To get the rage about home decor trends...

[catpoooffender]

I've just moved house and have been looking online for style inspiration. But I'm just getting so tired of seeing the same thing everywhere. It's not that it doesn't look good, it's just that it's done to death.

Typically you will have a grey room, with throws artfully draped over the arm of the sofa. The furniture will be all white. There will be a floor lamp, probably tripod style. Candles will adorn the shelves, along with multiple house plants. On the pouffe, there will be a pretty tray, with two more of the following: a candle, a small vase, a book, some pretty cups. Hanging on the wall or on a shelf somewhere will be a framed print of some inspirational saying - possibly 'she said she could, so she did' or just a single word, like 'family' or 'love' or 'home'. Other artwork or mirrors will be placed on shelves and will lean against the wall, rather than being flat against them.

I'm not knocking any of this. I just yearn for something different.

@catpoooffender

I think I'm comparing my more recent Pinterest experience with my memories of flicking through my Mum's home magazines when I was younger. There were always all sorts of different home decor looks in those, and I loved the variety. What I have found thus far online has just been very samey. And I do acknowledge that there are a few different styles out there - the grey look, the Scandi look, the natural look. But it's still very...samey. Can't think of a better word.

However I'm beginning to think it's as much about the staging of it that bothers me, as the actual look. And that speaks more to my inferiority complex in terms of my ability to keep a tidy home. With the pictures of children's rooms there's ALWAYS a toddler sitting on the floor, quietly and contentedly reading a book. With the lounge pictures there's never a random toy poking out from under the sofa, or a dirty sock. In the kitchen, instead of a pile of dirty crockery in the sink and a frying pan soaking on the hob, there's a bowl of fresh lemons and maybe a relaxed and happy family man chopping vegetables. I know that's how it's supposed to be, and it's the same with any lifestyle photography, and this is really a non-issue. I'm just in a grump today.

That's because the photos are staged, rather than realistic.

Even when they go into a real house, they often take different lighting, different accessories. They clear out whatever the owners have that doesn't fit (in their view.) They also have a lot of lights you can't see, that can completely change the look of the room.

I always like older decorating books where things are less staged. I have one where there is laundry left on one of the chairs in a totally out of reach to me stately type home, but I love it just because it has some real personality. Not just the sloppy bedroom, but the whole house (including real pictures on the walls!) reflects a very distinctive personality and taste rather than what some designer wanted.

In the kitchen, instead of a pile of dirty crockery in the sink and a frying pan soaking on the hob, there's a bowl of fresh lemons and maybe a relaxed and happy family man chopping vegetables.
My absolute favourite kitchen staging is a giant butler sink with fresh flowers and a tea towel in it. Why is the tea towel there? What are the flowers doing in there? Not once have I come home with some flowers and not plonked them on the counter before sorting a vase. Yet there they are, in the sink. With the tea towel draped over the edge.

Periodically I stage my sitting room with stupid things – oh look, a full cafetière on a tray with a book on top of a cushion on a sofa, next to a lit candle? What could go wrong? – so I can shout at DP when he does something unstagey, like I dunno, sits down, “No! Elle Decoration will be here ANY MINUTE! Don’t empty your pocket of keys and tissues and detritus on the sofa!”

Quite a lot of our furniture is only a small step up from Martin Crane's chair in Frasier. Ugly as sin in some respects but oddly comforting.

Even when they go into a real house, they often take different lighting, different accessories. They clear out whatever the owners have that doesn't fit (in their view.) They also have a lot of lights you can't see, that can completely change the look of the room

Actually that isn’t always the case. Our home was in an interiors magazine a few years ago; we had an interiors photographer here for two whole days. She told me that the convention for interior mags was to never use additional lighting; only the lighting available in the house and natural daylight. She brought absolutely no props with her at all - we only used the objects we had in our house. What she was good at though was styling by which I mean arranging things in a slightly different way so that they made a better composition.

I personally like a lot of the decor in country living magazine. We have a few expensive antique pieces of furniture and built up from there.

Well I'm not sure where you're looking. I find the grey look very boring but I think it's very out of date and was never cutting edge. I much prefer a mixture of old and new, textures, original art, good design and certainly not white furniture.

@SchnitzelVon, when we were looking a few years back the mustard didn't seem so prevalent. Can't stand that colour, I don't know why it's so in demand.

I'm not sure if it's Pinterest you've been looking at, but I find it great and quite varied

YANBU

I dislike most current trends and anything you can buy on the high street.

Choosing things for my home takes time as I can rarely find what I'm looking for. A lot of my stuff is second hand (especially large pieces of furniture)

A friend of mine has just had an extension and she is very traditional. I was surprised that she's redecorated mostly in grey, with that tile patterned lino in her bathroom and a grey cistern. Pretty permanent. I think though, that people choose what's readily available to them. She has tastes but it seems she just chose convenient.

I have no desire to follow trends, I know what I like and I have it, whether anyone else likes it or not. I don't want to be the same as everyone else.

Do you know what trend is really bugging me at the moment?

Bloody cereal bowls, great u-shaped ones that don't stack inside each other properly, you end up with a tall wobbly pile. I cannot find a single dinner set that I like that has normal shallow cereal bowls. And believe me I've been looking for about five years.

Ssshhhh! Don't tell anyone but antique furniture is amazingly good value at the moment. I've decorated my gaff with some lovely stuff for not much at all. Why buy crappy stuff from IKEA when you can buy beautiful antiques? I recommend looking at Trad Chap, Bridie Hall and Ben Pentreath on Instagram for some ideas. No grey in sight.

Goosefoot when I used to write up about private homes for magazines none of them was staged. We would have a photographer take photos, perhaps putting a vase of lillies (!) ona table but otherwise we wanted to show real live homes. Doubt if much has changed in that respect.

sycamorecottage pasta bowls work quite well as shallow cereal bowls. This pattern comes in 'proper' cereal bowls too lol

www.portmeirion.co.uk/portmeirion-crazy-daisy-pasta-bowl-set-of-4

www.standard.co.uk/shopping/esbest/home-garden/bedroom/best-bedroom-decorating-ideas-you-can-shop-online-a4069576.html

I put in bedroom ideas and this came up
Mother French one is certainly achievable for me

The pastel pink colour is lovely! Really like that ivykaty.

Just pick the theme you like and find a Facebook group dedicated to that (there will be several). I like Boho, so my fb feed is full of macrame, basket walls, wicker and plants. It's not 'on trend' but I love it!

@Daisydoesnt oh I do like Michelle O’s account very much my home mixed with a but of country living as or @SonjaMorgan ours is Edwardian and we wanted to be in keeping. Love a dark flat matte painted room.

Michelle O did go down in my estimation when a little when the dried foliage started popping up though - it was a horrid duat collector the first time around!

@Daisydoesnt

Even when they go into a real house, they often take different lighting, different accessories. They clear out whatever the owners have that doesn't fit (in their view.) They also have a lot of lights you can't see, that can completely change the look of the room

Actually that isn’t always the case. Our home was in an interiors magazine a few years ago; we had an interiors photographer here for two whole days. She told me that the convention for interior mags was to never use additional lighting; only the lighting available in the house and natural daylight. She brought absolutely no props with her at all - we only used the objects we had in our house. What she was good at though was styling by which I mean arranging things in a slightly different way so that they made a better composition.

Are you in the UK? I do think UK and European magazines are much more likely to work that way than North American ones.

Oh the grey decor Hinchy bollocks. I hate it!!!

@Laiste ah sorry they’ve disappeared of Zoopla....try right move www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=35004453&sale=6308839&country=england

It's very simple....but I think is ideal for the period of house....the wall colour underneath was a very a pale blue not grey as well 😂😂. I always liked how the top of the step was stained with the rest painted white....where doing our stairs next and I might do the same.

God please ignore my typos.....bloody predictive text and trying to iron at the same time!!!

See also dog naming trends - if you have a female French bulldog right now, it's called Nala. If you have a female King Charles, spaniel, it's called Lola

I was ahead of the curve then. My lakie is called Lola and she's 15.

I wanted to call her Tallulah, but my ex overruled me. He said it was pretentious!

I'm not a fan of grey decor, but there's such a lot of snobbery about it on this thread. People like different things and it's fine. Looking down your nose at people because they happen to like a 'trend' while making out your home is a hub of tasteful decor, brimming with eclectic one-off pieces sourced from countries around the globe and worthy of a home-style magazine is a bit ridiculous.

@sycamorecottage, Yes! I prefer the more shallow ones that curve out at the top, but they seem to be rare. The set we had was bought a couple of decades ago. There is only one left now and I have given up trying to find something similar.

@Daisydoesnt

a grey room, with throws artfully draped over the arm of the sofa. The furniture will be all white. There will be a floor lamp, probably tripod style. Candles will adorn the shelves Etc etc

I don’t know about trend, I reckon all that’s at least 2 or 3 years out of date?!? Have you looked at Instagram? Sophie Robinson? Michelle Ogundehin? Emma Jane Palin? You won’t find a grey room, white furniture or anything else samey from a few years ago. You will find bags of inspiration.

How can a throw be out of date? It’s just a throw! Something that you use to wrap around yourself when you get cold in your living room that is in a colour or pattern you like, that lives on the end of a sofa! (Artfully draped if you so choose)