@Storybook Homes - Beams, tiles, etc for ceilings - Really? I hadn't gotten that vibe, but it will be interesting to see it. Admittedly, _I_ like these sorts of things, but I come from something of a "subculture" that still values post and beam constructions, etc. So anything that nods to construction days before 2x4's and sheet rock makes my little heart flutter.

Do you consider the dark greens Lori mentioned as part of the larger "jewel tone" trend? And do you see it going as far as people painting kitchen islands in deeper, less neutral tones? (I tend to read Navy and Hunter Green as more "neutral" than other colors, because they play well with so many other things) Are we talking entire rooms painted deeper shades, or more bedding, furniture, etc, while walls stay a bit less daring?

@Lori Sawaya - I hadn't thought about lines discontinuing stain colors after years of poor sales. That would make sense. It tends to go by me, since I'm used to Dad just using a collection of aniline dyes most of them time. Those, by their nature are custom mixes. Using commercial stains (which have the advantage of reproducibility) does limit the palette a bit. And I think many people don't appreciate the trend cycles for wood tones. When you think back from MCM very red tones, through the blondes that went very VERY ashy (usually from bleaching agents) and then into the super dark stains, on to country oak, pickled oak, honey oak, maple, and then into the Espresso and on to grey tones... Very few things really DO date something more than the tone of the wood stain. Personally, I still prefer a stain that has a bit of warmth to some of the really greyed down tones that have been more popular lately. Or even just unstained wood, especially if it has it's own character. Flame birch, tiger maple, etc.

Agreed with the white. The whole white trend has been too MUCH white for me from the very beginning. Possibly because my mother was one who tended to want everything white. And I've always wanted at least a bit of color. Well, white IS a color and the right white is important. I also think this is sometimes where the better brands of paint really shine. The whites are "richer" - if that makes any sense at all?

The whites are "richer" - if that makes any sense at all?

Paint has a visual "hand". A top tier grade of paint will make a color look better. For example, SW's Cashmere in matte. It's pretty and it makes color look prettier too. On the flip side, I don't care for the final finish you get using Behr. It's not so much "good" paint vs. "bad" paint. For me, pretty matters.

And, yes, stains go thru trends too. The grayed, driftwood look was never a good choice, IMO. It's pretty but limiting.

Not only are color palettes limited, the trades are out of practice too. Stain has always been more a craftsman level any way. More experienced tradespeople often do know how to mix it on site - if you can get on their schedule, it's not going to be cheap. Because you have to understand different species, how to prep, how to apply, how to finish. It requires specific knowledge and skill. I started buckling up for the shift to stain about a year ago. Been specifying "natural", unstained look for the species and a lighter iteration of your typical Jacobean.

I was in a few stores the other day, that have already started to put out their spring decor, bedding etc. What I am seeing in my area, are a lot of pastels. Light aquas, light corals, light blues, light yellows, etc. However, I am also seeing on other shelves in the same stores, dark teals, dark greens, dark blues bright yellows, bright greens, lots of rust. I saw nothing in the gray tones. I do like gray, but, it has been so overused now for a while. I saw nothing beige, and that suits me fine, since I detest beige. The pastels, and the brighter colors I saw were not muddy colored, which, also suits me fine, since to me, there is nothing drearier than some of these popular muddy toned paints. I do like white, but, it has become sort of boring and overdone. I am seeing a lot of shades of aqua,and teals and turquoises, which is fine by me, since that is my favorite color, as long as the shades are clear,and not muddy looking. Passing by one furniture store, I saw a few displays in the window, with a lot of black. It will be interesting, to see, once stores are well stocked. It wont change anything in my house however, since I dont follow trends, and my house is slightly boho.

@cat_ky, I'm not a "beige" girl either, but I do like the warmer whites that I'm seeing more of now:

I'm also a fan of clearer colors, although I'm learning that it's necessary to take them down a notch or two for large areas of paint on walls or they tend to go almost neon. Colors that look quite grey on a paint chip go up quite a bit more intense.

Even the cream/beige thing can be overdone. I think it needs either a lot of wood or some black to keep things from looking like your living in a vanilla malted.

I do hope we return to more color and personality in any way we can.

I have a crazy theory that the problem is finding a new formula that is easily translatable for everyone. I think gray plus white and reclaimed wood, repeated a million times on HGTV is something people can work with even if they have little interest in decor. Once things become more nuanced, or there are more elements to consider it becomes harder for people to visualize the finished product and it can't be done overnight as easily or inexpensively. I think one of the reasons people are so obsessed with kitchens is that there are a limited number of elements for them to think about and combine.

Holly, those rooms you posted are perfect for me. Give me a slightly warm white and pretty colors grounded with beautiful wood and lovely textiles and I am a very happy camper. Entire houses done in gray or beige depress me to no end.

People do seem hungry for a new trend if the SAME potted Christmas greens on all the door steps and the LARGE vertical one word signs on barn wood on porches are any indication. I second the vote for color and personality. Gray/beige/pastels just not for me.

I was going to opine on the power of tv and the internet making design accessible to the masses.

Then I thought about it a moment and realized this is not new. The antique transferware I covet was a way to produce a facsimile of china for the masses. And if it hadn't been, there wouldn't be so much of it around for me to find. :-)

I suppose it doesn't matter if it was Sears, or Pottery Barn, or Home Goods - there will always be someone there to provide Mass Decor. Though I am wondering if somewhere, 50 years down the road, there will be an active trade in "vintage wood signs with vinyl lettering!"

Of course, the other side of that coin is if you're NOT following the crowd, sometimes it's challenging to find things. You either have to be a persistent shopper or willing to pony up for custom. I've had the largest problem with lighting. To quote one lighting designer, "Half of the catalog is MCM, the other half is 'modern farmhouse/industrial' because that what's selling."

I'm using a robin's egg and a warm white throughout our new build, with some touches of wallpaper here and there. I'm planning for bits of red in the furnishings (although I couldn't quite carve enough out of the budget for some stained glass... Poo.) Paint is easy. Cabinets are not an issue, because the cabinet maker does custom colors. Hardware is actually a little more challenging, along with lighting. I'm not interested in the "hot" new metals.

I AM curious at what all the "best new development" houses are going to be wearing, while I'm busy dressing mine in something vintage. ;-) But, let's face it, most people either do not WANT to troll flea markets and antique stores in search of the perfect piece. They might like to look at a room that has been pulled together from items that are new, old, or otherwise have purpose. But they're at a loss as to how to DO it. It's much easier to take a room that has little "price tag" icons on each thing in it that can be easily purchased online. It also comes together much more quickly. It can take years to find all the bits and bobs that make one of those special rooms special. And they want a room that's done NOW.

"I know everything" (c, Sandy Pruel's tatoo, "Golden Chain")

no, really, I read too much of these articles, and I usually know ahead too, because of high end magazines etc.

Complaints already began,and subway tile is going bye bye, and wood stain is back-but pretty, new wood (sorry Becky.,still taken with your different,new brass))..well nice wood is always nice, whenever if you ask me, and I have favorite wood stains that I prefer-which in darker camp would be walnut and teak, and in lighter camp, unstained cherry, maple and white oak (quarter sawn)

They show quite a bit of plywood used lately-and I agree sometimes the beauty of material is being exactly what it is ,not trying to mimic anything.

I'd love to have stained kitchen, and would have it under different circumstances.

I also adore combo of wood plus color. I'm like that since I was 25 and saw it for the first time at some friends' house. was something made in Spain. I got hooked ever since. I have it too, just not in the kitchen. Kitchen was too small to be visually chopped too much. So the wood is floors. Of course I wanted to do butcherblock too. Didn't happen. And my tiles were supposed to be patterned but didn't happen. Well I have there plants and ceramics and whatnot so still it's a warm kitchen.

The tones and colors will get richer-they already did. White already's out of big favor, but I love white anyway, when it's applied right, well I love all the colors-for me they just need to be on the warmer side, mostly. So no matter how many people will love navy and all sorts of blues-I'll admire it in other people's houses, but will keep my own blues to small quantities. Unless I find myself in a very cool teal house. Or something. I don't change whatever works, never ever-I adjust. If something beautiful and works with the house-it stays.

Greige will still be in-how else folks will bridge between old and new? Most people simply can't afford it. Will be warmer greige.

(thanks for that because all the listing with Tuscan tiles and cool gray walls seem so, so very sad. House looks like it's been beaten..against its will)

Luckily for me because as you all know I'm a big lover of greige and taupe..they make me special calm kind of happy, they always did.

I probably prefer all things a bit muddier and murkier. Though I do love scarlet, and cobalt, and emerald..but so much depends on the surface. Jewel tones beg for depth and richness. As if they were jewels. So yes, velvet..and glass..and very good paint..plants of course! ok I overexcited myself lol.

Of course jewel tones are in. Again, for several years already.

I love so many colors and have them all too, and the more colors one's got, the easier it is to sneak another one, so all their corals and terracottas and marigolds and greens-I have them all, and more. I do love certain pastels(pink!!), and I love red..I guess because they become me and uplift me-I color my hair red for the past ten years..and I love black and white,..and I like plants and books..and fabrics and prints..and wallpaper already is in again for years and they already say "no, actually we love wall murals better" like it can't be that person loves all of it. You can love everything-and it will whether work in your place or it won't. It's okay, one can love at a distance too.

Or if to listen to them-one just has to choose between gallery wall and big art, like it's impossible to like every art in many forms..or one has to choose which plant to love-fig tree out, succulents out, some pampas grass in, like pampas grass is "fresher"-no, I love plants, they're living things, our contract with them is different, and it sounds mighty stupid to me when some are "in" and others are "out"..if it grows in my house under my care it's in. Same with art-I don't buy anything that I want to get rid of. And it takes me years to collect it.

As for different tiles-I'm a huge tile lover, I'm a tile junkie you might say. Tile junkies have to pay..like, a lot. So it is what it is. Can't splurge everywhere. Even my compromises were costly enough. And I like handmade tiles. And backyard hardscaping still awaits me. Will be thousands even if I severely restrict myself. It also depends on a house of course, and ours is styled Spanish Ranch, so I have this element of "noblesse oblige" when I decide on tiles.

Would it be mcm-I'd choose different tiles-and have huge fun too.

In short, everything that they say is now in-it's already in, and it's been in, it's just they didn't proclaim it before, and not everybody's paying close attention, or looks everywhere for inspiration, etc.

Terazzo is in(thanks goodness. even though I've nowhere to apply it. brings back happy memories), and many cool things.

I swear that was supposed to be a very short post..don't know what happenned. Maybe coffee. Ah. I love coffee color too. I drink mine with cream. Lots of it. So that's a happy color to me. A result of strong coffee plus lots of cream. Maybe it's tan?

Holly, I love the sound of your robins egg blue.:-)

I think personality- as much as we wish-can't be on trend. Or out. Of course it's the most important thing-after providing shelter and all, what a house is for, after all? It reflects people that live there, their life, the life of others before them if old, the hints of life yet to come.

And people are vastly different as houses are too..so it simply can't be same. If it's same it's sad a bit, and probably means something. Not that people don't have personality, but maybe they identify too much with others in terms of decor, or they just don't tie this need to express themselves to houses, or they're simply not into it which is fine. It's just that here maybe many feel a house should be such and such. Because of so much info, and TV, and all. So maybe comes from sense of obligation a bit. If people have time, inclination, mood to get excited-they'll be. But it needs to be their own excitement. To become their own excitement. At certain point.

I'm incredibly inspired by fearless people for example. People with wild imagination. Or people with brilliant restraint. In short I can get inspired by absolutely everything if it strikes me like art would strike me, or a book, or a song-something that hits me and talks to me and amazes me and I know I wouldn't be able to compose it myself. So I can't take it and replicate it, and wouldn't want to either. But I borrow something. Fearlessness sometimes, restraint sometimes.

We're multi-faceted beings, and sometimes it takes time to figure out what exactly you want your house to reflect. I went from wanting it to be a happy place that balances me out -to wanting it to reflect me in all my glooominess. But it took many years to get to that point. And I didn't accomplish it all to my satisfaction yet.

So people need time too, so I think. It's not a matter of a trend, it's a matter of our own lives, well, happenning.

Well, trends simplify things for people who get overwhelmed by all the choices. And trends allow manufacturers to focus their resources on those things that will sell best. It's a feedback loop, really. I don't know if the process has been sped up or given greater penetration by "influencers" - rather that means Joanna Gaines or various blogger/designers.

I think it's certainly true that some designers have their own particular hobby horses, as well. It will be interesting to see if Joanna can do anything other than her signature style, now that it's fading out. But she's not the only one. I've noticed any number of designers on Houzz that have their own little hang-ups. One routinely recommends the same light fixture, as if it's the only one in existence. A couple of others regularly make dogmatic pronouncements based more on their own preferences, than those of the homeowner. So, nobody's immune from it. It's probably more rare to find a good designer that can really work with styles not her own and off-trend.

Holly I had a personal.. epiphany? about wanting things to be done.

I always prefer things to be done. Otherwise it weighs upon me heavily, and it's hard to be calm, until I know I finished the task. So if somebody asks me to do something and adds "but it doesn't have to be right now"-to me it's still right now, because otherwise I wouldn't know peace and quiet.

It's interesting though that one of very few areas where I'm okay with things not being done, taking my time, waiting for months, sometimes years etc until I find just the right piece-is decorating.

And it landed on me-that's why I'm my stronger version when decorating.

Because I'm not anxious as much for things to be done.

And not being anxious..it's probably empowering.

Maybe to others is a normal state. Not being anxious (I hope so, for their sake))

But to me it's an exception of sorts. Not feeling that pressure. One feels lighter..and it's much easier to enjoy something when you feel lighter. Oh yes, of course I think hard, and consider, and all that. But it's different. It comes from a place where I don't have to. It's very much my choice. So I can get childish, or angry, or giddy, or stubborn-and the world won't crumble, and other people won't get hurt. It's safe. And where it's safe one has a luxury to wait.

I'm sharing this not because I think my enlightments should be all written down lol and read.

But because I'm grateful.

It's nice to understand things from a different perspective. Your post allowed me to see that perspective.

As for Joanna-I read somewhere an interview with her (about her book that I didn't read) which made me think "she's ready to do something else".

People evolve.

Even when they have strong signature style. They get exposed to new things, they travel, they see context they weren't aware of before, etc.

Of course I admire endlessly those who can do just about everything. I think though, like you-they're much rarer to find.

There is this brilliant small novel in Russian, it's called "Novel with cocaine".

Nobody knows much about the author. He never wrote anything else-as far as we know. Who exacly he was, what happenned to him-several versions existed.

One of them is that Nabokov wrote the novel under a pseudonym-even though he was the one to critique it and scorn. As a mystification of sorts.

Another, later version, establishes the author as another Russian emigree, unknown to the public, who took a pseudonym, sent the novel to a magazine -and the novel indeed got published and became famous.

So maybe sometimes it's already easier to imagine somebody incredibly gifted to do something very different for whatever reasons -than to accept there was a mysterious person who wrote just one brilliant thing.

Joanna is not a Nabokov of design and decor lets put it mildly. But her name can help her to do whatever she wants to try next (and it seems to me she wants to be more.. eclectic, less one note thing)-or to become an obstacle, as folks got used to expect from her this and that. I guess we'll see.

Storybook Home, you reminded me))

I saw a bedroom set on Nextdoor. Amazing set, really. So much storage and all, and it has a bigger bed, and lights and mirrors and shelves and charging station and drawers and whatnot. And armoire that comes with it can be taken to another room, to break it some. And it's oak.

And I know people detest it(not a big fan myself, because I prefer finer grains..I did like the set because my MIL always moans about lack of storage and brings in many small useless dressers and such that line her room on perimeter without solving any problem, just adding clutter. )

And my MIL loved it and we bought it for her. Very inexpensively given it's a very well made set.

Obviously had to pay for the movers too.

So the movers said to my husband "Why did you buy this furniture??"

I wouldn't be suprized if they'd also advise him to paint it white, or to gel stain it darker asap, or something))

That was funny..

Yes, one pays a lot more for certain different things. Either in money, time, or hassle. Often all three of them.

It helps to know/realize what one loves-I figured out I love MCM couple years before it became a thing, so my finds were very cheap.

But I didn't know it was called MCM. I knew nothing about trends at all. Or history of it, or anything.

I figured it out backwards-after spotting a table and chairs in a high end store I really loved and seeing they want 12 K for the table. It said"Made in Denmark" though

I didn't like any other tables. And 12K was well a bit of a lot.

So I googled "furniture made in Denmark"

it lead me to MCM

and I realized that a lot of it was present in my childhood home and that must be the reason I love it, not all f it, but many things.

and then I went on Craigslist and started hunting..))

Then of course one knows of more and more places..I read more and more, and I wrote down names of flea markets and vintage shops and websites and whatnot.

Because beforehand I didn't know them at all.

Eight years back-I thought, well more or less, there are just "Pottery Barn" that I can't really afford, and "Bob's Furniture" I don't really want anything from.

I even completely missed that we lived so very close to the great antique strip mall when on East Coast. Now I constantly see stuff from there on the internet)) Then I could walk for 20 min and find myself there-but what the hell did I know?

It's true I didn't need all that info back then that much , because I didn't have a new absolutely empty house I could call mine.

But when I needed it-oh I learned how to source stuff pretty quick. Learning happenned quick. Sourcing happens slowly..))

Vintage or just second hand-you most likely pay in time and hassle

Handmade-you pay in time and money

There are lucky finds..like vintage handmade..these are my favorites..

but all of it can be additional money and hassle and time. Lighting might need to be tweaked. Sink has to be somehow fastened. Etcetera...

I'm already not saying anything about craftsmanship. Our remodel looks great in some spots and pretty cheap in others. Depending on who was doing what..

Even backsplash in the kitchen-it's easy to say which wall was done by the lead guy, and which by his assistant))

ETA: note to self-easy on that coffee