What looks are timeless?

[Bearbehind]

A thread inspired by another thread but looking at the 'other side'

I think dated/ timeless is just a matter of opinion and your tastes change anyway so you'll even get bored of 'timeless' things but I'd be interested to know what looks you think will be timeless

Particularly for kitchens as I really can't think of a style that is truly 'timeless'

White kitchens in a traditional style stand the test of time. Apartment Therapy did an article on it. Victorian checkered tiles don't really date and Metro tiles the smaller size not those horrible large coloured ones in bright red, teal etc.

I don't think anything is timeless. Everything will date eventually.

Not Strapless wedding gowns

It goes back to personal taste though doesn't it zara

I hate metro tiles and would find a white kitchen too clinical

Bearbehind well yes but they have stood the test of time it doesn't mater if you or I like them or not. What do you suggest?

i have no suggestions everyone will agree with- I guess that's the point of the thread really zara

One persons 'timeless' is another persons 'easily dated' or just 'don't like' IMO

I also hate real wood so, timeless or not, it's not to my taste.

I think I'm just trying to see the counter argument to, for example, gloss kitchens or grey carpets being dated by considering what people think wouldn't date and whether you'd even want it in the first place

Design classics that are absolutely of an era - they're a kind of modern antique, I guess.

It depends who you ask. Some people have cultural expectations of domestic style, alternatively interior decorators will want to sell you something new anyway and estate agents want a place to look something like a current show house.

You can't please everyone and those people don't really matter, it's you that lives there. After all, metro tiles remind me of public urinals but I may be in a minority

Do you prefer MDf to real wood?

Yep!

I really dislike the look of real wood

French pleated curtains in good quality linen/fabric in a block colour have always been in fashion.

Very few things are immune from dating. Particularly kitchens, although I think cream/white kitchens are safe enough.

Quality tends to last longer- think Agas, Chesterfield leather sofas.

Things that date easily are those that are fiddly or too ornate.

I agree nothing is timeless because basically they become tired and used looking, white bathroom units and chesterfields are good examples of things always popular but again if it's old and knackered it's old and knackered.

In terms of kitchens I think anything white or cream with a simple structural design will look modern longer but again an old shabby kitchen is an old shabby kitchen irrelevant of design. If it looks shabby it will look dated. One of the reasons I prefer gloss as it must be easier to keep clean and thus looking new.

I don't think folks should buy things thinking they will last forever because it's the wear and tear that makes them look dated in most instances. A white bathroom unit can easily look dated if the bath is al, scratched and it's not in good condition.

Things that date easily are those that are fiddly or too ornate.

Agree (same for clothes as well). Anything "overdesigned". Take Oak Furnitureland. An oak chest of drawers should be a straightforward, functional piece of furniture. But theirs will often have little off-putting details like this one.

I think a white kitchen will always be ok as people, generally, like light. Same for white walls - neither grey or cream. And wooden floors - I've lived with them for nearly 25 years and it wouldn't occur to me to get anything else. They're beyond fashion and are simply practical.

I think that's fairly straight forward and functional ?

That chest of drawers is truly HORRIBLE Edith. Bleurgh.

Horrible chest of drawers. In fact, that may now become my image of a 'Chester Draws'.

I think our house isn't that datable, purely because we're not fashion-y in interiors terms or other terms. It's a big, solid house with good, plain bones that came with an Aga and an old but inoffensive wooden kitchen that we repainted but kept, replacing only the horrific speckly granite worktops with wood. All floors are wooden floorboards, all walls are white and have a lot of bookshelves on them, furniture is a mostly inexpensive old pine tables and dressers, all curtains are plain heavy linen.

That makes the place sound very banal, but in fact the 'interest' comes from the art on the walls, nice old kilims, lamps and Middle Eastern brass tables, some unusual pieces of furniture, plants etc -- but once we removed our stuff, a buyer could walk in and find a completely blank canvas that doesn't scream 'Look of 2016!' (or whenever).

Bluntness - it's got a horrid, purposeless curved bit at the top, some gouged out lined details on the drawers (could look ok without that curved bit?), cheap-looking handles. That's what I mean by overdesigned - they didn't know when to stop. Simple wooden frame, simple wooden drawers = job done.

The chest OD is grim..

Blimey I quite like it. I don't like the handles, I'll admit that, but past that I think it looks ok. I wouldn't buy it myself unless it was a bargain but I would not look at it and think it was grim either..,

This is my view of grim,,,

Well, that's not for me. At all. But could work if mixed up with other styles. We stayed in a holiday house once where the owner collected furniture for a hobby. So, some was really quite expensive and of its era - statement 50s/60s stuff and French ornate stuff etc - and some just nice jugs and vases picked up from flea markets and supermarkets. But the way he put it together (colour schemes, in small collections etc) worked because it wasn't all one look.

They're both absolutely grim!

It's funny that this has turned into what is 'grim' rather than what is 'timeless' isn't it?

I know it's a small sample but it kind of proved my hunch that it's easy to condemn what you don't like whilst not coming up with a viable, one size fits all, alternative.

It's all down to personal taste.

I'd pick a grey carpeted, gloss kitchen house over a parquet floored, wooden kitchen house with chesterfields or wood furniture every day of the week!

Pick what makes you happy and to hell with what others think!