When you come right down to it, the greenest thing you can do is to leave your house alone and not redo spaces.

Same coin as air travel: one of the very worse polluters and contributors to global warming, but we still like to travel to far away lands.

eagledzines,

paper or plastic?

neither.

make your own grocery bags out of fabric from old clothes, sheets, etc. and plastic grocery bags.

And before you remodel your kitchen because you are tired of the cabinets or counters, have the insulation in your home checked.

Investing in insulation isn't fun or sexy, but it needs to be done.

Great "green" discussion here. Maybe someone want to start a new discussion thread, so those specifically looking for "green building" info can find it. It's an interesting and sometimes complicated topic.

I'm limited on time at the moment, so will only address #9, distressed furniture. Old and well aged furnishings have history and memories which can be blended into any environment. Distressed pieces can be a quick fix, but attempt to impersonate the real thing. My comparison being, why buy a pair of scuffed up, expensive, torn and dirty jeans when I already own old Levi jeans that are frayed, worn out in the right places and patched by me with denim from jeans beyond repair.

Interesting reading, but old post from 2013.

I will address open concept. People talk about it as if it means just one thing, but it could mean many different things. Your whole bottom floor could be 1 big room, which I am not a fan of. What is the point of having a separate living and family room, when they are right next to each other with no sound separation? Yet that is exactly what you see in a lot of homes. To me, open concept means I don't want my kitchen in a separate room; I want my kitchen connected to a living space because otherwise people congregate in the kitchen and never make it to the living space. So kitchen / dining table / a living space, i want to be one. But if you have offices, dens, family rooms, etc then those should be separate! My 2 cents.

We can't pass up addressing #9! Good distressing can totally be in a great design. I think there are 2 keys to successful distressing:

1. Artfully randomized distressing - with the actual distress marks focused where life would naturally make distressing. For example, on our wood countertops the distressing is lightly randomized throughout but with a focus on the edges because that's where a belt buckle would hit it day in and day out.

2. Don't Distress It All - if you get a distressed countertop and cabinet base for your kitchen island, try NON-distressed elements elsewhere. Distressing can be overwhelming (ie. Not believable) if it's on too many surfaces. You want to create ambiance not distraction.

These photos probably say it better than I can, though.

PHOTO CREDITS:
1.Distressed Black Walnut wood island by Craft Art with Design by Classic Cabinetry, TN
2.Distressed American Cherry island wood countertop by Craft Art with Design by Splash Kitchen and Bath.
3. Distressed Black Walnut wood island by Craft Art with Design by Karr Bick

1. I can't stand the stone and glass backsplash trend
2. I hate the accent wall trend, which no one uses correctly
3. I'm annoyed by two different cabinet colours

Okay, here are my positions on all of the above

1) Taxidermy
"Animal heads and fake animal heads with antlers on walls!" —Susan B.

Been around forever, needs to stay in the past, but it isn't going away. Hunters have the need to do this. I don't like sport hunters at all.

2) Open Layouts
"Open concept everything. We need some walls back." —Jessica B.

Some open is good and open lofts are well, the way to do lofts. My living room, dining room and sunroom are open to one another and it makes for a wonderfully spacious feeling and is great for having parties. My kitchen is semi open, just enough to pass things over a 9' tall window/counter space and closed enough so you don't see the kitchen mess during a dinner party.

3) Clichéd Design
"Attempts at Parisian design by putting an Eiffel Tower statue on a shelf and a black-and-white harlequin rug on the floor." —Lou L.

Decorating as if you just came back from vacation with a bunch of tourist junk is a strange idea. In that awful tv show "Revenge," one of the main characters living in a multimillion dollar house in the Hamptons has a chair with French calligraphy on it. The chair functions like a character in the show. It was recently ruined by another character in the show who wanted to damage the iron throne made of swords impact of the French calligraphy chair. I laughed and laughed. Wish I had some nice screenshots to post of both chairs and the iron throne.

4) Cookie-Cutter Kitchens
"I'm waiting patiently for the end of stainless-steel appliances and granite counter tops. What's next?" —Deb O.

Oh My God, yes. Please give us something else. Granite should be used for public buildings that are meant to last hundreds of years.

5) Obvious Signage
"The word 'eat' placed in the kitchen. Do we now require labeled rooms so that we know their functions?" —Carlye I.

Piss on the bathroom door, ugh. But I do have 'create' on top of my study bookshelves and I like it. Just enough to subconsciously push me to write, at least, that is what I hoped it would do.

6) Chalkboard Overload
"Turning every vertical surface in your house into a chalkboard." —Jennifer K.

Definitely a dumb idea. Not only looks ugly but creates allergy producing dust and dirt that goes everywhere.

7) Food as Decor
"Decorating with food! Enough with the bowl of green apples which no one ever eats." —Teedra S.

Now this is just fine. A bowl of citrus on the kitchen counter is just fine. People have to eat them of course and fake fruit is really gross.

8) Neon
"Don't start the neon trend. Leave the colors in the '80s where they belong." —Laura J.

Only if you are doing mid century modern which I would never do, maybe not even then.

9) Intentionally Distressed Furniture
"Painting gorgeous old wooden furniture white and calling it 'vintage chic.'" —L.W.C.

Painting furniture is fine. Gooping it up and then scraping off is not. And why would someone distress a kitchen countertop???? Germs are more abundant in kitchen than bathroom. Are the examples above of dented wood which is then properly sealed?

10) TVs on the Mantel
"Televisions hung above the fireplace." —Kelly J.

In my case, there was no place else. I will avoid it in future home. I am afraid as the tv is the hearth of the past, people will not stop doing this anytime soon.

Aja, Mosaic glass tile is gorgeous. Mine is pale aqua. Cleaning the grout is a problem on the floor which is where mine is. But floor mosaics have been around hundreds, if not thousand of years. Putting them on vertical surfaces like showers and backsplashes is fine. I paid a fortune for mine because it was new and there were no deals to be had. Any product can be installed or redesigned in such a way as to make a design disaster.

Personally, I do not like accent color walls, but they do not offend me. Personally, I love different kitchen cabinet colors.

I have now said my piece. I really, really wish a trend setter would do something about the kitchen stainless and granite like right away. Please.

Too many comments to scroll through all of them. I'm in agreement with just about all I've read. Has anyone mentioned soaring ceilings? I hate them and they are not fuel efficient. A lower ceiling makes the room feel cozy. Ten foot is fine but not taller. Frank Loyd Wright used lowered ceilings in certain spaces to convey a feeling of welcome and come-sit-down. I'm so delighted to find this thread. I thought I was alone in my abhorrence for all the pseudo
opulence, grandosity or whatever you want to call it. No wonder there are so many foreclosures; people trying to buy things they think they ought to have yet can't afford.

2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10

Any questions?

I say do what you like ,it is your home...kick out anyone that doesn't like it lol

Here here on the soaring ceilings! I never thought I liked them, bought a house with them anyway, don't like it. It's not cozy and after 10 years it still just feels weird to me. 12 feet, fine, but 16 or 20, no way!

Get this. I have the same honkin' ceilings. My husband fell off a ladder not once but twice while painting some years ago. He is still with us but what a scare! Something to think about.

The soaring ceilings are especially bad in a gigantic foyer that looks like a leftover set from Dynasty, where the foyer is out of scale with the rest of the house.

Guess what? I CHOSE granite in my soon to be new kitchen because .....wait for it...


I LIKE it! No I love it! I didn't look through a magazine or check with a designer...I actually made my own decision :) it's beautiful ,reminds me of the ocean and therefore makes me happy.

Now, someone p,ease help me off my soapbox as it clashes with the magenta shag carpeting and my lava lamp.:)

Oh and my point is just because a lot of people like a design or it's a " trend" doesn't necessarily mean it's dated,passé,bad,etc.

Unless it's a rag doll collection. They frighten the bejesus out of me.

Ok, time for more wine:)

I hAve a small foyer/ dresser area before the bathroom, it does add to the privacy as it is tucked away, but when the bathroom door is open, it opens to a large, nice bathroom.

I would really also like to see less sharp pointed coffee table corners, all for round or even oval- for me it's important to have a kid friendly home environment.

To help cozy up a room with a soaring ceiling: paint a darker color to help to visually lower it. Then add large palms around the sitting area to create a canopy.

Here's the problem with that and another reeason I hate them, you can't paint them yourself. You need a pro with scaffolding. I would have put wood on them to visually lower, but it's just too expensive when you have to hire people. My 12 foot walls I can paint myself just fine but not the 20 foot ones. Something for people to keep in mind.

I have a crazy high ceiling in my living room... Another whole family could live up there.... The bats liked it when they got in... But that's another thread.

Would old metal siding be cheaper than wood?

Maybe take some shots with a paint ball gun?

I'm tired of the " trend " of worrying about trends! It's your house, if you like it, get it! I just remodeled my kitchen with granite counter tops AND stainless appliances. Why? Because I like them. They are new to me! Earth tones? Yes, I like them. Not in every room but I use earth tones. I hate gray. It would not be in my home but I've seen plenty of beautiful photos of gray walls. It still doesn't mean I have to use that color. I also don't like subway tile. I guess that puts me in the minority. What one might see as tacky, another will find it as the perfect addition to their dream home!

Those ubiquitous pillows! Whenever you sit on a sofa or chair or go to bed you must move the ding-dang things and there never seems to be a place to put them. Oh, but the manufacturers and retailers love those pillows - -so easy and cheap to construct and even more so to dupe the consumers into paying a fortune for the useless things. (Yes, I have a few decorative pillows of my own, ever annoying.) When will we stop?

I have seen all these trends look good and I have seen them look horrible -- great design makes the difference. Why can't we just live and let live? If you love open concept (which I do) then have it. Same with all these "trends". Let's just try to appreciate the differences we all have and learn to live with each other's idiosyncrasies. After all, it would be a very boring world if we all liked the same things.

I was raised with old furniture (not antiques) with paint rubbed off naturally....think "shabby chic" in style now. I didn't like it then and I don't like it now.

Bathrooms and closets big enough to include a gift shop. Enough of opulence; it's overwhelming.

Busy mosaic back-splashes.

Soaring two story foyers in smallish houses.

How about desks/offices in a closet?

Does anyone know if an undermount kitchen sink in a granite counter top can be taken out. Against my better judgment I installed a stainless steel kitchen sink. Very nice style but I much prefer ceramic. I feel like I'm in a laboratory. Ugh!

barbara you'll get better help if you go up to the top of the page, click advice, and then fill in a box to start your own discussion.

Thanks. I need all sorts of help!

Double islands... promoted by cabinet makers and counter guys. Way too crowded and just is awkward

TVs in the fireplace of a "mansion."

https://www.houzz.com/photos/so-here-is-a-version-of-the-tv-set-up-i-put-a-52-inch-tv-in-the-fireplace-n-phvw-vp~36359721

Subway tile. Enough said. And I have 3 signs in my kitchen that I will not part with: "I DRINK COFFEE FOR YOUR PROTECTION" and "MANY PEOPLE HAVE EATEN IN THIS KITCHEN AND GONE ON TO LEAD NORMAL LIVES" and "WHEN THE QUEEN IS HAPPY THERE IS PEACE IN THE KINGDOM".

A few years later, and these trends are not slowing. At least where I live. I have no problem with granite, but the rest... Ugh.

I disagree.

I haven't seen any garden gnomes lately.

The prolific use of crystal chandeliers.

Eagledzines

Total agreement.

Crystal chandeliers in garages, storage sheds.....

Good morning,

I am in the process of building a 3000 square foot farmhouse in Vermont on 265 acres and leaving my 5000 square foot seashore colonial home on 2 acres at the Jersey shore.

As stated, they are two very different animals in size, shape, use, design, finishes and especially location.

The amount of marble in my current master bath will equal the amount of local quarried marble for my new front steps. The kitchen counters will be Vermont soapstone and butcher block.

Most times, our homes are a reflection of our environment as well as our personalities. I love walking into a friend's New York apartment and experiencing the modernist view of the world he inhabits.

I appreciate all the differences we bring to the table, literally.

Very well said, lorilundy! And thank you for reviving this long old thread which I have enjoyed reading through this morning. I think the important lesson is not to be caught up in trends, but to do what genuinely appeals to you.

If you take into account the basic design principles of unity/harmony, balance, rhythm, repetition, dominance/emphasis, symmetry, scale/proportion, etc. then your scheme will be a wonderful expression of your own personal taste.

I also agree that interiors which take into account their geographical locations are very pleasing. I remember the old Canadian tv show SCTV that used to have a recurring skit about Bob and Betty traveling to Holiday Inns around the world and all the rooms looked identical. Only the view out the window was different!

I'll vote for tv's over the mantel. It's uncomfortable AND like putting a black hole over what should be a focal point.

Open concepts are nice until you cook fish or onions and the smell permeates through the entire house. When you have friends and family over, there is no where for different conversations. Everyone has to be involved in the same conversation or has to compete because you can't hear. There is zero privacy and unless you have wool rugs and velvet curtains, everything just about echos. Great concept but it got old.

I don't have open concept but the smell of cooking still permeates the whole house. That said, I agree that open concept is easy to overdo. So many families on HGTV think it is so important to have open concept so they can watch the little ones while cooking. Well, in a few years, those little ones are going to be playing with their video games or noisy friends or watching TV programs that you aren't interested in, and they no longer need such close supervision, and you will be unable to escape all that while you make dinner or eat lunch or unload the groceries. I kind of like the privacy from my family of a non-open concept kitchen . And when we entertain I like being able to clear the dishes without having to look at the messy kitchen while we adjourn to a separate room to enjoy the rest of the evening.

susanalanandwringley, I agree! Smell will permeate no matter what but I have lived in both open concept and more of a segmented concept and I can tell you the smell lasts much longer with the open concept.

I also agree that I like the privacy. I think the idea of out of sight out of mind really applies..If the kitchen is closed and they can't see me, no one is bothering me for juice or whatever else it is they want! Also, its nice to have the kids able to watch/do/study whatever they want in the living room or dining room and I can listen to music in the kitchen and no one gets disturbed.

You are exactly right, It's great for little ones but they will eventually grow older and there will be no escape from their tv shows, video games, and from their (let's admit it) annoying friends!

i was at homegoods yesterday and they are still selling signs telling us to EAT. unfortunately i need a sign that says 'Don't Even THINK about opening that fridge'.

The one thing I'd most like to see go away is gray laminate flooring. As I browse real estate listings, it seems like two out of three listings have gray laminate flooring in at least one room, usually several rooms. I'm not overly fond of gray anyway, but that gray flooring has become a major pet peeve. Enough already!

Grommets