a few months ago, I got an email from my friend
Erin at “House of Turquoise” that went something like this:
” I’ve been talking to an editor at Romantic Homes magazine about a feature they are doing for their summer issue about turquoise decor. They are in love with this photo of your living room…..”
How exciting to open up the August issue of Romantic Homes and see
This photo was taken shortly after I got the Missoni for Target Chevron Ottoman.
I remember seeing the ottoman it in the August 2011 House Beautiful and being obsessed.
I waited and waitied for September 12, the day the Missoni for Target line was revealed. I went online first thing that morning..ordered my beloved Ottoman and then took the kids to school. After I dropped them off I got itchy to see what else might be available from Missoni at Target and the site, apparently…so did the rest of the world because when I logged on ….due to the MASSIVE influx of traffic …. Target.com had indeed crashed!
I am always fascinated by TRENDS. The things we covet, clamor for, stand in line for, shut down websites for. I originally purchased the Premier Village Blue Chevron fabric on the Living room sofa to make pillows for my Living room. I lay a swatch down on the sofa and thought…
“HMMM, How cool would that look on the WHOLE sofa?”
I had not seen one like that before and Chevron at that time, was still called “ZIG ZAG” by me. My upholsterer is amazing and incredibly affordable and when the sofa returned A-NEW it blew my mind! A very average inexpensive BORING sofa had been transformed into a snappy, whimsical and Classy looking piece. It only became Trendy a few months later when Chevron went through the roof…
I am not at all against buying something that is decidedly Trendy…IN FACT, having spent the bulk of my decorating life on a budget, sometimes inserting a trendy accessory or color is a great way to stretch your Design Dollars. HOWEVER, I tend to go small…a little “trendy” goes a long way… accessories and colors….like painting this mirror The “color of the Year”- Emerald Green…This is a color I have always loved…but if something is called “trendy” to me or “the color of the year”…I immediately think…”well that will be OUT in one year!” I happen to adore Kelly/Emerald green, My High School Quote was “I LOVE Green…I really, really really love Green”. So I think it is safe to say that when theis wave hits the shore…I will still love my Green Mirror…and if not…$3.50 buys me a new can of spray paint.
…..rather than large expensive pieces so that when the Trend passes…I don’t have an Avocado over for 40 years.
Here are MY 5 “TRENDING” SUGGESTIONS…
1. NO MATTER WHAT – ONLY decorate with things YOU LOVE…whether it is “trendy or not” if you Love it, you will not care.
2. KEEP IT SIMPLE. Go small, BRASS is hot right now, but when I did all 3 bathrooms, I decided to stick with a more CLASSIC Polished Chrome rather than to put brass in ALL the bathrooms…except the tiny powder room. That faucet and the matching brass accessories cost Less than $100…and fun!
3. MAKE YOUR OWN TRENDS! – trends are just ideas that took off…and that does not mean that they are GOOD ideas…I have found that we Adults are way more susceptible to “Monkey see and Monkey do” than my teens are…in fact…my daughter will AVOID doing something simple because EVERYONE is doing it. DO SOMETHING UNIQUE AND YOU!!!
4. GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK FOR WANTING TO KEEP WITH THE TIMES. I have to chuckle when people say to me…”Oh I NEVER follow TRENDS”. Lets face it, unless you live in a Blank Box, at some point…you are following a trend. Blinds vs Curtains – Trend. Paint vs Wallpaper – Trend. White trim – trend. Following a trend usually means you are up to date…not living in the past, clinging to things that you did back then. Yes, some trends are more obvious…A Union jack Dresser is a pretty “Trendy” trend…and will more likely look dated in a few years…than say your Sisal rug which is more “timeless” trend…and I fear eventually Stainless steel will be as dated as my old Avocado oven one day.
5. IMITATION IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF FLATTERY. Decorating and keeping up with the latest styles and fashions is not supposed to hurt. And yet so many of us get all sweaty and anxious and acquire decisional paralysis when making decorating decisions. When I painted my Dining…now Living room Pink, I was not following a trend, I was painting my room in a color I loved and knew I would love for a long time. I found a room in an Old Domino magazine and copied not one, but three colors she used in her home. But because it is MY home, the room is MINE. The “look” is neither trendy nor out of date…it is just ME.