What current "looks" are going to date badly?

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I'm starting a house refurb next year and collecting various ideas for decor.

I'm conscious that I tend to be quite influenced by what's around at the moment... 5 years ago I probably would have chosen a house all in white and shades of grey, and a painted in frame kitchen, now I'm liking darker colours and handleless kitchens... I think I may be a recipe for a house that dates quite badly .

Please help me avoid that. What do you think is currently ubiquitous/on trend but will look all wrong in a few years' time?

Conversely what's going to stand the test of time?

It's for a Victorian house in London if that matters...

The story about ripping about parquet and laying laminate reminded me that when we moved in here (30s semi) I visited our adjoining neighbour and admired her original 30s doors with distinctive panelling and beautiful handles. (Our house has been modernised - badly - leaving no original features whatsoever, but expanses of white uPVC and ugly doors with brass handles.) She said they had wanted to replace them but couldn't afford new doors. I squawked, "But they're a beautiful original feature! I'll buy them off you!" Stupid: I should have only said the second sentence. She instantly backtracked and said maybe they should keep them after all...

Don't go for aubergine and nude. I think that that is the new trend

I spent years sitting cross legged on parquet floors at school. I don't want it in my home.

What a thrill though to uncover a massive inglenook fireplace and walnut doors! I envy you. 😊

Ah no, they were already exposed when we bought the house, it was the previous owners, when they bought it, about 35 years ago now, they told us they were boarded up/painted over when they bought.

I agree with the poster who said things a hundred years old are often better viewed than something twenty years old. The other point is how long do you expect something to last. A new kitchen,,ten years, twenty, thirty?

I have old bedroom furniture, it's in the spare room, it was horrible orange pine, I painted it with chalk paint and it looks fab and very modern now and will do us another few years. It's already about 25 years old and was cheap as chips then,...

There is a lot of ripped out parquet at reclamation yards round here. Personally I like it but in large areas it can look institutional as mentioned, especially with blond wood.

Have in your home what you like and is meaningful, simple as that. Decorating and furnishing your home is such a great opportunity for self expression. I don't really understand the tendency to pick ideas ready made from some brochure, which may be the reason for the fear of 'dated' looks.

Yeah I'm about to put a ply kitchen in. The 'ply'ness of it will definitely date but I'm hoping the 'easy to paint' element will moderate it. I don't want any fiddly bits at all and don't want plastic, and it was surprisingly difficult to find anything that fulfilled both those criteria without being bespoke and thus totally unaffordable.

I absolutely love grey and have metro tiles so there is no hope for me.

My job involves a lot of lovely nosing around houses. I see NO new gloss/handleless kitchens anymore - that trend has been over a few years now. Everything is grey, kitchens, walls and carpets. I have noticed carpets downstairs are increasingly rare though.

I think feature walls were dated even 5 years ago and those awful brown pleather corner sofas.

kaputt do share source/pictures if you can. That sounds like my kind of kitchen!

Just looked up ply kitchens as had ever heard of them. Look nice! I'd go for one of those if looking at kitchens now but definitely have a particular "look" about them that wouldn't appeal to all.

Things that will look dated (if not already):

• shabby chic
• animal prints (especially pictures of pugs and zebra patterns)
• feature walls
• oversized prints
• those large curved floor lamps
• copper
• travertine bathrooms

Things I'm not sure whether they will date or just become timeless:

• Karndean
• metro tiles
• industrial chic (there are still a lot of warehouse conversions where this look is appropriate)
• plantation shutters
• islands in the middle of the kitchen
• bar stools at the island in the middle of the kitchen (they were in in the 80s and again now...)

Things that will always look good if done well:

• real wood floors (including parquet!)
• white bathrooms
• wooden sash windows

I had to Google play kitchens. I think I like them!

We kept the old kitchen when we moved into this house, just replacing worktops, the cooker, sink and fussy handles for satin knobs. The units are about 30 years old now and, while the cheap chipboard cabinets are falling apart ,(not helped by a burst pipe) the old fashioned but otherwise lovely solid oak doors are only just beginning to look worn.

So I can really see the appeal of simple but lovely ply. If you need to reconfigure or repair something, it's easier match without worrying that the style isn't stocked any more. It's not going to fall apart if it gets repeatedly bashed or dripped on, like MDF kitchens.

I did a mini refurb a couple of years ago (london Victorian terrace) and some thing I did do:

Grey walls - it's cooler toned than cream and suits our west facing room better

Proper rads - look at bisque. They are solid, throw out tons of heat and look fabulous. They make the room. I went for anthracite and they really catch the light. Love them.

Proper marble reclaimed fireplace. (There's a brill place in Wandsworth in an old church. Really recommend them. They did a great job on fitting it)

Dark wood floors - we didn't have the money to spend loads on these and I wish we'd spent more. But the dark wood gives a bit of punch to the room. I would love herringbone but only if it's reclaimed wood

We also have unusual built in shelves, millions of books and quite strong art/paintings.

We kept the original coving and ceiling roses which I think make a huge difference I. Retaining the feel of the house. Replaced the bat dash windows with wooden double glazed sashes with all the fixtures in actually the same places.

I also got reclaimed door handles from lassco at VAuxhall. They really make the doors.

Yes please kaputt where did you find not extortionate ply kitchens??? Those articles you read waxing lyrical about how ply is a cheap alternative drive me potty...
Ahem, hijack much!
I think everything will date, but very well made (yes, expensive) stuff will look "of its time" in a good way- and if it's in keeping with its setting will become an original feature. Stuff that is cheap and ubiquitous will be reviled though, such is life. So yes, if finely or next, or to be frank any high street shop, stocks it... it's doomed!

We're doing our bathroom and I'm still going to opt for spotlights, easy and fairly unobtrusive. Things date but can be replaced. And fashion goes in cycles.

"Things date but can be replaced."
That's worth bearing in mind. Also the fact that what is fashionable is usually a lot cheaper, on account of so many suppliers competing with each other.

So you could decorate either

• outside fashion, it won't date but will cost more
• in fashion, it will date, but cheaper to buy

It could end up costing more or less the same over say 20 years, whether you do it once or do it multiple times. It depends how much you like (or have time for) decorating I suppose. Some people like to ring in the changes, some like to sit back and not do it again.

Any colour of bath suite other than white - ditto gloss paintwork.
Hi gloss kitchen units, plastic/glass splashbacks.
Swirly carpets. Welsh dressers.
Curtains that spill 'artfully' onto the floor
Metro tiles will date, but are reasonably cheap to replace if you get sick of them.
Good luck!
.

Swirly carpets? Surely no-one has had a swirly carpet out of choice for about 3 decades !

We will move in the next few years' so someone else can change our decor. I don't think our house is too hideous but we do have pine furniture.

Shamefully I have to admit that I haven't found a magical cheap ply kitchen place - DH is building it. If there was somewhere out there selling readymade, reasonably priced ply (or just any very plain wood, really) unpainted cabinets with decent drawers and non-faffy doors I'd have been in like a shot, but it seems that doesn't exist.

Haha kaputt new career for your mr then- he can be the bespoke ply kitchen man we have all been waiting for! Seriously- I am thinking of doing a woodworking course for that very purpose. The local adult ed place even has a crèche on the right day...

I would definitely be a customer if your dh did that, kaputt!

Jungle foliage print.
Pineapples.

Agadoo

Wimaweh

Sorry stuck in 80s

Loads of Carpenters do ply kitchens. I have a Formica ply one made by a local guy. It's all Ikea units and then ply drawer fronts and panels etc. He does some bare ply and some laminated. Some people want him to make the internals but it's much more cost effective to use Ikea.

He is called Zac and his business is lycan_design on Instagram. There is another local company called bespokea. There are many more I have come across. For a large kitchen you can pay 1,000-1,500 for the carcasses and then approx £2,500-£4,000 for the fronts. My kitchen with all drawers, open shelves, full height larder units and all fronts and appliances and a £2000 granite worktop and a £500 boiling water tap was approx £10k.