To start a new thread about which house/garden trends you love/hate?

[MarieIVanArkleStinks]

I’ve read a good few threads on this point and they’ve provided me with many an hour’s quiet entertainment! But they’re all now quite old, and I’m interested to know if trends/tastes have changed. So, is anyone willing to share your most loved/hated home décor trends or items? And are there any items – useful or useless, beautiful or ugly – you've always wanted and never had; no matter how kooky they may be?

I’ll stick my head over the parapet and start …

Likes

Inglenook fireplaces, wood burners, old parquet flooring, New England colours, natural, textured surfaces (wood, granite, exposed brick), old monk’s benches/chapel chairs, oversized lanterns, hammocks, cocoon chairs, bookshelves, masses of books, blend of traditional and modern styles, chandeliers, silvers and greys (gulp), hot tubs (OK so shoot me!)

Dislikes

Glass doors (including those bifolding things), murals, decals, notices and signs, brass pineapples, glitter (on anything), magnolia, Venetian or vertical blinds, glossy kitchens or furniture, ‘pops of colour’ (and the phrase, too), Swiss cheese plant print on anything, the ongoing fad for blush pink, especially when paired with green. (Yes, I’m looking at you Ideal Home).

Most wanted items: Longcase clock (but I want a Mora one; battery powered as the old mechanisms are too unreliable) and a laundry chute!

I hate plastic grass, and those features everyone is doing at the moment, the suspended watering can with fairy lights pouring out.

And I truly despise fake brick patterned wallpaper

I hate anything “boudoir” ie velour wall paper, fake chandeliers, stupid ornaments. Dunelm.

I hate black and white together-so cold so soul less

I hate stone floors

I do love dark grey especially with orange accessories . I like carpets, rugs, throes and cushions and baths with a shower over them. Hate cubicle showers and en suites.

AstroTurf has to be the biggest fuck you one can give to the planet. Yes, let's literally coat the planet in plastic.

I do like wallpaper like De Gournay. Farrow and ball are guilty of the vulva wallpaper....
www.wallpaperdirect.com/products/farrow-ball/lotus/98401?gclid=Cj0KCQjwitPnBRCQARIsAA5n84kWiEMeP3JsAyGZwuMXqOPJ6Z7LpmRWSZZ8KJk2pwfivHvaob52haEaAurjEALw_wcB

Bathrooms entirely tiled in grey- don't people realise that it looks like a mucky night club bog, circa 1995? I always half expect a drain full of fag ends in the corner.

Likes:

Floor to ceiling bookcases
Deep blue and bottle green
Plants
Paintings on the wall
Metro tiles
White sheets only
Plantation shutters

Dislikes:

Crushed velvet
Mirror furniture
Everything grey
Fake flowers
Coordinating lamps / sofas / wall art from a set
Modern looking fireplaces
Words on the wall
Garden kitsch

Re reading the thread
Lol at words on walls. My friend has some hanging thing with a cliched phrase written on it and it is capitalised wrong 😂
Someone on my street has a Prosecco queen lives here doormat 🤢

I do like wallpaper like De Gournay. I would love some in my bedroom but can’t afford it.

I can't cope with houses with no colour. I also can't cope with magnolia.

I love neutrals, love wooden floors, love bright, airy rooms and love lots of plants indoors.

Oh, I've only done dislikes.

Likes are

Interesting 1960s houses. Lots of natural light. Great views. Love living on a steep hill. Herringbone woodblock flooring or 60s parquet. Large separate utility rooms with sinks. Fabric sofas (can't stand leather). Slightly shady gardens with very lush soft green lawns. Climbing rambling roses with strong perfume.

And.....

GREY IS NOT NEUTRAL!!!

I'm house hunting and bloody sick of the sight of it.

Love gardens full of flowers. Love heigh ceilings and Georgian windows. Real wood. Fluffy rugs. Fresh flowers. Quirky and interesting things that reflect the home owner.
Hate fake grass, completely paved front gardens. Flat roof extensions. Big big TV’s that dominate the room.

Oh and walled gardens 💜

Some of the 'likes' are really chiming with me. Dens, basements and loft-rooms strike a chord as I have none of these things and like them all; ditto the white and wood, and things that are deep blue and green.

Had to Google Mrs Hinch, who I've never come across before, and found some images of her home. They were so monochrome that I really thought I was looking at the pictures in black-and-white. Is this what people mean when they say they hate grey? In this instance I have to agree: it's truly soulless, broken up by absolutely nothing, overstyled and impersonal and very show-housey. I do like the soft textures of some of her fabrics, but all that grey is really too much and the feature wall doesn't help!

Really enjoying reading everyone's posts.

Dislike:

Red gloss kitchens
Kitchens with red accessories (like kettle, toasters etc)
Large format glossy tiles especially when in rooms other than kitchens (look so cold and unwelcoming)
Wall units in kitchens
Black work surfaces
Black glass jobs (impossible to keep clean)
Vertical blinds
Gas lift bar stools (especially if glossy)
Seaside themed accessories (seagulls on long stick-like legs, porthole/life buoy mirrors etc)
‘Modern’ fireplaces. The ones that look like TVs positioned too low on the wall
Sodding trailing cables everywhere due to gazillion electrical devices (glares over at DH)

Likes:

Log burners
Battered leather sofas
Chesterfield sofas
Original fireplaces
Button back headboards on beds

My biggest dislike is 'fun portraits' - those massive black on white photoshoots of the family where the photographer tells the family to fool around. One of my close friends has one of them all sticking their tongues out and another where her husband is holding their two small children upside down above her head. They are not fun to me, terribly staged, terribly unnatural and terribly expensive.

My loves are odd though - love county chic, french style, cosy cottages but could not live in it myself. I need loads of natural light, cleanliness and space and no clutter. So I absolutely love many of your homes but actually need to live in one many of you hate. Thank goodness for friends who have beautiful houses of every style. I get to spend time in ones I love but couldn't live in and vice versa!

Hate: those ceilings that look like gloss laminate. Horrible and sterile looking. The one with the silver shiny stripe in between is especially hideous.

Suuper hate: All. Grey. Everything.

Love: colour!

Cushions and throws.

Dark wood.

MarieIVanArkleStinks I actually don’t mind some grey but hate it when it’s done in that bland Mrs Hinch style.

Dislike - anything dull or show homey

Like - the Yoda garden gnome.

Like - the Yoda garden gnome

🤣🤣

Laura Ashley also guilty of the vulva pattern

www.lauraashley.com/en-gb/en/montague-duck-egg-feather-paste-the-wall-wallpaper/3735313

They have peaked a bit now (thanks instagram for ruining everything) but I’ve always loved Crittall doors. A childhood neighbour had them off her hallway & thought they were amazing.

Turquoise, see I like the odd tchotchka!

As long as you can ascribe some meaning to each!

HATE:

Writing on walls
Feature walls
Giant TVs on walls (with wires trailing down everywhere of course)
Ikea everything
Grey children’s rooms FFS!! (Bad enough the rest of the house but a child’s room? Fuck off!)
Poor furniture/fixtures layout
Decking in the garden
Artificial grass

The current trend where i am is to have outside walls rendered a cream colour then have window frames and doors either dark brown or black (i can't tell which). And the front door is completely wooden look (might be actual wooden, can't tell) with a mahoosive vertical steel handle. Looked nice the first few i saw but everyone is using the same style round here.
Oh and those spiral bloody trees/plants either side of the front door, they can fuck off too

Agree with you fancynancyclancy. Grey decor would have got a big thumbs up from me - it's a colour I've always loved - but too much of it unbroken does look a bit prisonish.

Oh, and the seagulls on stilts! I really like New England decor, which is widely recognized as being a variation on the coastal theme (and can look warm and inviting, if you take care and don't overdo the harsh blues and whites). I love seascape paintings and prints, too. But start adding those seabirds, wooden lighthouses, bits of rope and other similar kitsch, and it quickly crosses the border into twee!