Is there anyone left who lives in a house that doesn't have a colour scheme, style, aesthetic or what have you?

[MrsToadofToadHall]

Just musing as I scroll through social media...

Most people I know seem to have houses where there's a distinct theme - one colour/style of furniture per room, curtains that match sofas, some of it is to my taste and some isn't, but either way you can tell at a glance what they are trying to do, be it grey chrome or white minimalism or rainbow or whatever.

When I was a kid, I don't remember people's houses running along one particular theme the way they do now, obviously you'd have a few trends pop up, but I don't remember things being so matchy matchy, except perhaps for my aunt's house, where she had a "special" sitting room for the adults, all done in terracotta and pine. Mostly though it seemed to be a case of, I like this picture, I'll put it on the wall. MIL has given me a pot plant, I'll shove in that corner. Those curtains would do for the bedroom. That's a nice colourful hard-wearing rug, it'll go in the hall. I don't think there was quite as much emphasis on everything tying in so exactly to everything else. My house is a bit like this now - all the walls are white, because we had to redecorate when we bought it and I was sick of rental magnolia, the curtains in every room are different patterns because my granny got a seamstress friend to run some up for us as a housewarming present, our bedroom furniture is a complete mishmash of nothing matching, that sort of thing. I love our house and I'm not complaining, but I don't think you'd walk in and be able to pinpoint any particular style or trend.

I know people from quite a range of backgrounds and incomes, so it's not something that seems particular to any group, just that homes in general seem to be more styled/pulled together/matchy these days.

Is it because of social media? Because it's easier to get bits and pieces in places like B&M? Though there's always been home stores

Our home doesn't have a theme, each bedroom is different. We are just remodelling downstairs and I will say there will be a colour theme down there throughout but that's because it's now been knocked through to make a large space so it would look strange if it wasn't a link between the spaces.
It certainly seems the modern way is to have everything one colour (grey ) throughout but I prefer some colour and individuality to each room. I have been rewatching some George Clarke's old house new home, and he shows amazing things with colour in rooms.

Agreed soupdragon do people actually buy new soft furnishings/curtains/rugs when they change their wall colour/sofa etc

I'd be... oh, but that's the cushion that Mam bought me a couple of Christmases ago.... and that's the cushion we bought when we were in Dorset last year... and I'm not buying a new bloody rug, that one is perfectly fine. This is why I have a house FULL of stuff of course!

Agreed soupdragon do people actually buy new soft furnishings/curtains/rugs when they change their wall colour/sofa etc

I'd be... oh, but that's the cushion that Mam bought me a couple of Christmases ago.... and that's the cushion we bought when we were in Dorset last year... and I'm not buying a new bloody rug, that one is perfectly fine. This is why I have a house FULL of stuff of course!

Mine is Boho chic with a spattering of piles of crap everywhere!!

If I had to say a style I'd say my house was Hygge.
I rent so I live with magnolia but nothing matches although I make sure there aren't clashes. Pictures in my are original landscapes of the area I live that I've picked up. Ornaments are bought from craft fairs and lamps from antique or flea markets. Nothing expensive.
I'm a cleaner and a lot of houses I work in have colour schemes in rooms so for example, bathroom will have orange towels, bathmats and orange picture frames and toothpaste holders etc.
Each to their own. Its not for me.

Lots of second hand/cheap/hand-me-down furniture here that we've accumulated through the years. A real mish mash of styles that to be honest don't work together and looks a bit shit...DH's fucking bureau that his aunt gave him. Apparently it was expensive..

I agree with you totally OP. I walk into other people's homes and it's like something out of an Ideal Homes Exhibition with all the matching artwork, throws, tall vases and grey plush carpets. I am in awe.

you can tell approximate dates by turquoise/mustard/copper accessories or wallpaper feature walls

Exactly this. And they date very quickly.

Nothing matches in my house. A friend who's keen on interior design suggested once that I change all my furniture for "things that matched" and I thought she was mad. Replace my lovely bits and pieces, some of which are inherited, some which were hand-made and some which were "wombled", with generic stuff you can buy anywhere? No thanks. I like my messy, eclectic look.

I guess you could argue that's a theme in itself, of course, but it wasn't intended that way. I just collect nice things, and make them work together.

My stuff goes rather than matches. Although we have stuck to one wood for furniture eg book cases, tables, chairs etc, so maybe it is matchy matchy?

I don’t. I hate themes and colour schemes. Ours is very eclectic. I collect unusual stuff. It’s mostly displayed against white walls but with lots of pops of colour in furnishings etc. It’s messy and full of kids art work and my art. I love it though. Definitely lived in!

I have the odd turquoise thing and copper. But just the odd bit that I like. Our house is eclectic too, no particular aesthetic, the odd bit of inherited furniture, loads of colour, books, cushions. I do try though, I love house magazines and those gorgeous calm interiors but have two teenagers and am a messy bugger so always fighting against the tide of charger wires and paper.

I have one friend whose house is achingly stylish and on trend but in a 'it won't date way'. That's her passion though, she doesn't work, her dh earns £££££ so she has the money and time to pour into it as well as having a great eye for what works.

My friend's house was in a home magazine a couple of years ago. The photographer arrived with a stylist and a boot full of accessories, plants, throws etc which they artfully arranged around her house .

I think the constant redecorating is a new thing, it's not green or eco friendly, people used to buy a wooden dining table when they married it was expected to last all their lives, a wooden table should last a 100 years easily same with wardrobes chest of drawers sideboards etc people may expect to buy a new mattress or chairs The problem is things are not built to last, no one expects a sofa from DFS to last 10 years never mind more, my house is a mixture, some rooms still need decorating, others are finished some are a mixture of genuine antiques with modern stuff most rooms vaguely coordinate in that I don't have green walls blue carpets with red sofas more like walls curtains and carpet coordinate but painting etc are what I like, I would never buy a picture to match my curtains

I like bright flashy and garish
My house is full of plants
And white walls and seventies type wallpapers Prize possession though is my 70s teal sofa

Trust me, you in these shitty times, grey will be over very soon!

My theme is 'hoarder' , the colour scheme is '4 young kids' and the decor is approved/rejected by our 2 cats.

There's a lot of bright colours around and an awful lot of bare wood: pine shelves/shelving units/large wooden table/wooden ikea benches, step stools etc.
I would like a fairly minimal house but it's just not us. The house is very child oriented. The living room is basically split into 4 areas.
The bright sofa big enough for all 6 of us, feature wallpaper, colourful cushions.
The little ones area, wooden kitchen/market/cube storage/toys.
The large table, 2 benches, 2 chairs.
The shelved wall that has all the kids reference books, home schooling supplies, arts and craft supplies, my notebooks and diaries and things.
Actually all around the living room are shelves of arts and crafts supplies. Wool because I knit, sewing, jewelery making, fabric painting, clay, paints, plaster of Paris, glues, paper craft, scrapbooking and on and on..
Its very much a do-ing house so most things are functional rather than just decorative.

My house has the same decor as when we moved in 5 years ago. We spent all our money paths of the mortgage so no money for paint, paper or artistic license.
All the carpets are knackered but I can now afford to get the garden done so no point spending on flooding just yet add it'll get filthy with to- ing and fro- ing.
I can't remember anyone having themed decor when I was a kid. Sometimes the lounge was the place where the best furniture went.

My house doesn’t match or have any kind of aesthetic. I’m rubbish at that kind of thing, and I don’t really care! The walls are all neutral, the sofas we have were bought because they fit rather than anything else (odd shaped room) and the only thing we have on the walls are photos.

My dining table was a wedding present. It’s had 29 years of use and although I’ve sanded, painted the legs several times it will remain.

We’ve not got anything bought new, literally nothing. All of our furniture is eBay / Facebook market place / gumtree. I do however have a thing for good design and quality. So I figure out “the best” whatever it is we want or need then tend to play the long game until I find the very thing (hopefully for a bargain price). So although we’re not matchy matchy I think we have a good aesthetic.

Is "books" a theme? That's about the only consistent thing across the rooms. Walls are painted whatever colour there is the right amount of (some rooms have different colour alcoves or bits of walls), furniture is mostly what came with the house or from the Heart Foundation (or cobbled together from offcuts in the case of DHs WFH desk).
DD's walls are covered in her own artwork (not framed, I let her paint whatever she likes on the walls, but she's 16 so it's not scribble).

Each room has a colour scheme, but they don't all match each other. But my taste is the same throughout so there will always be certain key themes/styles I guess. I love dark colours, I love 1940-60's vintage-y bits, I love natural wooden things, and I love pots and boxes. These themes run consistently through my house.

We do have a sort of colour palette, but it’s still (I hope) a comfortable homely mix, things acquired over the years.

I’d never want the sort of decor that plainly says ‘Interior Designer!’ or where everything is new and matching. Especially when it’s all white/black/grey with e.g. the tell-tale ‘pop’ of lime green somewhere.
Each to their own, though.

Mess. Here, the theme is mess.

My house is light and colourful, mainly strong pastels although the DCs have bold scarlet/ royal blue with white which is lovely fresh and crisp. Each room is decorated according to the way that light hits it.

Too much storage is from IKEA, but they always win hands down on efficient function and practicality. The lounge finally has a set of wooden furniture... we've been here about a decade and finally got rid of the cheap hotch potch of stuff that DH gathered for his first house in the 90s. He got a good dining set that's still on the go. Ornaments are aquired, often when traveling. No 'word art'

Each room goes in that we'll start with something like curtains and then get carpet and paint colours to work from that. Each room has its own personality, which is important as you want different vibes in each room. Some rooms are for doing, some for relaxing. The lack of choice and drive towards one style in the shops is highly irritating.

I can't understand why other than cheap rental magnolia for maintainence, you'd want a whole house in a single (non) colour. I don't think I could survive a winter in a greyed out house; grey weather is tough enough to battle through without the house looking like the inside of a fog (grey as a neutral to a bold colour is vastly better but still not my thing)

I'd be... oh, but that's the cushion that Mam bought me a couple of Christmases ago.... and that's the cushion we bought when we were in Dorset last year... and I'm not buying a new bloody rug, that one is perfectly fine. This is why I have a house FULL of stuff of course!

Yes! 😂

My house has an overall style but not a theme and the rooms certainly don't all match but they don't jar with one another either.

Nothing matches as such because we buy the vast majority of our furniture etc second hand and its been collected over the past 20 years but it does all look like it belongs together (I hope!)