Some Trends Home Today & Gone Tomorrow

Just because you’re able to redecorate your home with every new trend doesn’t mean you should.

Trying to keep up with every “color of the year” or latest designer’s lamp release creates a huge drain on your time and energy, not to mention fodder for the landfill. Nobody has a crystal ball, but here are a few current design choices that seem more likely to travel from trendyto-tired at warp speed and be difficult to back out of. This doesn’t mean your décor should be frozen in time — you just need to be selective with the trends you embrace. It’s safe to say that oversaturated colors, busy patterns and prints and especially faux materials tend to have a shorter shelf life. Whatever you do, go with the real thing when you’re choosing accents like wood, marble, granite or anything that has nature-made and synthetic options.

ALL-WHITE KITCHENS Trendcasters have been insisting for years that white kitchens are timeless, but some are finally starting to agree they may be more trouble than they’re worth.

This supposedly calming space in reality is stressful to keep clean, with every spill and stain standing in sharp relief against the standards you and your mother ever tried to meet.

You can go mostly white while adding some contrast with lessspoilable marble or quartz counters and/or natural wood grain cabinets.

FARMHOUSE STYLE We all knew it was going to end at some point, right? As dominant as it was for the past decade, it was easy to forget that shiplap collects dust, and the open shelving, gratuitous antiques and hanging pots would be a recipe for showing your mess off to the world.

The farmhouse aesthetic’s emphasis on comfort across rambling spaces will endure in future design iterations, but the overtly “farmy” elements are beginning to lose their appeal, even in nonurban areas where the clash with outside reality isn’t as stark.

PATTERNED BATHROOM TILE Interior designers have been paying more attention in recent years to this often-overlooked part of the house as people seek more spa-like surroundings for their self-care. This has opened a world of alternatives to the unlamented fuzzy toilet lid cover and carpet.

These include bold uses of tile on walls and floors, sometimes in vivid patterns which, unfortunately, tend to wear out their welcome quickly and leave your space feeling boldly dated.

However, if you do love this look your best bet is to keep it to a minimum.

MAXIMALISM A backlash to the domination of minimalism was inevitable and necessary, but it’s frightfully easy to overcorrect by adding too many photos, collectibles and keepsakes until your home resembles, at best, your grandparents’ house before it got cleaned out and at worst like a hoarder’s retreat.

Showing off all of your art and layering all of your textiles is a lot of fun, but true design is based on how you edit your rooms, so you’ll need to practice some restraint.