7 POPULAR DESIGN TRENDS I JUST CANNOT GET ON BOARD WITH & WHY

Oh snap, I can already feel the judgement and wrath coming in hot from those of you who disagree with my opinions! So before I really dive in, I better clarify what I’m about to say. We’ve all seen a popular interior design trend showcased beautifully in someone’s home on Pinterest or Instagram. Most of the time I like and appreciate the trend but other times I encounter a trend that I just don’t see how it could function practically in my own home. Today’s list has nothing to do with whether or not something is beautiful; it has everything to do with practicality. So without further ado, here’s my list of 7 popular trends that I just cannot get on board with for practical reasons. Let’s dive in!

1 – SEPARATE HOT & COLD NOZZLES

I’ve always loved the look of bathroom sinks that have separate hot and cold nozzles but I have officially decided that I will not be incorporating separate nozzles in my own bathroom redesign. There’s two reasons why. First reason – I have burned my hands too many times to count because I can’t get the temperature right with separate nozzles. I’ll be honest, I’m lazy most of the time and I usually just turn on the hot nozzle which means I have approximately 3 seconds to wash my hands before the scolding hot water burns my skin off. I just like simplicity when it comes to regulating the water temperature and typically that can be done better with one nozzle. The second (and more important) reason why I don’t like separate nozzles – I’m a germophobe! Every time you turn the nozzles on you are leaving behind bacteria remnants from your bathroom visit. And every time you turn the nozzles off after you washed your hands, you’re touching that same bacteria again. So gross!

MY ALTERNATIVE – nozzles that don’t require me to actually touch them with my hands – like a lever that I can turn on with my wrist. (As shown in the image below)

Photo by The Stables

2 – PLUSH/SHAG RUGS

Before we even finished our home renovation, we made our first decorative purchase – two beautiful shag rugs. The plush white fabric felt incredible under our feet and we drove home thinking we made the best purchase of the year! Two months later our plush rugs were no longer fluffy. They were in fact very flat, dirty, and impossible to vacuum. Yep, you guessed it…the best purchase of the year turned into our worst! Plush rugs are stunning, but they do not wear well in high traffic areas so avoid them at all costs in the living room, bedroom, dining room, or anywhere that you tend to walk frequently. Unfortunately we wasted a lot of money on those two rugs that are not salvageable, but we know now that shag rugs just don’t fit our lifestyle.

MY ALTERNATIVE – flat weave rugs that vacuum easily. If you add a rug pad underneath you’ll still feel the cushion under your feet. (As shown in the image below)

Photo by Boho Deco Prints

3 – DRAPERY THAT PUDDLES ON THE FLOOR

If you’re designing a space that you want to have a grand feel, one of the ways you can achieve that is by incorporating drapery that puddles on the floor. It looks beautiful, elegant, and grand; but let’s be honest, it’s a dusting/vacuuming nightmare. We had puddled drapes for about a year back in the day and I hated it! Dust collected where our curtains touched the floor and our drapes quickly started turning brown from accidentally stepping on them. You really have to be good about regularly cleaning, dusting, vacuuming, and moping if you want to keep that elegant look. Once again, this trend just doesn’t fit our lifestyle, especially with our dog who leaves puddles of hair everywhere he walks.

MY ALTERNATIVE – curtains that reach the floor but don’t touch. Long curtains instantly make your room feel taller and if they don’t actually touch the floor you’ll avoid those dust bunnies that would collect on your puddled drapes. (Beautiful example shown below)

Photo by Francois et moi

4 – Flat Paint

I remember watching an episode of fixer upper and Joanna Gaines said her paint sheen of choice was flat – I gasped! I thought to myself, is it even legal to disagree with Joanna Gaines?? So here’s the deal, I’ve used flat paint on my walls before and it’s genuinely impossible to clean. If you get a scuff on the wall, you most likely won’t be able to get it off without repainting over it. I know myself, I’d repaint my walls once a year at best which means I’d be looking at scuffed walls 364 days out of the year. And by the way, I’m not about to use glossy or satin paint on my walls either, so what am I left with?

MY ALTERNATIVE – eggshell sheen. It looks nearly the exact same as a flat sheen but you can still clean it if you need to. (As shown in the image below)

Photo by Nadine Stay

5 – BLACK TILE FLOOR IN MUDROOM/BATHROOM

Remember when we all went googly eyed over those black hexagon tiles that everyone was putting in their bathroom and mudroom?! Ok, let’s be honest…we’re still googly eyed over them because they look stunning! Well here’s the deal… (and please don’t hate me for saying this…I’m just the messenger.) Black floors are not forgiving when it comes to showing mud and water spots. I think it’s kinda funny that it became popular to put floors that will inevitably highlight mud and water in the only rooms that tend to collect mud and water! Unless you’re willing to clean your floors frequently, it may look dirty a lot of the time.

MY ALTERNATIVE – tile that has variation in the pattern and is lighter in color than black. There are a lot of options that hide mud and water spots much better than a solid dark colored tile – like beige, gray marbled tile, or even brick. (As shown in the image below)

Photo by Magnolia

6 – STAINLESS STEEL SINKS

This is not my first time ranting about stainless steel sinks and I’ve learned that this is a controversial topic so I’ll tread cautiously. First of all, I have seen industrial style kitchens with stainless steel sinks that look beautiful! They blend perfectly with that style and I get why people are drawn to them. However…Chris and I used to have a stainless steel sink that almost never looked as polished and pristine as you see in the magazines. Water will inevitably show on the stainless steel whether you have a water softener or not. All it takes is a quick wipe with a rag to get it looking polished again, but with how often we use our sink it would be a nuisance to have to wipe it down each time. Now, if you’re ok with water spots showing, this shouldn’t concern you. However, I love a clean looking sink so I didn’t get along well with our stainless steel sink.

MY ALTERNATIVE – we installed a black stone sink in our kitchen and I love it! It doesn’t show water nearly as much as stainless steel and it doesn’t stain like a white sink can. (As shown below)

Photo by Nadine Stay

7 – GLASS COOKTOP

Once again I can speak from experience as to why I will never install a glass cooktop in our home. Glass cooktops are super modern and minimal and they look gorgeous in sleek homes. But I have to say…they’re a pain in the butt to keep clean. True story – we ruined a brand new glass cooktop by letting our water boil over one too many times. This may just be an issue with Chris and I, but despite our valiant efforts we were not able to get that glass back to the condition it was when we first used it. The water stains were there for life and our landlord wasn’t happy about it. For that reason, we’ve steered clear of glass cooktops.

MY ALTERNATIVE – Gas stove top. We’ve had our gas stove for over a year now and it still looks brand new even after the numerous times that our boiling water overflowed. We wipe this cleaner on the stainless steel once a week to keep it polished and we have no regrets with our decision.

Photo by Nadine Stay

I’m realizing now after writing this post that most of my reasons for not liking certain trends are because of their cleaning ease. I know it probably sounds like I’m a slob who never cleans (which btw we’re getting better at cleaning regularly), but there is something to say about designing a space that doesn’t require constant cleaning in order for it to look beautiful! Just something to think about…