Didn't get the memo a/b bright colors at all. Here's in my neck of the wood, anything white-washed, rustic, grayed down, patina, pale & muted colors are in. Lots of linen, naked wood, If a piece is ornate (Eastlake style), it would be stripped bare. Darker piece with simple lines are paired with raw linen. Every where I look it's Belgian farmhouse. Axel is king. Zinc & marble table top paired with rustic legs, slipcover furniture, grain sacks, burlap, those gesso-ed mirrors & chandeliers are what I see in every store. Even Target has a whitewashed Gustavian inspired tray (which I rushed out to get *sigh*).

I think (okay I hope) that the next big thing would be the return of old English elegance -- Anglesey, you know. Darker rich furniture, plaid, velvet contrasting with white pristine linen. Antique leather, dark walls, etc...mahogany, burl, birdseye maple, simple elegance..

After the excess of 80s (lots of shiny lacquer) we return to the bare simplicity & minimalism of 90s (remember that Calvin Klein look??). After we are so sick of the Gustavian grey down look (can be quite depressing IMO), we would rush for the cozy & gentile style of the English country side...

Just a wild guest here you know. ;-D

A lot of designers work with, or are influenced by what comes on the auction market from estates, and by what is available that is not at the top of the heap price wise.

Mid-century modern (of the non-iconic designs) and Hollywood Regency have been around a while and are at peaking pricewise on the auction market.

The next wave of estate furniture that is coming onto the market (already is) is later 70s and 80s...disco deco etc.
Kelly Wearstler, Hollywood Regency queen, has moved onto 70s and 80s stuff.

The other thing that is commanding lower prices in the market is early 19th century American and English Antiques. I predict those pieces will be popping up more in the mags.

And pickled finishes and oak. Called white washed or cerused, now

I read somewhere that yellows were coming back too, don't remember where, but it was soft yellow or golden not the bright tones like marigold. I was tickled pink when I read it because it's one of my favorite colors. I'm thinking with the green movement, we're going to see a lot design using more natural elements that incorporates softer colors. And because everyone is trying to dial back on expenses, I heard sparse is going to get popular. I love paisleys and plaides. Blue's, greens and yellow just feel like home to me, so I sure hope whatever happens, those are part of the program cause if not, I'll just stick with being out dated.

Disco deco look is coming back??? noooooo! Every time I look at movies, family photos, or other 1970s pix, I wince. If I ever get to be dictator, I will abolish all pictures of people, rooms, and furniture of that era.

I personally look forward to learning the fate of stainless appliances.

I think larger family groups are living together to save money and raise children. So a home may have a central kitchen and eating area that seats 12 instead of a formal dinningroom. This would also be where you put the big screen tv. Little bedrooms with bunkbeds for the many people. 5 bathrooms will become a necessity.

Then I think cement counters in kitchens that have a 4" thick apron will become a monochromatic look. People will want to display lots of family photos, childrens art and family gathering areas will be a focus.

I say the future is going to be over populated with a lower class and a small ruling upper class. Homes will reflect this.

Not that white was every out of style, but I'm seeing lots more white walls in the decorating magazines now.

It seems I keep seeing what Bellaflora is talking about.....very Sweedish/French...white slips/ gray , etc. I love the look but can't afford or want to do a total redo of my house.

I don't really know what my style is....but fairly traditional maybe leaning towards English country. I like woods/ would love to have a paneled room!! velvets, paisleys, jacobean prints, wicker, textures, bird prints, dog prints, old sepia prints, etc.

Too funny, I was in Tues AM and overheard some ladies discussing that they still had some mauve they needed to get rid of in their houses!!

I think by sticking with what I consider to be the classics, I can do small updates but will never have to do major overhauls.

Smiles:)

Pink, pink & more pink...that's the color of the future! Just kidding!!

Judging by what I see around here, shades of buff & gold will be going strong for a while. They are by far the most used paint colors, from what I've observed.

I wonder about the stainless appliance trend too. I don't think stainless will go "out." I just hope other options will also become "in" again, & not be considered second rate for a change.

One thing I see coming along now is the mellowing of mid-century modern pieces with tribal, ethnic, earthy rugs, textiles, and accessories. The original modernists did this all the time...Picasso was greatly influenced by African tribal carvings and masks, for instance...and I think the bright-shiny-childlike-clinical side of modern has run its course. The use of ethnic textiles was a big part of '70s style, which keeps rearing its ugly head...
Another thing that seems to be happening is that the Scandinavian palette is being punched up with strong deep wall colors to change the background for all those cool textures and colors.

No upper cabinets in kitchens.

Doubt if I will see this, but I wish someone would come out with a form of ivory, bisque, almond, etc. for kitchen appliances....something that would be "timeless". I just do not like stainless steel, not crazy about black, and white is so "stark"....I really like the softer color with the wooden cabinets.

No kidding about the post on pink.....I have been seeing a lot of pink showing up in accessories and in the catalogs.
Just another version of "mauve"....what goes around comes back, only in a slightly different shade.....the avocado, in sage.....the country blue in the blue-gray....the yellow in golden....etc.

I like the oil rubbed bronze appliances, but don't know if they will catch on. I do not like stainless steel appliances.

I have read that in a bad economy, gray or other cool neutrals are popular.

I hope bronwynsmom is right !!!!

"tribal, ethnic, earthy rugs, textiles, and accessories " and " with strong deep wall colors to change the background for all those cool textures and colors." I haven't changed anything since 1986 or so when I went to Santa Fe for the 1 st time. I was a head over heals in love with the rich Southwest. I had already longed for a place to turn into my home away from New Orleans . I love the way I was able to incorporate the New Orleans, Southwest, Bungalow together. Throw in a splash of Persian and Caroline and voila...I don't read deco mags so maybe I am "off" LOL. I like it though.

I see color and lots of individual expression. As nicole expresses...when you have combo households you will have the eclectic look so that all feel comfortable. I love the idea. c

"Doubt if I will see this, but I wish someone would come out with a form of ivory, bisque, almond, etc. for kitchen appliances...."

Wow, I see bisque/almond/ivory a LOT in the stores, as much if not more than white or black, it's even in my own kitchen (all Kenmore aka Whirlpool or Frigidaire). I didn't pick it out, PO bought it all 2 years ago when he sold the house. I would rather have it all white because I think it looks cleaner - the bisque always looks kind of dingy to me, but that's my own taste. I'm right with you on stainless though, I did my years in commercial kitchens so I don't want my home to look like one!

I don't read current-style decorating mags, all the ones I read are more oriented toward restoration-type decorating (Old House Interiors, American Bungalow, etc.) and I've been throwing catalogs right into the recycling bin as soon as they come in the door so I'm not tempted to buy anything. Too much "socks and underwear" work to do and shortly we're going to have a car payment again, bleah. So, I couldn't really tell y'all what is or is going to be in or out because I don't even really know what is in now. :-) But, I do decorate by the mantra that if you're never actually IN style, you'll never be OUT of style!

I don't really agree with nicole that huge houses with 5 bathrooms and multiple families living communally are going to be "the next big new thing" though, except for younger people and families who've gotten themselves in over their heads financially having to move back in with parents (the boomerang phenomenon) who have existing homes that size, but I'm seeing the boomerang-ing happening just as much if not more WRT people with much, much smaller houses. I think that's temporary though, as soon as we get back into an economic upswing within the next couple of years people will want to get back out on their own, just as they did in the early 2000s after the dot-bomb crash. Remember that by mid-2003 many areas were already back into a housing bubble as people flooded into the RE market, just as they did during the 80s after that recession faded. I believe instead we're more likely to see more downsizing to smaller, less ostentatious homes (including lower-maintenance condos and townhouses as well as single-family homes) as people tire of caring for (and paying for) the ginormous houses and the baby boomers retire. We might see more in-law apartments and one elderly, widowed/divorced parent moving into a child's spare bedroom, but the demand for elder housing of various kinds seems to be increasing as so many retirees are trying to retain their independence as long as possible. My grandmother (in her mid-80s) lives in an over-55 apartment complex and the waiting list to get in there is 2 years long, and several over-55 subdivisions with smaller - lots of 2br2ba - houses have been built in my area in the last few years. Of course there will always be the wealthier folks who would just absolutely DIE if they didn't have at least 1500sf per person and bathrooms everywhere you turn, but that always has been and always will be the case.

Nicole, I think I understand where you're coming from with multi-family living and I pray it doesn't come to that.

Ttizzis....In the various jobs I've worked I see 3 or 4 generations living together, already, here & now!

johnmari....not bigger homes, one's with a central room, like a log cabin in the old days. Then multiple bathrooms. I've seen Japan & chinese apartments. I think this is our future. Lots of worker bees, not too many queens.

Only time will tell.

nicole - You're still going to be having a pretty sizable house for 5 bathrooms, though, which was the number you specified as "mandatory". (I doubt the "wet room" bathroom concept - where basically the entire tiny room, including toilet and sink, is a shower stall with a drain in the sloped floor, about the size of the average powder room - is ever going to fly here.) With very, very canny planning and the dozen people also specified in your original post willing to live in each other's pockets you could probably cram it into about 2500sf but it would be pretty darn tight. I've lived in several cohousing setups myself - out of poverty, as it was not an arrangement I enjoyed due to the noise and lack of privacy - so I do have some idea of the amount of space multiple families take up, especially if there are rambunctious children, and doubly so in a cold climate where there is no outdoor living space for a significant portion of the year. And we definitely didn't have 5 bathrooms. (2 bathrooms for 10 people was deeee-luxe, but we were still fit to kill each other by the end of the winter!)

What I'm seeing among my own family and friends is situations more like the following: 5 people (3 generations, 3 adults and 2 kids under 5) sharing a

I think this topic has really veered into the territory of another thread.

The original thread is about decorating trends and it is getting into the sociological...changing living groups etc.

palimpsest,

Very interesting observations!

Let's see - I stink about predictions of what will be in style because I stopped following and lusting after every new trend but I will give it my best shot.

I see.....

If people are still framing their black and white photo's they will be in white gallery frames w/ white mats instead of black frames. Or wood frames but still gallery style.

A move to using medium tone woods instead of the almost black stained woods.

Traditional styled tables in solid white (not aged or rubbed back).

Wallpaper will become mainstream again instead of just the 'hippest comeback thing' that you see in upscale decorating magazines.

And that's all I got folks!

I like Johnatemps vision! I love paneled rms. and I have been entertaining the thought of a plaid wallpaper sometime!

Johnmari, is the more upscale version those "planned communities" oriented towards walkability, mix of urban amenities and hiking trails, a commons with a fitness room, that kinda thing? Would love it, if I could afford it.

Bronwynsmom, do you have pics of the Scandinavian decor with deep wall colors rather than the pale neutrals? love the idea. The mixing of MCM with tribal/folk art and bright colors seems a no-brainer to me, too, given these pieces' original usage.

Stinky, Phoggie, no kidding about the pink, and what is with that? I'm a battle-scarred veteran of a deep pink wall (chosen by DH, who thought it was terra cotta, and don't ask me why I humored him) in my MBR. Good lord. Loathed it every time I walked into the room!

What do you all think of copper, as in appliances, range hoods, etc?

Why don't Americans have zinc-covered counters, do you think? pretty common in Europe, quite pretty, but much rarer here.
S

walkin, I would guess so, but the over-55 subdivisions around here are, like most ordinary subdivisions, waaaaaay out on the outskirts of towns - the downtown areas are already too built-up. The pricier ones have communal amenities like a swimming pool, gathering hall, playground for the grandkids, that kind of thing, but that's true for the regular subdivisions too. They're pretty much never within walking distance of anything though. May be different in other areas, of course. Over-55-restricted development in-town is usually apartment buildings (rentals or condos), which sometimes have some pretty impressive amenities and sometimes not, depending on how much money you have to throw around - just like any other apartment building, really.

I love copper and collect early 20th century copperware, but I don't think it's well suited to all homes when used in quantity. Can't go wrong with a rack of well-used (not all polished up to that weird bright orange-pink color) copper pots and pans in my book though.

I worked in a couple of restaurants with zinc-covered bars. I think they are unpopular here because Americans in general are not comfortable with extensive patination and then the wear on the patina (they do scratch and spot and blotch something fierce; even water and skin oils mark them up), heat marks, dents, seams, and other "defects", just like copper countertops which I've also worked around. If you wax the counter to keep a consistent appearance the wax layer is somewhat delicate and needs to be refreshed often to maintain its integrity in the face of scraping, scratching, and scrubbing. Having counters that are all spotty and beringed and worn-looking runs up headfirst against the whole Madison-Avenue-engendered American obsession with cleanliness, perfection, and having everything always looking "new". Some people do enjoy the "well-worn" look, but they're the relatively unusual ones, I think. While you can polish the tarnish off with a buffer and mildly abrasive metal polish and sand out the scratches with steel wool to get a uniformly shiny surface, zinc is quite soft and since it's only a thin sheet of metal bonded to a substrate, much like laminate countertop material, it can wear through if you're too hard on it. It's also wowzer expensive - $130-175 per square foot, and can go even higher if you want goodies like integral backsplashes or sinks, fancy edges, a seamless appearance on long lengths or corners, etc. - which isn't quite so bad if you're going to do your kitchen once and let it be for decades (or you just have pots of cash, of course, or perhaps a very, very small kitchen? LOL), but Americans usually remodel and do major redecorations more often than Europeans.

I'm really glad about the increasing turn to infill rather than exurbs -- building up rather than out, and increasing density rather than sprawl. Hope it continues.

Thanks re zinc: had no idea! Makes me think of some of AuntJen's threads about the concept of wabi-sabi. I wonder whether Americans will change our habits as/if the recession deepens...

Other predictions? Anyone want to take on wallpaper? (:

No, Walkin', I don't have pictures at hand, but if you research traditional Scandinavian design, you will see the better known pale painted furniture and pale grey or yellow walls, but you'll also see a kind of richly colored rustic look as well.

Wallpaper. . . ok. Wallpaper has never been out of style, it just depends upon what magazines you look at. If wall coverings have/had ever been out of style, the companies would have gone out of business the way that many granite and marble places did before the 1980s started a resurgence in natural stone.

Wallpaper and how it is used, wall to wall carpet and how its used; wood paneling, vinyl flooring, laminate countertops and even hardwood floors have all gone through cycles where they have been more popular or less popular across all levels of American society, and then there are periods where any of the above have particular niches at particular levels of socioeconomic status.