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

I'm not saying this is definitely it...but I know that growing up and even now, my friends parents houses, the more professional types while having their bigger detached houses always seemed to have mismatched decor with older looking settees, carpets that didn't match, older style furniture. Whereas the people with a bit less money, perhaps in a council house or having bought their houses cheap on RTB always seemed to have their houses in a certain style; matched up decor, the laminate/wooden flooring, the leather settee, the big flat screen TV etc. And this was such a common theme depending on what 'type' of household you went into.

I don't know if that's anything too do with it, it was just a personal observation of mine.

Ours is currently in "oh god what fresh hell is this" stage of being unfucked, decorated and furnished. The previous owners painted everything shades of weird greenish beige in an extremely half-assed fashion, and everywhere except kitchen and living room did this over the existing wallpaper to boot, so only the living room is anywhere in the vicinity of respectable. There is a plan though!

The living room is white walls and woodwork, navy/copper lightshades, navy/gold/copper curtains my mum gave us, a navy sofa with dark wood Kallax as TV unit, dark blue dining chairs, white table, white Kallax as sideboard, walnut and black leather armchair, and white bookcases. (Eventually the Kallaxes will be replaced with lovely walnut sideboards and I will reopen the chimney alcoves and shelve them)

When we're able to have trades in again, the flooring through living room, hall and study will be being done in walnut hard flooring, the hall painted the same white as the living room and the nice mahogany bannisters stripped and restained. That will do until we're done with stairgates and can get the walls stripped and skimmed properly.

The kitchen when it gets done is going to be pale wood and blue tiles, if I can find tiles in Fender Pacific Blue.

The study has a grey and walnut sofa, a mahogany-ish piano, a bamboo desk and a coffee coloured desk chair, so god knows what we'll end up doing in there. Probably white again and get my mum to do us a wall hanging for soundproofing and colour!

We are heading for an accidental blue/walnut/white theme, I suppose. I like blue and he likes walnut finishes.

I have an interest in interiors which I think I got from my Mum. We grew up in a "homely" house with lots of inherited or second hand stuff. We weren't well off. I was the youngest and when I was about 9 we swapped bedrooms round while I was away staying with a friend. When I came home, I had the most beautiful lilac room with a gorgeous new purple bedspread. I loved that room.

Then when Mum sold up the family home and downsized, she took all the "best furniture" and decorated her new place exquisitely. I was amazed and it was beautful (pale greens with shockingly expensive William Morris curtains).

My house is a Victorian terrace and is decorated sympathetically (but light - I also can't stand dark rooms). It's calm and restful I think. It's not matchy matchy but I think you can see some thought has gone into it. If I had a gun to my head, I'd say it's leaning towards "Arts & Crafts".

I also inherited three gorgeous antique occasional tables from my Mum which all go really well and are the essence of her to me.

The only major furniture item we've replaced since we got married is the sofas. We kept buying cheap and finally "invested" about five years ago.

The main thing that used to annoy me on Changing Rooms (and all the makeover programmes) was the purchasing of ornaments and pictures etc. which had no meaning to the homeowners.

I love colour so my downstairs living room/ dining room/ hall are all painted a very light cream which means I can then have colourful stuff everywhere. Bright pictures, stained glass, Turkish rugs, etc

Everything has been accumulated over the years and is a bit tatty but it's mostly stuff we love.

Upstairs is a right mess and needs a good declutter and decorate.

I really don't get the whole grey house thing. Why would you paint your house the colour of gloom?

I cant imagine not caring what my house looked like but absolutely NO to a theme!

Unless somebody really doesnt care at all, I think most people's 'theme' would be their taste....

Mine is wooden floors, muted walls (no wallpaper), original features maintained and then lots of books, art work collected slowly over years, lamps. A bit of clutter but I like to think its 'curated clutter'

Oh and no grey here either! Probably a bit contrary in actively avoiding a clear 'trend'

I love colour in my house but don’t have a theme, I like warm colours but use cushions and curtains rather than bold wall papers . All my walls are white

I admit I’m very matchy matchy and I like my rooms to tie into the other rooms. For eg I could never have a red wall then a green wall then a blue then a random picture that doesn’t match the look!!

Looking back to the 90s I think it was the fashion to have a pattered wallpaper on the top a dado rail in the middle and stripes on the bottom!! Maybe a pattered carpet too it. Then in the early 2000s it was very much browns and creams and now it’s grey and white.

When we look back in 20 years we may cringe at all the matchy matchy look but atm I like the clean lines.

I also think that many years ago people didn’t have the money to keep changing the look so they made do and were great full for old aunt Sally’s pre loved things.

Our house lacks a 'look' everything is mismatched. I hate it but just can't warrant the money to change it.

My flat theme is tiny, and filled with too much stuff. It's definitely not to most people's taste but I don't really care.

My kitchen/sitting room is one long room, the kitchen end where there's not much wall is painted bright teal with a giant wall clock and a couple of long shelves taking up most of the wall space, the sitting room end is duck egg blue. I have lots of rugs all over the flat, all different colours. The sofa is a creamy beige sandy kinda colour that I figured would go with whatever and is comfy. It's mostly covered with knitted and crocheted blankets that I've made in loads of colours, anyway. Everything is covered in a fine layer of grey cat hair no matter how often the place gets hoovered and the cat gets brushed. I have brightly coloured Tara Mcpherson and Lora Zombie prints on the walls, and some lovely prints from etsy, along with cross stitch stuff I've done, and a huge print of a Dali sketch that I've had for years. My bedroom is similar but more so, and the walls are sage green. Skulls and for some reason octopus things seem to feature a lot.

The hallway is all prints and cross stitch projects with cream walls, the most recent thing I'm waiting to frame (if I can ever go out again to buy frames and framing stuff!) and put up is a red anatomical heart on black fabric with a blackwork background in white thread. Mostly the place is just comfortable and nobody really cares that lnothing matches at all. The bathroom is white with black floor tiles because I don't really know what to do with it and white looks nice and clean, it's windowless and small, I've stuck some fake succulents and candles in there but it's very boring.

DD (19) has a mostly purple room because that's what she likes, and DS (21) has a lot of grey, black and white, I think mostly because he's not really bothered. I hate the flat itself though, it's far too small and there's nowhere near enough storage space.

My mum was all very matchy matchy with stuff and I hated it, which is probably why I've gone the other way.

Certainly not a theme as such but like a lot of people I have rugs/sofas/pictures that I have built the rooms around. Not one room in my house is the same colour (all painted, dont like wallpaper). All the items have meaning and chosen for a reason not some random item form Next.

We saved hard for good quality sofas and they are still going strong after 20+ years, just occasionally I will change or buy a new cushion as the sofas have removable covers and we bough a separate different colour, one for spring/summer one for Autumn/winter.

Master bedroom is a very mixed colour palate due to a very expensive huge rug again over 20+ years, love it as its very unusual, but it had been previously in a garden room and before that a dining room. But the shades are just perfect.

One thing I really hate though is matchy matchy bedding. I use different shades and textures for the pillowcases and covers etc, great to buy in the sales. I have way too much bedding.

I have a lot of paintings, some prints some original all different, and having lived overseas have items big and small that just fit in somewhere, but not loads of 'stuff'.

If you like grey, glittery, wooden words, well thats up to you , just not my cup of tea.

I do have some friends who live in what I call footballers wives houses, dear god the competition between who buys what is exhausting, changing the whole living room every other year is not unheard of, if i see another 'door knocker' chair I will scream!

My house is lived in and welcoming so says a few friends and its nice to see people come in and just relax and put their feet up

I cannot stand matchy-matchy stuff or houses that look like they’ve thrown up the entire Next at Home catalogue. Grey glittery Prosecco themed shit makes my teeth hurt. Our house is homely but quirky with a bit of everything - a mix of Scandi/Moroccan/Bohemian if anything, Ikea meets junk yard.

I have a lot of white Ikea furniture because the rooms are small.

We have a theme/style. It's called eclectic.

We know what we like.

I don't care about themes or matching.

As long as it's not grey and / or sparkly, it's all fine with me.

The all-grey house thing needs to end, now. Right now. It's fucking awful and looks so cheap.

And no words on walls, either. Stop that shit, people.

As long as it's not...

I disagree with this. If you want any of those things, go for it. Have what you like in your house.

I’m afraid mine is very matcha matcha 😁I have oak furniture in my living room grey sofa and carpet, cream walls, black cream and grey curtains and geometric gold black and cream patterned cushions. Hall is pale blue with darker blue carpet, bathroom white suite with big charcoal grey tiles and orange towels and bath at, zebra print soap dish and stripe on large black vase and plant holders. Bedroom is poppy wallpaper and quilt cover, red carpet and curtains. DS room pine furniture, cream walls, red carpet and curtains, Union Jack cover and rug, spare room, pine furniture, cream walls, red carpet cover and curtains. I am very happy with it all 😁 pictures are wildlife mainly that Dh has taken and a couple of black framed multi pics from holidays etc.

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

We don’t have that kind of money. We are on our third set of living room seating in nearly 39 years of marriage, and only on our second dining suite. We look after our stuff, so it lasts for ages. We did buy new seat covers for the dining chairs recently though.

I only redecorate when necessary. It is a chore I don’t enjoy, so it only gets done every few years. I last painted our living room 14 years ago, and is in need of redoing now, but this time I will pay someone else to do it.

We still have the same carpets downstairs that we had when we moved in 17 years ago. They have been regularly cleaned though.

We enjoy spending time decorating and keeping the house beautiful and stylish

I would like a more stylish house, but I just don’t have the vision, money or inclination. Nothing clashes or jars, but it is clean and comfortable. The rooms are light and airy, I don’t do dark and pokey cosy as it makes me feel claustrophobic, and I hate dark colours.

my style is toy shop explosion...

Our house is pretty mismatched. The stairs, landings and DS's room all have the same walls and carpet, but only because we had a loft conversion done for DS and just had the whole lot done in one go in the same carpet we already had on the old stairs. Downstairs we have the original (knackered) woodblock in the hall, horrible mismatching laminate with rugs over it in the living room (although when we can face it we're going to restore the woodblock underneath it all), and wood-effect non-slip flooring in the kitchen, so that's three completely different types and colours of 'wood' that all come together in one corner in a clash that would give an interior designer an apoplexy. The living room is a mixture of bought and inherited furniture, with the only curtains we found that would fit in a panicked shopping trip the day we moved in, with loads of photos in mismatched frames, overstuffed book-cases everywhere and and a random assortment of animal/hippy knick-knacks and a liberal scattering of dog toys. It will never be stylish but it's comfy and it's us.

All our walls are white (anything else bores me within a year). All our floors are wood. My furniture is a mixture of boho, industrial, ikea and inherited 70's scandi and antiques. It doesn't match but it definately feels like our home.

Our home has evolved a colour scheme over the 10 years we’ve been here. We have grey hallways and sofas and then white walls, teal and mustard accessories throughout and oak furniture. People can poo-poo it on here but I absolutely love it. It’s clean and fresh and calming and very homely.

If I had to put a label on it I would say it is Victorian gloom.
That sounds dreamy and I want pics!

I think if you're scrolling through a visual medium like Instagram or Pinterest you're bound to come across very "done" interiors because that's sort of the point. If you poke around MN there are as many normal, unstyled houses as there are styled ones.

Not a fan of themes or matchy-matchy – or the grey crushed velvet Next catalogue look – but I do like a house to flow and seem to have a coherent style. We have lots of colourful curtains, rugs, furniture, art and books so it's white throughout with pale wood floors throughout to prevent a colour overload. If I had to give it a theme I'd say it was Your Cool Grandma Has A Lot of Stuff But Keeps It Tidy.

I'm in rented accommodation and all the walls are cream. I CBA asking for permission to paint, so I'm using the cream as a blank canvas and slowly adding in my style via accessories, decorations, furnishings, etc.

Which also has the added benefit of my style being moveable should we need to move house. The downstairs in generally pastel boho/hippy, the DC are evolving their own style, and my bedroom is a calming pale turquoise, in boho/hippy style.

I don't bother with trends, I just look at them to see if I like the look or not.

Mine is a delightful (to me!) mash up of bright colours and pictures I love, quirky fabrics and fairy lights. DDs friends love it