttons are cool but that seems kind of feminine? Also I think the cat might pick at them.

My house has its original 1957 pink bathroom that will stay as long as we live here.

We moved into a neighborhood of 1960s-70s colonials. One of the many things I liked about our house was the black slate foyer floor. A new friend came by and mentioned that "that slate is really easy to remove" and she had just put new large-format tile in her foyer instead. 12 years later and I still prefer my black slate.

The other thing I wouldn't and won't change is the kitchen curtains. The kitchen faces the street and includes a breakfast nook, so we need some curtains, but I don't want to block the view altogether. The house came with cafe curtains, as well as an upper tier of curtains (not a valance) for the larger breakfast nook windows. They are somewhat sheer, maybe translucent is the word, which I like: it's like looking through lightly-frosted glass so I can see if someone is walking by the house without really being able to see who they are. The little ruffle probably dates them the most, but given that they are otherwise plain it's cute. What I'd really like is a toile pattern, but I just can't find a fabric that is translucent, without being "shiny".

With availability of the web, buying off trend should be pretty easy. Nevertheless, I prefer to buy old stuff and redo it. So glad that my mom taught me to sew!

We love our mahogany alder cabinets. When we flooded last month, I was sick to think of replacing them. Thankfully we found a cabinet maker who does frameless, and will replicate what I had.

When I got my Mom's entire dark finished antique formal dining ensemble, I also became the holiday hostess. Everyone was so thrilled that my dining room was a replica of the one where we'd shared so many wonderful meals. And yes, I proudly display my Old Country Roses china. And the silver. Oh yeah. Well, down here that's still fairly typical.

New floors will be medium stained oak look in LVP. Golden oak? Very difficult to find even just a medium tone stain. Thankfully we like rustic, so that will be on trend.

If I like something, I also don't consider it "dated" even if others do. A lot of people probably think everything in our house looks dated, except for maybe the subway tiles in our kitchen and bathroom which seem to be currently on-trend (at least on line). We have lots of old furniture, some nice and some things that are more sentimental than nice, mixed with newer mission style furniture.

I can appreciate new, on trend furnishings and decor in other people's homes, but don't aspire to that look for our home. I especially love old things with history, and usually go to my favorite flea market or look on Craigslist when I need or want a "new" piece of furniture or other home decor, only buying new when I can't find what I want used. I don't like shopping in general, but love browsing my local flea market where I've found so many cool treasures :)

Hi Nini804....I found your house pics after my exhautive search for white paint. I was wondering what type of SW paint you used on your cabinets and trimwork. Was it Proclassic Semigloss, Satin or something else? I have to pick by today and I want durability, but no oil because of yellowing. Your house is stunning!!! Crossing my fingers that you'll see this thread :)

Our house had one bathroom on the first floor (before our addition). It has melon green 1950's tile, which was beautifully done. It is one of the tile colors from that time period that still looks great (unlike the pepto-bismol pink tile from my parents home). We have kept it with no intentions of changing it. Our 1950s kitchen, well...that is a different story.

Hi Joviboys, so sorry I missed this! Our trim in SW Extra White (or Super White, gah...can't remember) but it IS oil based. Our builder uses oil based paint for trim in all of their custom homes. So far no yellowing in 5 years. We used the factory finish white for our cabs (maple) and matched the trim paint to the cabs. Hope this helps!! Thanks!

Joviboys, sorry I missed your paint question. That is exactly what we used on our kitchen cabinets a few years ago. Great paint, durable and non-yellowing. I highly recommend it.

I did my TV room in Pierre Deux Country French style. The walls are yellow and the fabric and accessory colors are yellow, red, and blue. Toile curtains, rooster lamp, etc. I still have the Pierre Deux catalogs and look through them occasionally. I think that the colors are cheerful.

The other thing that I still like is the hand-painted Laura Ashley tile that I have in my kitchen backsplash. It's about 20 years old.

Would love to see your tile