Recognizing trendy and what will be dated (long, with pics)
plllog
10 years ago
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Sectional Trendy or Classic
Comments (7)I agree, it depends on the style and its function, too. If your aim is comfort and space to sprawl when watching movies with the whole family, a relaxing girls' night around the coffee table full of snacks and drinks, or a super cozy nap, then I think a sectional should be a mainstay....See MoreWhite risers on stairs - trendy? Ok w/ stained trim?
Comments (9)My risers got scuffed by the floor installer that did the upstairs flooring, but fortunately the scuffs washed off. We are mostly a no shoes in the house family which helps. I did think if scuffs became a problem, I would change out the stair tread rugs to a runner. Take your time making changes. I disliked the dark 70's woodwork when we moved into our house and as I mentioned before, we painted trim white and replaced cabinets and doors by what was then the popular thing - medium oak. Now, less than 20 years later, I hear on HGTV and on Houzz that oak is "out". I actually thought about replacing our trim with oak in the 90's, but my environmental side got to me - couldn't see changing out perfectly good woodwork. I'm glad I did not because I would be really "dated' now after spending a fortune trying to "update". Fortunately, I like the medium tone oak and do live in the midwest which doesn't follow trends as much. The white trim I have keeps it from being too much oak or too 90's. Also, I am not worried about being in style - but finding my own style. If you "update" for today, you will be "dated" before you know it. 90's houses have a lot of woodwork in part because people wanted it - tired of the scanty millwork and doors of the 60's and 70's - especially the down economic times of the 70's which resulted in often cheap looking trim. The 90's were also a time of "being natural" and wood and other natural materials were desired. I think in cases where this was done well, it will come back - like people appreciate a craftsmen style woodwork. To make your home seem less dated and more timeless, do what you can to make the house charming - in your own style. Here is some unasked for advice about kitchens. When we replaced the 70's kitchen cabinets with the 90's ones, we did not have any extra money so did not add additional cabinets - for which I am glad now. One way to help keep a kitchen more in your own style, even if your style changes, is to use more "furniture" and less built-ins - which is what I did. So if there is too much oak in the kitchen consider some of the following: Remove one wall of cabinets and replace with a hutch or pie-safe that you like. Remove some upper cabinets and replace with some open shelving. Convert a cabinet to a display cabinet or to a plate rail cabinet. Replace panel with glass (or metal lattice, or other) in a couple of cabinets. Change out your vent hood to something your style - could be wood, copper, stainless T - whatever suits you. Take down any wood valence over the sink. Here are two very non-Houzz glam pictures of my kitchen - which I am in the middle of a refresh, so not complete. Pie safe and "island" rather than more wall cabinets. Glass door - actually already had that. I refinished cabinets. Wood stove hood is sitting in living room waiting for carpenter to install it:) Cabinet was retrofitted with plate rail and spice boxes. Next will be new counters (samples are on the counter) and backsplash, farmers sink, and bridge faucet. This may not be your style as you prefer more contemporary, but shows that you will need to be able to refresh now and then but can work with the good basic aspects of your home - try to avoid trendy - unless you love it. It also shows again how white trim can lighten the house and work with the oak....See More'trendy' kitchen??
Comments (34)So if you really hate the honey oak and like the counters then get those cabinets painted! You should love your kitchen. Just want to reiterate that bright white will likely stick out like a sore thumb. Warmer colors will look better with the style of home you have and with the knotty pine. I live in a log home and white just sticks out like a sore thumb, creamy neutrals look great though!...See MoreKitchens: Dated.. Not Dated.. A discussion.
Comments (108)Mrs. S - Aw, thanks! You're very sweet. I view it through a bit of a lens of the world of costume, too - but further back that Jan and Anglo. I used to do quite a bit of research into historical dress. (16th century continental Europe, primarily). And trends moved SO much slower then, because everybody kept clothes for years/decades. Not just a particularly good piece or two. And there was a lively trade in used clothes. Then, when a piece had worn out beyond repair, it was cut down for someone else to wear. Heck, when I was small, Mom used one of Dad's old Navy uniforms to make me a little wool jumper. She said you couldn't buy fabric that good, so why waste it? Now, I'm the first to admit that for every dress I make for my girls, then save carefully in the closet, there are probably a half-dozen jeans-and-t shirt outfits at least. To say nothing of the extra cheap Old Navy and Wal-Mart items I put on the little one, in the full knowledge that she'll destroy it before she outgrows it. But most of us sense, deep down, that translating that "throw away" attitude to something as big, fixed, and expensive as a kitchen just feels... wrong. And I think that's what's at the heart of the recent fixation on what is and is not "timeless." We are perpetually bombarded with images of gorgeous new kitchens and the subliminal message that if we don't have something that looks similar, we're somehow "behind." Which is the impetus behind a lot of the posts here trying to make all sorts of kitchens from all sorts of eras into "modern farmhouse" kitchens. All the while, trying to rationalize the mad rush to change by insisting that this or that element is "timeless." It isn't, and it won't be, especially if none of it relates to the house as a whole but it helps us quiet that little voice inside going "Waitaminnit... a shiplap backsplash won't make the morning toast more quickly and it really doesn't GO with my marble fireplace..." I'm rather hoping (possibly somewhat in vain) that we'll see a... hmmm... slowing down? is maybe the right phrase?... in the constant flurry of ripping out quality elements only to install cheaper, but "of the moment" replacements. Is there hope in the "slow living" movements? Every woman's magazine since the invention of women's magazines has been a constant parade of tips on how to improve the nest. But that advice has gone from "Here is a pattern for the cutest vegetable trivets to crochet!" to "Tear out and replace your backsplash in a weekend!" So here I stand on my dusty little wooden carton in the street corner amongst the pedestrians rushing about, trying to hand out pamphlets with snippets from Gil Schafer's "A Place to Call Home" and Russel Versacci's "The Roots of Home" in the hopes of restoring a sense of time and place to our built environment. Rather than trying, like Disney's Tomorrowland, to constantly represent tomorrow while tomorrow keeps catching up - and then passing by. Leaving a slightly tired and "dated" looking Tomorrowland that isn't quite even Todayland....See Moresayde
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