Ta-Ta Tired Trends

The Powers that Be have declared certain home decor trends as out of date, kaput, over, finito and officially over. Some are obvious, and others may surprise you. 

No more avocado green

EASY START: 
​Harvest gold or avocado green anything. The 1970’s can keep these colors of the past.  In fact, a form of avocado green was officially named the world’s ugliest color! 

​Chances are you’ve replaced your avocado green refrigerator, and recovered your harvest gold couch by now.   I told you that one was easy. 

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Time to paint over the sponged walls

EXPUNGE THE SPONGING: 
 I still remember someone's kitchen where four different people had sponged with totally different techniques.  Today it is not a fresh look, and it instantly dates a room. Think of it this way… we do not wear the same clothes we had 20 years ago. Likewise, our walls need to "wear" a fresh coat of paint. EXPUNGE the SPONGED walls.

PLAID EVERYTHING: 

​When I was growing up one of our houses had a den with plaid wallpaper. And admittedly, I purchased a plaid sofa to go along with the whole shabby chic look.  Yes it was a “look” once upon a time, but we’ll leave the plaid to Jonathan Scott, of the Property Brothers.   Oh excuse me. what were we talking about again?  

BAD BLINDS

Specifically, vertical blinds over your patio door.  In our first house we had those vertical patience-testers that seemed to have a mind of their own. They were tricky to open and close---- and for no apparent reason one would always get stuck or decide to rebel by turning the wrong way.    Today, there are so many more attractive options. You can visit SelectBlinds.com, 3dayblinds.com or go to your local home improvement center. (Last week I had a good experience with Lowes, cutting to measure in store.)   Life's too short to fight with bad blinds. 

KEEP IT REAL

The next thing that must go - those ginormous silk floral arrangements. They were as tall as my hair in the 90’s.  I know, I know.  Back in the day we had so much fun spending an hour in Michael’s, pulling together perfect silk flower arrangement. Take those same skills and make a REAL floral arrangement. It’s so much nicer and there are health benefits to having something fresh. So keep it real when it comes to flowers.

POPCORN CEILINGS

​This one also goes without saying. Keep the popcorn to the movies. With extra butter, please.

​ADIOS TO MATCHING WINDOW VALANCES

And goodbye to those custom cornice boards that were upholstered to match your room.  Take down those valances and cornice boards, and you’ll dramatically bring in more light to your room. This is one of the easiest ways to update a living room that costs you nothing.  

PAST PRIME PINE

​Pine furniture, that is. Remember the 80’s and 90’s when honey colored pine was everywhere? Do you still have golden honey pine that's past its prime? (Hey - I'm a poet & you didn't know it).  

Consider refinishing it. Antique it. Chalk paint it. If you have a pine hutch, remove the doors, and paint the back a bold color. Or wallpaper the back of the hutch with a pattern from your room.   Re-purpose Pine that’s Past it’s Prime.

Last but not least... 

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 LET THERE BE (NEW) LIGHT

In the bathroom, it’s time to replace those HOLLYWOOD STYLE lights.   It’s very economical to replace them (<$200).  Check out LampsPlus.com, or Lowes.com for budget friendly lighting.  ​If your bathroom lights were installed when Robert Redford’s movie THE STING came out, it’s time to replace them.  

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Let go of the old, worn-out decor trends and refresh your space.  Happy decorating,

​~Alana Light