I have been seeing color and pattern offered in stores everywhere even IKEA offers a pink sofa in its new line. Ballads and pottery barn show the upholstered pieces in the base color as they have since before 2000 but they both and especially Ballard's offer tons of colored and patterned options to choose from now where as before the had maybe ten solid neutral options only. My Home Goods, pier one and TJ's have no white or beige to speak of and lots of navy, ikat or graphic patterned upholstered pieces. I am witnessing the opposite trend in Connecticut as you are I guess. Even blogs seem to be showing more rooms of color lately too IMO. The Norwegian beige trend has been over for a few years here ikat was hot about five years ago and thus now readily available in our discount stores.

I think you are right in this observation. Especially with the young and all the online flash discount shopping sites with rooms set up to take the guess work out. I have a young cousin who just bought a house and all her friends think she is brilliant with her gray walls, chrome bling lamp shade chandeliers, an odd bright colored chair, "glam" sofa and such. Same thing with another young cousin. They both also follow blogs of this taste.

I see the offering of color and people are buying it, but there hasn't been a full on change in trend or 'jump on the band wagon' for the masses which is what your Ballard's, PB, C&B and so on are aiming at. I think they are trying very hard to do that but it has been much slower than anticipated and harder.

I'm also primarily looking at their overall 'Look' that they are putting forward in their displays and in print and not the individual small items that they show 'as a part of the look'. While they may offer color & pattern options - that are not showing that as the 'Look'. It's an offering where you have to scroll through the fabric swatches.

Was it the 80's where mauve, teal and other colors were often shown on large items? Or what about when the Americanized version of French Country was all of the rage? You regularly saw that as a full offered look.

I understand what you are saying, I think, but I am not sure that I have the same experience or draw the same conclusions (?).

When I was young, the largest department store in the city we would go to had a full-service design department and usually 2, sometimes 3 floors of furniture.

The Design Floor had a perimeter of room schemes that were decorated in full-on decorator fashion down to accessories, and there was a "key" outside the room that identified the furniture and fabrics (and sometimes indicated that particular accessories were not for sale).

Some of the rooms lasted for years with only minor changes, some were turned over yearly. But some of the rooms with drapery and matching upholstery and wallcoverings must have been really expensive to execute. The store isn't going to throw out $5000 in drapery (in 2015 dollars) at the end of a "season". Also the décor/design floor was geared toward people who wanted to work with a decorator, wanted things somewhat customized, and were willing to spend 6 months to a year in the process. They weren't interested in seasonal changes. Things would've changed from the start of the process to the end. These were the people who often end up with time capsules.

The middle of the floor had some vignettes.

The secondary furniture floor just had furniture lined up on it and some semi vignettes, and occasionally there would be part of a third floor of furniture lined up with no ceremony for the sort customers who came in because they needed a new sofa, were going to make a decision at that time and wanted it delivered in a week.

The typical multi-line furniture store at the time was more like floor #2 or even #3. No particular cohesive look: little vignettes of various styles and/or brands, or parts of the store with ranks of sofas, or whatever, and some of the changes in style was based on the fact that this actual furniture was sometimes sold and moved out and replaced.

The only store I can think of that had more of a regular seasonal kind of thing was Pennsylvania House / Ethan Allen, because this was a single or limited-brand store where all their offerings were a cohesive look to begin with. Ethan Allen had a much stronger individual brand identity years back than it does now.

ABC in New York is the only store I can think of that is multi brand, multi price point, and a mix of full on vignettes and ranks of furniture that seems to turn over with fresh "looks" on a regular basis.

And, by the way, the last time I was in there the store was chock full of, pale pink, pale lavender, peach and bandaid color furniture fabrics and accessories, almost on every floor (Eight?).

I think that places like Pier One and Home Goods are interested in merchandising more than design or decorating. They are selling product and that product is whatever started out in design magazines at some point that has filtered down and captured popular fancy. They are riding the wave, and since they want you to keep coming back in they are going to constantly change product.

I think I see some of what you are saying in the fashion industry. When I was a teenager, it seemed like there would be a few new looks every season and what was "in" would be pretty strictly limited. Hemlines would go up and down, etc. It seems more fragmented now, with a bigger variety of options both available and touted as fashionable at the same time.

This is also seems to have happened with music. People no longer buy whole albums and there doesn't seem to be a monolithic top forty where every radio station is playing the same playlist--actually radio isn't even the near-exclusive source for listening to music and finding new music anymore.

So in my completely random, not very well thought out, opinion, fragmentation has happened in multiple industries over the last thirty years. I'm not sure that it is all due to blogs. I don think blogs play much role in music, for example. And I don't know how many people actually read decorating and fashion blogs. I occasionally read two fashion blogs--alike maybe once a month. I click on links here for home decorating blogs, but otherwise don't follow them. I have no idea what the stats are on how many people actually read blogs regularly.

Right, I think palimpsest makes an excellent point. That the consumer has much more direct access to a much wider variety of options has led to this fragmentation.

That is an excellent point indeed!

palimpsest, out of curiosity, was it Sloane's or Bloomingdale's? Many years ago, When my cousin divorced, he went into Bloomingdale's and just picked out rooms - I want that one, that one and that one, to decorate his new apartment. That must have been in the mid-70s.

Foxes, like yourself, i'm *done* as far as the decorating process and only add the occasional new placemats, candles, and small inexpensive items. This has helped keep me out of stores that I would normally shop for big ticket items.

I think of Home Goods, Tuesday Morning, and such stores as places to find the 'add ons' , NOT big ticket items such as furniture. Pillows, throws, accessories, lamps, the decorator items which are the final touches. Of course you could purchase your furniture at such stores, but it's usually pretty slim pickings and just furnishing a DR with 4-6 identical chairs could be a challenge.

As for blogs, which I totally enjoy, their goal is to *inspire*, but i'm sure there are individuals who will copy a room down to the last detail if they lack the confidence to wing it on their own, so in essence, they're a form of internet decorating magazine/book.(I think i've just reiterated what pal has said.) ;)

Honestly? I don't pay that much attention from year to year, but I do see a lot of color in the stores I frequent. If I walked in a store that was all shades of white and gray, I'd do a one eighty and leave.

As for following blogs? You're right. There's too much white. And for me, certainly not anywhere near enough stained wood. I'm crazy about clouds, but don't want to live inside one. I need the warmth of wood tones and color, saturated color.

As for the young, those in my family like color. Bloggers homes look like someone let Tom Sawyer loose in their homes.

My decorating is influenced by catalogs, as I get boxes full all the time. I feel like they are a barometer for the average shopper, not high-middle/high/designer end and not K Mart either.

I have some older PB catalogs (10-15 yrs. old) that I saved because I liked the looks so much but I do agree with the doldrums of recent years.

Ballards never changes and PB, WE, and C&B have been the same for years now.

I have one coveted PB catalog from around 04 or so that 'someday'!

I see the difference in our way of life. We USED to get dressed up ( with hose and gloves) and go shopping. We placed an order, and waited 12 weeks -16 weeks. We received a quality product.

Then, we got stuff being shipped in a container, and nobody had to wait 3 months, so they bought cheaper stuff with immediate delivery. Wearing jeans.

now, we don't even get out of our pajamas, just click and go, and wait for the truck.

These are just my observations from having a mother who was a designer and owned her own store.

Agree with above about change in lifestyle.

There has been a lot of market fragmentation, too. Everything is specialty stores. With few exceptions the big, full service department store is dead. (Actually I think with no exceptions--compared to when a department store had literally everything).

I grew up in the middle of nowhere. In the winter the fresh vegetable section in the supermarket was about 5 feet long, and was lettuce, carrots, tomatoes and little else.

If you wanted something that wasn't from the Sears Catalog, décor wise you had to go to a store and buy it, and if you wanted something that was at all customized, you had to go get it made.

It was much more of a commitment, and that's why I think you see time capsules. I remember the trim on the LR curtains pricing out at $93 a yard in 1986, and if you paid what would be almost $5000 for drapes in 2015 dollars you weren't going to let yourself get bored with them or toss them because trends changed. (They were in the house when it sold 29 years later). If you wanted anything that they didn't have next door and you didn't live in a city, you traveled to the city, waited months to get it, and generally paid a premium for it.

Now, today's custom pillow is a similar catalog offering in three months and a discount knock off in 6 months.

Foxes Pad, I don't go to home stores often (usually antique stores) but when I dare to step inside one everything is greige or beige. I. Am. So. Tired. Of. That. Look. Please, for the love of everything decorating-holy, move on!

My father was a designer and had furniture stores since before I was born until 1980ish, and his father before him had a furniture factory until it burned down. The stores were set up as Pal described, but changed often (with the exception of draperies). People could buy off the floor (all floors) or custom order. He went to market twice a year and ordered whatever whenever in between to keep inventory. The last store carried a high price point, but also a variety of price points below so almost anyone could find something. He retired after discovering he could rent the building to another furniture store and make the same money without having to put on a suit daily. So he went from retail to commercial real estate overnight and never looked back.

Now, one locally owned furniture store in our area is mostly full of gaudy ornate pieces that look like they belong in Vegas or a bordello. Sad times for those looking to buy modern or traditional pieces. The other carries the greige phase. Actually a new store opened about six months ago and I finally went in at DH's insistence - more greige! Even the accessories in the last two stores are monochromatic with no appeal to me whatsoever. None of my friends buy this and neither do our three adult children, so I'm not sure what age group is buying the bulk of it.

The internet has changed the way we shop --> seek, compare, order. Granted you're taking chances if ordering a sofa you haven't sat upon before clicking the button. But isn't it easier to explore the 15,000 lighting options from the comfort of your chain while wearing pajamas and no make-up?!

I don't really read blogs. I do look at one a friend writes now and then (she's currently remodeling a house) and I like to read Atticmag, which is really not a blog. I also avoid Apartment Therapy (nothing new there) and recently unfollowed House Beautiful on Facebook (articles I clicked through to read taught me nothing).

As someone raised in a furniture store, it is quite depressing.

Re: looking at 13,000 lamps.

You didn't used to have the opportunity in any setting to look at this many.

If you were shopping for a light fixture, you had to go to a store that carried lighting and they might have had 200 fixtures. If you didn't like anything they preselected for their store, you would point at something and say " I want to see something like this" and the salesperson would pull the catalog out for that manufacturer and see what else they made, and give you a cut sheet.

If you worked with an interior designer s/he waded through a number of options (although probably many less than 13,000 because if they were going for cohesiveness they would not even be bothering to look at certain catalogs or manufacturers). Then, they would present the client with one choice and have some backups.

The catalogs would generally not be available directly to the public and the few that were cost significant money.

I remember buying a couple Kohler catalogs when I was in design school that were $20 a pop years ago, and weren't even their full dealer catalogs.

I used a specific historic wallpaper manufacturer for one project in school and to borrow the book required a $1500 security deposit. This was obviously returned when the book was returned but I didn't let anyone else even touch the book, including the instructor for the course.

Now you could look at any of this stuff online.

But I don't think it makes things any easier in a design kind of way. It makes it more convenient to buy things, but I often think it makes it easier to buy the wrong things--particularly when it comes to light fixtures, hardware and finishes.

Now that the client can virtually pick every single thing out themselves, that's what they often do and it that's why there are houses in the building a house forum that look like lighting stores and have all sorts of things juxtaposed with each other hardware and finish wise.

It used to be that, with someone else controlling the books, they wouldn't even show the client those books, they would only show the client things that were compatible with what the other selections already were. (For the most part).

I agree, and didn't say it makes it easier in a design kind of way. Only to explore. I ordered the majority of our light fixtures online during our build. The rest were antiques brought with us from our last home. Ordering a couple of samples from Hubbardton Forge helped zero in on the finish (too close to call online) and I only held my breath on one fixture out of almost forty. But I'd be the first to admit I'm not the norm. :D What I'm looking for is usually not available in my area and I'm not one to go on a road trip to buy. I find it comical that we make our living in commercial real estate, yet I do not like conventional shopping.

There's little I would go back too; the options, ease and accessibility is wonderful now, and while people make more mistakes, it's there own fault, the design help via blogs, tv and websites is almost equally enormous.

And, the old school method hasn't disappeared at all, consumers can still haul themselves to a furniture store, browse fabric samples and order furniture that will take 3 months to arrive (with fingers crossed). I'm about to do so, but the convenience of browsing fabric and styles online is entertaining and helpful.

Sherill, wing chairs

My mom would take me to the Ethan Allen store when I was younger, and I thought it was so beautiful. All of the vignettes seemed so well put together, and we were in awe especially since we couldnt afford any of it.

Im in my 30s and feel like im just now feeling confident in my own style which I think is ecclectic. I grew up very poor, and I think part of my hesitation in decorating is wasting money.

I think blogs and the internet have definitely killed home magazines and catalogs, which is kind of sad. It used to be so exciting to get the new issues in the mail and pore over them. I guess it goes to follow that retail stores are suffering from online shopping.

I love online shopping, and the ability to look at everything in every style, but it is overwhelming to have SO many choices and ideas available. It will be interesting to see how that availability will affect trends and dominant styles in the future. Maybe people will develop more individuality in style with every option at their fingertips? Or maybe most people will end up with a horrible hodgepodge without any guidance from real-life displays and salespeople :-)

I remember starting my last job 8yrs ago (actually current - but starting a new one Monday) and the therapist that I was going to be working for said "I think you helped my pick out some table that I put in my house." Turned out I did! We laugh about that now how she & her husband came into the store looking for a console table and not knowing what they wanted and caring even less. She said she remembers very specifically telling me to just pick out what would work best for them and they bought it.

I truly miss working in a retail home goods store. Sigh.............

Here’s my 2 cents opinion...stores are selling a lifestyle much more now than in past years, and that store is owned by a larger company that also owns other stores and all those stores, even though they have a slightly different take on what that lifestyle is, the core ideas bleed over throughout the brands. Pottery barn is a good example with Baby, Kids, Teens, Dorm, Small Space, isn’t West Elm and WS related? So since this one conglomerate invested so heavily in selling you their lifestyle they can’t every six months or even every year reverse course and then say, now THIS is the lifestyle you should invest in. Consumers would be confused.