Never cared for ikat either, and not a lover of gray, but owls OR macramé' won't become part of my decor either. Will just keep using what it is *i* love and not let a decorator or trend make the decision. I just can't be a follower. ;o)

For the last few years there have been many articles on the death of white kitchens...yet they keep on coming with no end in sight. I like looking at them but wouldn't want one. I'm kind of excited about moving to a home with wood flat cabinet doors. In a not popular teak type color. I'm ready for a change.

All this claims is that earth tones are back, but they're now called olive, whiskey and raisin.

Thanks for sharing Em11!

Oh my - I completely missed foxes and owls- didn't even know that they were a trend.

And by successfully procrastinating I can now forgo the heavy window treatments I was contemplating and just leave my sheers alone! I've always loved the Venetian marbled paper- when I was getting my librarian degree I learned how to make the endpapers. However mine tended to run together and were certainly not artistic.

I love Ikat but have hesitated on anything major; tunics on sale being quite fine, upholstery verboten, and wallpaper unthinkable.

All the rest I could care less about.

But I Love these kind of articles! They give me peace and direction....

I am excited about corduroy upholstery! It is so cozy and soft!

White kitchens have been around since what, the 30's or 40's, so I've never considered them a design 'trend'. They've been updated in many ways and(I believe)are here to stay. Do decorators think we live in a box or with blinders on, and have never seen these 'trends' before? We've had parents and grandparents who have exposed us to some of the 'trends'(used loosely)we're seeing today. Geez, they need to get over themselves. lol

My late husband once had a girlfriend (before my time) who did a lot of macrame. I have one of her pieces hanging in my garage. I guess it's time to bring it inside and give it a place of prominence.

Wait, I'll put it in my white kitchen to inject some much needed humor.

I totally missed the 'recent mushrooms'. That and macramé take me back to the 70's. I used to love to make macramé pot hangers. I'm still tired of it though; you younger folks will have to revive that trend.

It's like MCM. That's what I grew up with and I'll never re-embrace it.

Nothing trendy likely to happen here this year. Again. LOL

Yikes! I think someone went to the thrift shop and found a 1970s table. Those sheers look dirty.

On the other hand, I'm just getting a woodland theme going...it's out already??? :)

Macrame....really? It was pretty awful and overdone even in the 70's! We had a corduroy sofa...it was DH's when we met...chocolate brown wide whale with a chrome frame...totally 70's. We had it for about 20 years...it ended its life in the basement playroom..the kids loved it because it was on the low side....but the fabric eventually tore beyond repair with the kids crawling on it. I'm glad corduroy is coming back. Won't miss Ikat and would never have woodland creatures. White kitchens will never be out of style.

The annual Turn of the Wheel.....it was inevitable that the RH look would collapse, not because it is inherently more awful than any other look, it is just time for something new to sell. I am not sorry to see it go. Ikat, on the other hand, has been used far longer than the WSJ has published, and I see that continuing not as a trend but as a design choice for certain rooms and homes.

Macrame? Don't make me laugh.....cheap art has always come and gone...remember the driftwood wall "sculptures" of the 60s? The more recent wire wall sculptures of expansion bridges, trees of life, sunbursts? The tin faux vintage signs? The reality is that people want something on their walls and the mass market will provide it, and if they see enough of it in stores and magazines people will buy it. And some will continue to buy paintings from local artists, some will buy fine art that matches the sofa through their designer, and some will buy art for investment and decor. None of it is wrong, it just all represents the vast breadth of taste and budget.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose...,

Editing to add that, if not this year, then perhaps next year we will see the end of the current mania for chandeliers in every room of the house!

This post was edited by kswl on Wed, Jan 1, 14 at 6:39

#4 made me laugh because I saw a designer do exactly that--put books into a shelf with the pages facing out! I meant to post about that here since it was probably the single stupidest decorator decision I have ever seen in my life. It actually eclipsed the placement of framed pictures on the stiles of bookshelves, thus rendering the removal of the books themselves impossible. I thought that was the ultimate till I saw the backward book arrangement.

That item I definitely can agree on, how ridiculous to reduce books to nothing more than something to look at rather than into.

Ann

Speaking of useless books - when I took my son apartment hunting before law school we toured a beautiful Art Deco high rise in Newark that had just been completely renovated after sitting vacant for decades. As the rental agent took us through the common areas she pointed out one of the smaller side rooms that had been fashioned into a masculine, dark paneled library - complete with books - all of them had been covered with the same white paper, completely covering the titles on the spines.

There are thousands of sites stating their opinion of the coming trends and many differ so if one wants to appear trendy there are many choices. IMO it's wise not to take the entire trend thing very seriously.

That said I do enjoy searching for those differing opinions of the coming trends and often find some that I already have or would like to have. I do seem to sometimes (inadvertently) be well ahead of the trends and sometimes well behind.

I doubt white kitchens will ever be 'out'. I can remember white kitchens in the 1940's that were not new at that time.

I like âÂÂbooks reduced to decorâ altho don't consider it at all âÂÂreducedâ but feel they enhance the decor of a reader. I've bought old books specifically for the color of the bindings and have never read them. I would never remove covers or use books in a disrespectful way. The titles are part of the decor charm for me.

Woodland creatures as decor - I couldn't possibly keep up with this revolving trend, they are ever-changing. Choose whichever animal you like and it may eventually be trendy (or not). I have a cute alligator that may soon join my decor and replace the Christmas bears. Since my GC like stuffed animals and IMO every decor needs some whimsy I often use part of my large collection of various animals in my decor.

I'm amazed the Belgian trend has continued as long as it has and I'm glad pattern and color seem to be returning.

Trends I've read on other sites that I like are vintage, handmade, ethnic, and fewer accessories. I've been using all of these for several years now and have edited my accessories and only larger scale ones are coming into my house.

Re: Macramé and fiber-art wall hangings: "It's sculpture for your wall that adds texture and replaces wallpaper or fine art you can't afford" Not necessarily true as I have one quilted wall hanging and 2 tapestries that cost me as much or more as many of my original art pieces. Perhaps if I returned to making macrame as I did in the 70's I could have some inexpensive 'art' but for me that style belongs in the past and I'm glad I gave away all my macrame creations.

Re: Window sheers: "The new ones in linen and wool look rich." AND I expect are quite pricey.

Here's a link with more trend predictions for the new year:

Here is a link that might be useful: Design Bloggers Predict What Trends Will Be Hot in 2014

Maire_cate....as a librarian you must have near fainted when you saw all those books covered in white paper...lol.

"What's in" will move up to "What's out" and we'll start all over again.

We have these odd shaped arched openings (think of 2 squares with the top corners lopped off) from which the previous owner hung her macrame-encased potted plants. About 2' beyond the opening was a wall and there's a skylight for the plants. This 2' x 8' "room" was exclusively for the macrame. I say "was" because we took that down right away. Still stuck with the weird openings though.

The 5' wide sewing room with 70s wallpaper went away, too LOL.

What's Ikat? Dang I missed it. Well maybe I'll be ready in 40 years when it comes around again.

I doubt if White Kitchens will be out. I am doing a white kitchen since I want a light happy kitchen.

I almost did owls 15 years ago - how forward is that? And since it was only almost I've escaped dated as well.

I like the designer's comment (in the article) about macramé - "And we haven't seen it since the 1970s. I think it's time." So, that's the REAL reason it's coming back.

I have negative associations with macramé as well. Right up there with macaroni glued to jars and lamps. And they are tough to dust. Ick.

Just a personal preference - not intending to step on toes.

Apparently I'm on the cusp of a couple trends. Watching my daughter do friendship bracelets, I've been fondly flashing back to making macrame plant hangers in the 70s. I thought it would be something fun to do with her. Although it wasn't so much about the decorating for me as the doing.

And my kitchen could be characterized as acid yellow.

My fiction books are alphabetized by author's last name. Nonfiction are by subject. Oversized books get their own shelf. Is that a new trend?

I'm an unabashed fan of RH. As a newlywed in the 1980s, I wandered into a RH store in Scottsdale, AZ, and loved the use of metals, wood and leather. This was back when mauve, blue, and mallard ducks were at their height in suburbia, and I was trying to define my decorating style. I grew up in and around farming and industrial areas, and so had an affinity for that industrial look that is now so popular. I apologized for it for many years among my girlfriends, unfortunately.

I have a niece furnishing her first apartment, and it's interesting to observe her design choices. Some are dictated by what's available at Target, etc., but there are choices driven by her natural aesthetic preferences. I'm taking note--I bet this is what will be the common thread in her homes for the next several years, and I hope she'll only be amused by the many "current trends" articles from our media.

Shaking my head (LOL)! Not that I mind reading about decorating trends, past or predicted, I'm just thankful that I pay them no heed. Macramé owls?!? Mushrooms? Woodland animals! Deco hues? OMG, I am very happily NOT a decorating trendsetter!
Lynn

Well there's the not particularly appealing esthetic of the macramé hanger, and then there's the reality of having a big leaky plant hanging where it drips water and drops brown leaves all over the place. Neither of which appeals to me. This may be one of those things that appeal to the generation that never actually LIVED with them before.

How about colored burlap curtains since we're being crafty? Mediterranean furniture? Pet rocks? On second thought - let's save those for 2015.

Joanie - it was rather bizarre to see all of those white books, there were easily 150 of them. When the realtor left to check on another apartment I took a couple off the shelf to examine them. They were all old books that they bought and covered and artfully arranged on the shelves.

As luckygal pointed out above the books themselves left unadorned could easily have been enough to enhance the decor of the room. My son lived there for 2 years and they often used the room for a group study and he told me that every now and then he found himself annoyed with the books and would pick a few and turn them around so that the spines were to the back of the shelf.

I'm surprised that that they weren't defaced - I could imagine a group of grad. students (my son included) who after hours of studying for exams just might decide to create titles and authors of their own and add them to the books.

kashka_kat: I think Mediterranean furniture has already made a comeback; it is just in light colors of paint/lacquer.

Macrame is one trend to which I will not succumb. And I succumb to many.

Fortunately, I just got rid of my corduroy upholstery in Deco shades. Thus, I'm on the cutting edge!

so my welcoming white kitchen is now cold and stark and i must now give way to white glass appliances ...and macrame?

what kind of idiot writes this stuff?

lucky thanks for posting the bloggers thoughts. I found it so much better than the WSJ crap (sorry WSJ but really...macrame? BLEH)

One thing that cracked me up...I've been in Martin's office and there is absolutely NO macrame, corduroy or window sheers. His space is bold, classic and rich.....and he's supposed to be "in" right? :p

wow, lots of hate for macrame.

Just like ikat, however, macrame has been around for a very long time as a traditional craft, and doesn't deserve to be written off just because it's perceived as a "70s style."

I've seen some modern designs that I quite like.

Almost everything, has been done once or more, yet, those periods of time when it is "out" it's really out and does indeed look out. ( I won't use the D word as that too is meaningless).

Is there anybody with country geese and mauve & blue upholstery still saying "I love what I have, it's not out!"?

I'm at a loss with those listed. Do they just come up with "stuff" to get our attention. My husband had a hanging macrame when we met. 8' wide and really was a work of art. I did have some pain in letting it go 25+ years ago, but have never looked back. They do degrade to a point of time for letting go. And depending upon the material used, are magnets for a multitude of landing minute.

What eludes me is the pics of what was. Would think if any of this is 2014 there would be a transitional take on them.

It would be fun to see a list of "trends" from this group. If the decorator of today can do one, so can we. A game of sorts with positive responses.

Corduroy has been in my life forever, 4 couches have been recovered and they wear like iron are are easily cleaned. I love it on a couch and never considered it a trend per se, my wonderful naps come first on them . Although I will always remember shopping for one and a salesman telling me it was so "passe". And so I am, but totally comfortable with it in my surroundings.

Thank you for posting! II've been away from actively decorating our home (and GW) for about 2 yrs so I'm happy to delve into it again.
I won't even allow my family to wear courderoy let alone have a courderoy sofa. Please know that this is simply out of practicality on my end because of pet hair. I'd love nothing more than to bring a fantastic courderoy blazer into our home for someone.
I won't give up my foxes because it's a family thing. And I need something that borders on kitsch to make me smile and mot be so serious.
When I hear a designer say 'I think it's about time' I wonder wth theiroverly self important problem is and laugh as I envision their idea going up in flames.
White kitchen? I'll keep them. I'm not imaginative enough or energetic enough to come up w/ anything else lol!
I love reading this stuff but am so thankful to have found my own decorating groove! That way I can read, maybe be inspired to incorporate something new and always be secure inthe choices I've already made.