Classic decor that doesn't date quickly

[Blobson]

Dh and I are currently renovating our house. So every room will need decorating. I've been trying to put together mood boards for each room/area so that when we get to the decorating and furnishing part we can get it all cracked out quickly and our home back to normal ASAP.

I've looked for ideas on Pinterest and Instagram and it's all so samey and I can't help feeling that everything is going to look so dated very quickly. I neither have the time, inclination or money to keep changing the decor in my house to meet the current trends but I do like a home that looks good.

So I need advice on how to decorate and furnish a house so that it won't date quickly, or look too trendy, but that also has some wow factor!

Buy things that you like.
Don't look at on-line sites too much because you'll seek out 'approval'of your taste and they are generally trend led.

I'd avoid anything that seems 'new' and ;fresh' but look for things that you would have liked 10, 20, 30 yrs ago.

I have seen trends come and go, but grew up in a very old house full of antiques so the trends tend to seem very faddy.

Decoration wise, I always give the same advice - paint every room white and reconsider after a year when you will be familiar with the light in the room at different times of the day and a different times of the year.

I agree that buying things that you love is a good starting point, but there are definitely certain styles that are less sensitive to trends than others. For example, shaker-style has been around for a long time, as has Scandi-style. I think what those kind of styles have in common is that they’re relatively simple, use quality materials and have nice subtle details. So that’s what I’d look for, but it probably helps that I like those kind of styles anyway 😄

When it comes to decorating, I think pretty much any colour will go out of style at some point, so I’d just pick some colours you love. More muted colours are probably a bit more timeless, but those are not immune to trends either. I wouldn’t be surprised if in a few years’ time (or less) everyone will be painting over all those grey walls that are so popular on Instagram at the moment 🙈 But painting is relatively cheap, so I wouldn’t worry too much about picking the most timeless colour.

Unless your superbly careful, walls will need to be repainted every few years because they’ll start looking grubby. So if you can choose neutral colours for longer-term things (kitchen, tiles, bathroom, flooring, wardrobes, sofa, curtains etc) then it doesn’t matter as much of your wall colours go “out of fashion” as you’ll need to renew them anyway.
Then

Choose colours you like or go fairly neutral cream or white or more bright pastel colours if you like those.

We have two brown/tan classic leather sofa’s that we have had for years. I’m not keen on black and to me they go with every paint colour I might choose, won’t date and I can change the look add colour with cushions etc.

Honestly, I don’t think it’s possible to avoid fashion, not least because the majority of the stuff available in the shops is going to reflect current trends. Everything will date at some point.

The only exception I can think of is if you go for a classic country house style - but that only works if you have a classic country house!

I think the best you can do is to make sure long term expensive items like bathroom tiles or bespoke curtains are pretty neutral in style and colour (avoid anything strongly mid century/industrial or mustard/teal for example), and then keep trends for cheaper items like cushions and paint colours.

I have been trying to do this in our house but unfortunately my tastes seem to be in fashion at the moment. I have always loved velvets, dark greens and blues, patterned floor tiles, William Morris prints and parquet flooring but they’re everywhere at the moment. I don’t have anywhere to put parquet flooring/can’t afford it but otherwise am going with what I like because it suits the age of my house, even if I look like a bit of a fashion victim at the moment!

I may have used few too many “at the moment”s there 🤣

My rule of thumb has always been:

• either natural materials or white/off white for hard finishes and things that are expensive to replace (floors, bathroom tile, kitchen, etc)

• wall paint is cheap to change, so here I think you can play around, but I prefer to go with a colour that compliments the flooring (so no grey paint with a stone tile as it all looks a bit bland, for example)

• it is better to go neutral (fabric) or natural (leather, hard wood, etc) with good quality furniture that will last and bring in trendy pattern or colour with accessories to make your space to make it feel ‘fresh’ than to constantly replace furniture.

Personally, I have quite plain walls and a lot of either wooden or neutral-fabric large furniture, and I bring in colour and personality with art, books, throws/pillows, lamps, and plants. Mid-tone oak is the best flooring choice for long-term versatility I think. It lasts ages and works with both warm and cool palettes as trends change.

Difficult to achieve. Everything dates. Which is why 80s decor looks different to now or to the 50s. Why we no longer look Victorian or recency.

The neutral look has been big for about 20 years now. Used to be more peach/cream than grey but the principle is the same.

I've given up. Whatever I do now will be out of date in 20 years time. So I'm going with what I like. Has raised a few eyebrows, but I love it.