I’m So Over This Aesthetic

Finally, somebody said it.

Grey and white, so stimulating.

I like...the chairs. But I wish they could have been, oh, turquoise, which might have brought all that beigeness to life.

Love the aesthetic you describe as cold. To me, it is clean and functional.

What do you prefer?

Design trends or general trends op?

It would function just as well with a little color, r4, instead of being nothing but beige and white.

"Clean and functional" sounds like such a great way to decorate a home...or cafeteria

Or a restroom, r7.

I've tended to like the same color palette for most of my life. I didn't even realize this until I had my whole house interior painted several years ago. I used the same color harmony (shades of blue, green, and purple) that I used in my first apartment, circa 1980. I have a lot of hand-me-down furniture, most of which is antique, and I never intended to get rid of most of it. So I've been largely immune to the trends I see on display in magazines, or on HGTV. I decorated to please myself, and it's worked out well.

I miss warmer colors. This whole light blueish grey palette mixed with plastic MCM adjacent is really getting tired (if you ever liked it to begin with). Light fixtures are getting more and more gimmicky and often look dated before they are even installed. I'm a fan of neutral and modern interiors, but when you take away all of the color - you have to add texture and richness of materials IMO. You still need contrasting colors, textures and sheen - particularly when working with "non" colors. There are many designers who I admire for different reasons, but Sally Sirkin Lewis has been a favorite for years. She delivers minimal and contemporary but does so with luxury and sumptuousness. These are not recent rooms but I find a lot of Sally's work to be timelessly modern. While her work is not for everyone, I prefer it to the Joanna Gaines plasticy farmhouse nightmare that OP mentioned. This is just one of many examples of contemporary done well (Bill Sofield, Thad Hayes, Nancy Corzine, Jan Showers, Ralph Lauren Home, etc. are often excellent also).

I am so over people saying they’re so over aesthetics.

I like blue!

The open floor plan.

Sound travels like a BB in a jar.

Kitchen smells go everywhere.

People end up being all together in one giant room. (Familiarity breeds contempt.)

Fire can’t be contained if it has so much oxygen.

On the plus side, it makes installing sound-absorbing shag carpeting seem like a good idea.

All beige and white is like saying, "I'm staging to sell."

The annoying gay with too much money who thinks "gut renovation" is not only a style but the answer to anything.

"We bought the house because it had so much historic character and original details." = "We then proceeded to break it down to a molecular level and rebuild everything anew. We discovered the kitchen was in the wrong place and just didn't function for us, so we demolished the former three main rooms of the house, opened up all the space and a dream kitchen which is where we have a coffee bar and bowls of fruit, big fucking bowls filled with $80 worth of fruit at a time. The main stairway was beautiful—it's why we bought the house—but the stair treads had had stair carpet runner tacks in them at one point and rather than have them filled by skilled floor people so they were disappeared to the naked eye we replaced all the treads, then we didn't like the color of the wood so we replaced them again, and this time we replaced the stair risers which were originally painted with matching wood, only we changed it to a darker color, well, because... And then the balusters looked somehow old-fashioned against the new wood and our architect said we could replace everything and start anew and we did, and while we were doing that we reoriented the stair in a different direct and moved the base of it into another room. Because the whole first floor is now a stairway and mammoth show kitchen, we added 3600 square feet onto the back of our 2300 square foot house, and we wanted that modern, but the more modern we made it, well it just made the front part look old we thought, and so we took off all the wood weatherboard siding and had it replaced in flush-mounted slate panels with stainless steel anchors (they're beautiful, we say them in that museum in, where was that...?) All the old decorative trim, we loved it; it's why we bought the house. But once we started with the slate panels it really didn't work and so out it all went. And we discovered (like Howard Carter) that the original windows and front door looked too old and fussy with the slate and stainless so we put in all new, and our architect said, why not change the sizes and shapes, then. So we did! All of them! Then because we discovered all the bedrooms were in the wrong place and none of them had bathrooms the size of a garage so we rebuilt everything, so we made the four bedrooms in the front of the old house into one bedroom and three bathrooms because...you know when you have people over and they want to use your bathroom in your bedroom? We hate that. Hate it! So we have seven full and three half baths in our four-bedroom house because we're that kind of people! What else, what else? We replaced all the flooring to match the flooring we liked for the stair, and took out all of the chimneys except the one we added in the new wing, so we had to replace the roof to avoid patching and replaster all the walls only they said drywall with a Level 5 finish was even better so we replaced all the plaster, and good thing too, because some of the wood studs underneath were really old and dark, and while everyone told it it was NOT black mold, we just didn't like the idea that it reminded us of black mold (which we've never seen.) Then all the window and door casings and the doors: once we decided we liked the polished nickel door hardware we know the doors and everything about them had to go; they just looked so old. A pity really, it's why we bought the house! We changed so many things that we wanted to save some special things to commemorate how we rescued this house so we saved the front door knob and had it mounted as a hand towel holder in one of the washrooms off the living room, to show the preservation mentality that guided us at every step. The door knob is beautiful but where it is now, before it just didn't function for us."

If I never see beige, brown or grey walls again, it will be too soon.

OP has hit the nail on the head. This is why I left the business. The people who actually determine interior design spend so much time in hotels that hotel decor is their only design reference. Couple this with type-A women who avoid anything feminine and you end up with cold, sterile design. It was bad in the 2000s when everything was beige because every home was staged to sell at all times, but the new aesthetic is worse.

Another influence is the social engineering to disparage anything old. Big money is not made from inherited furniture. Antiques are not that big of a market, neither is real ethnic decor. Money is made from newly made, factory produced furniture. You never see an Asian chest or textile or an antique used as an accent piece, even in so-called Farmhouse design. It is all new, new, new.

I don't have "decorated" or "designy" homes or apartments but I like visiting them. So my aesthetic, which is very much an aesthetic, is anti-aesthetic. Some people live with "no design" on purpose and some out of lack of interest and the homes are "livable" and often welcoming, comforting, and interesting. "Designed" interiors run the gamut from fabulous to stomach-turning & hive-inducing.

The issue with the room in OP's picture is the stomach-turning lustre (very very very bad) and the hive-inducing "objets" on the sideboard. Remove them and add in some non-design and the room is fine.

The stainless steel-ization of every kitchen in America. I remember about 15 years ago I was looking at a condo and I asked the decorator, What’s next in kitchen design? She simply didn’t know how to answer me. Stainless apparently is the final point of kitchen decor. The only thing worse is trying to warm a kitchen up by putting up stupid slogans or having too much junk on the counters.

I stopped watching HGTV when every color palette they bust out is grey and white.

It's designed for lazy Frau bitches that can't cook. You never see actual cooking appliances on the counters in the design of these kitchens. Plus, the kitchen sink is placed as far away as possible from the stove. Who in the hell wants to drip shit all over the floor when carrying dirty items to the sink from the stove?

These bitches are obsessed with boring backsplashes, stainless steel appliances (a mess to clean) and room for picture frames on the counter (in the fucking kitchen of all places).

Kitchens are no longer a functional space, Fraus just need a decorative space for their microwaves and to place their take out meals.

Women need to be banned from interior design.

Couldn’t agree more OP. It’s a cold and not a homely look at all. No fantasy, no character.

The reason people use this aesthetic is that they entertain and don't want to offend their guests with bold, personal choices of color, patterns, fabrics, furniture, etc. Instead, they have some moveable show and conversation pieces which are supposed to either impress or start a conversation about, say, travel or hobbies.

And let's not ignore the "tasteful friends" discussion that throw anyone in a grease fire for having the audacity to be either boring or show any kind of personality.

Look at that huge white wall, just begging for an antique movie or advertising poster, or a piece of pop art, or even an abstract that doesn't look like someone spilled etching acid on a piece of galvanized roofing.

But god forbid even an atom of personality escape into this room.

This is where wokeness has brought us. I know, this room isn't about politics. But fear of self expression seems to have crept into everything now. You can clearly see the studied avoidance of committing to anything, even a color, an artwork, even a flower. This is the studied blandness of someone who's terrified of doing the wrong thing somehow.

I can’t wait for the shades of grey that I call “Millenial Grey” to disappear. It’s going to look so dated in ten years, maybe less, and when the whole house is painted that color it just looks dull. Everyone around my age, late 20’s and early 30’s loves it.

Hell, I even like it small amounts. But small amounts are key, not every room.

R23, that is a load of crap. The people who have spaces such as this entertain at restaurants not at home.

[quote]Instead, they have some moveable show and conversation pieces

What an appalling idea.

The very idea of not wanting to offend people whom you know well enough to invite into your home is tragic.

I painted a room gray in 2008 at my old place and even then I worried that gray was “over”. Still, it’s better than beige.

I wonder if r19 is right, stainless steel is the final point in kitchen decor. People have moved on a bit from granite countertops but it’s still stainless for appliances.

Maybe the European custom of facing the fridge to match the cabinets will finally catch on here. Or maybe appliances will revert back to white.

Does anyone actually pay attention to this stuff? These are the looks that you see in ads, but actual living spaces are not controlled enough to be so precisely designed.

In OP's picture, someone is going to put down a book with a red cover and put the purple vase their brother gave them on the sideboard.

Within 6 months, life would have taken over and there will be color. Maybe a chair added to the room and set at an angle because that is more convenient.

No one lives long in the austerity of interior design.

[quote] The people who have spaces such as this entertain at restaurants not at home.

How ridiculous. People entertain at home to show off. They show off their home entertainment system, the fancy BBQ grill, their Liza memorabilia room. Plus, people can talk business or private matters without anyone listening in.

The only way you entertain anyone at a restaurant is when you are sure your peers will not be impressed by your home for some reason.

[quote] The very idea of not wanting to offend people whom you know well enough to invite into your home is tragic.

Society is build on the foundation of putting the approval of others above your own. Yes, that's tragic, but it's also the reality we are living in.

I hate open concept.

The kitchen is a safe zone, where you can comfortably gossip about others in the house, be it by phone or with someone else, scratch your privates while garnishing dishes, or pick the random piece of chicken/meat/whatever up off the floor to still be served.

And who the fuck has to be able to keep an eye on their kids? We were sent outdoors.

Been shopping for new flooring. Everything looks the same everywhere. Where’s the variety. I don’t want my house to scream “oh, this was renovated/flipped in 2015 and I can tell because every house from that moment in time has the same tile, backsplash, floor, etc”

It’s hard to find something that a little more timeless and not of the moment.

Having grown up in the 1970s, when most of my friends' living rooms looked like this, I'm perfectly happy with grey walls and clean lines

What exactly is a timeless look though? AbFab's white, minimalistic room?

I don't go for trends. I like spaces that are more romantic, which take one to a different time or place. I think colour and pattern are must-haves. Brand new everything is dreadful, especially when none of the items are handmade. I want to see some imperfections: patina, the passage of time, things that don't match.

Anyone who's been invited to dine at my place and is offended by my mahogany Victorian dining table and balloon back chairs, 19th century paintings, and antique clocks can just turn around and head on out the door.

R35 Your place sounds lovely.

I don't know anyone with a lick of taste (so to speak) whose abode follows this rubric.

If you want timeless, live in a mausoleum.

Treating color, fascinations, personal items and comfort as cultural detritus is no way to live. And in one's public rooms guests are apt to respond to an interestingly (read "diversely" - and not talking "junk store eclectic" or "Grandma's whore house") arranged space that holds to some conventions without leaving people feel like they're on an unfinished stage set.

The funereal white flowers? Sickly rigorous in that photo. Yes, the chairs. Ugh.

And I understand R32's point. But even though that photo made my teeth hurt (literally), "decor of absence" is an answer only for the traumatized. It's the aesthetic for design anorexics seeking to control, control, control.

R32, I’ll take grasscloth as a wall covering any day. Love it.

And yet the very same bitches were only yesterday making fun of me for painting my bedroom walls rose pink, and asking where I could get some retro-goth furniture.

The picture at [R32] looks much more appealing than the one OP provided. I wouldn’t have anything so cluttered, but I miss color and bold patterns. I’ve been watching reruns of Colombo this week and getting a kick out of the hot pink carpets and big printed blouses. There was much more joie d’vie in wide lapels , big hair, and interior atriums filled with tropical plants.

[quote]All beige and white is like saying, "I'm staging to sell."

I dont know if people are more nomadic these days, but it does make your place easier to sell when you are ready to leave. I think thats why most people stick with these colors

R40 Yes, plants are very important, even for those without the luxury of an atrium. Tropical is better, and even just a pair of potted palms can liven up dead rooms.

Designers should be banned from design.

The artwork is also so often cheap looking. Abstract with a touch of gold class!

It's very sterile with absolutely no personality, just like millenials.

Subway tiles and matte black faucets are such a loud, brassy combination-

Introducing the Shelley Winters Collection

R32 I would buy the end table lamp in that pic. Though preferably for 50 bucks at a flea market.

Personally, I like the minimalist look like in OP's pic.

I find riots of color and rooms filled with crap not restful. Frankly, there are a few too many items on the sideboard for my tastes.

White and gray was a nice break from the beige of prior decades but we are now at the point where it's looking as cheap as paneling did in the 70s.

Muted colors in some areas can be great, but often the point of those muted tones was to allow accessories and other items to come through more boldly, and most suburban fatties and fraus don't understand that.

I can't tolerate the Hermes blankets artfully draped over the arm of a couch or chair so the "H" is prominent. So tacky! It screams trying too hard.

i think I love r15 and r30, though I could take a mulligan on the nut scratching.

I hate. HATE the hotel, bland characterless aesthetic. It's so dull, but as someone already mentioned, it looks like a house being staged to sell, which nobody looks at anyway. They look at the price, the location and whether or not their crap will fit up the stairs when they're moving.

Those chair seats remind of a Greyhound bus terminal circa 1974.

I like it

I want to replace the Home Depot contractor grade fixture over my dining room table, but don't want to get something trendy like the one in the OP picture or the rods akimbo style as seen here or glass bubbles or a great big lampshade which are all in fashion now. I'm not into crystal chandeliers, so it's hard to know what to get that will stand the test of time since I don't know what I like. I think that is why so many of these rooms end up bland. People have so many options they get overwhelmed and just follow the trend.

Well, what if we threw in Mr @tuckpbrown as an accent piece?

R54 - that room could handle many kinds of lustre. Just go to a couple quality vintage furniture and lighting shops and you'll see all kinds of lustres.

R46 What's even worse is when they pair the tiles with the dyed grout; black and charcoal grey is very popular. I think if one is going to go to the trouble to dye the grout, they ought to pick a real colour like Wedgwood blue, greens, maroon, or something used as an accent somewhere else. No imagination at all with these people who are purveyors of this look.

I love it. I could move right in. The backdrop 'should' be neutral so you can display all your own color, texture and personality with furniture, art and decor. Those things can easily be changed when you tire of them or want a different color palette. And YES, everything that adds personal style should be movable. If you love something, it should come with you. Makes perfect sense.

No one wants their own home to remind the of a visit to grandma's house --old and stuffy with heavy drapes, dark mahogany furniture and tchotchkes everywhere. The new esthetic is the opposite of grandma's. It's fresh, clean, bright, minimalist, modern and new.

Of course, in a generation or two, as is always the case, this neutral hotel style will become horribly dated. Young people will all be pining for great grandma's mahogany dining room set (that their own mothers burned in a grease fire).

I like a traditional style dining room. Victorian, Federal, Southern Neo-classical. It can be dressed down. The "small dining room" at Washington's Mount Vernon is nice.

Antebellum dining room.

Anything but this.

I'm not a fan either. No personality.

I can appreciate that something looks nice from a purely visual perspective, but I wouldn't want to live in a place like that. It doesn't feel like a home at all. I have friends who are so minimalist it almost looks like they haven't moved in yet. Nah, not for me.

Also chiming in to agree with OP. That room is so fucking bland, lifeless and soulless. Those chairs belong in a factory cafeteria. The light is cheap and hideous, the furniture looks like its chipboard with veneer from Walmart. The plant is the only thing I like. I'd prefer the interior in R32. And R59 and R60 are just fantastic. Even R61 is preferable to the pic OP posted

The trend I am sick of most is minimalism. I cant wait for the grandma's house look to come back - old and stuffy with heavy drapes, dark mahogany furniture and tchotchkes everywhere, sounds like what I want in a home. I actually used to own an apartment which had started off as being minimalist (got it cheap), needless to say it didnt stay that way long. Busy patterned rugs drapes and wallpaper went up in days, and I found a way to install chandeliers too. All the brushed steel fittings got swapped for ornate antique bronze ones.

R58 the change you are talking about is already happenig. Roll on motherfuckers!

I agree OP - the following are driving me crazy:

1) Mixed wood and metal - everything! The wood is supposed to provide 'warmth' to the white/grey color palates, but it doesn't really. And the wood stains are never dramatic enough. And there is too much wood.

2) Exposed Edison bulbs.

3) Fiddle leaf like plants. They're like the fern of the 70's. Way over done.

4) Tri-pod lamps and tables

5) Deer heads and random animal heads

6) Way too many gold accents on EVERYTHING

7) Too much white! All or mainly white is lazy and unimaginative.

I could go on. The designers' after looks on shows make me laugh - they're the same stuff over and over with things anyone can buy online. The looks are literally combinations you can take out of a Target catalog.

I detest all the gold and brass so trendy now with this white and grey look.

Most of the comments on this thread are from ancient geezers or white trash. Or both.

The “painting” is horrible and pretty pointless, but I’m ok with the rest of it.

Designers must be forbidden from entering buildings. Any time a designer enters a building, the result is an unspeakable miasma.

Every fucking house on my block owned my millennials has that played-out, boring, predictable, cheap-looking Wayfair shit in it. And the homeowners leave the lights on and shades open, so everyone can see how chic and moderne they are.

R66 believes Joanna Gaines is a fresh designer with her finger on the pulse of normal Americans.

Go back to reading your Kathy Ireland Home Collection catalog and leave the designing to the rest of us with taste and experience. And artisinal tacos are not haute cuisine either, so stop acting like you've discovered something.

Thank you in advance.

[quote]Every fucking house on my block owned my millennials has that played-out, boring, predictable, cheap-looking Wayfair shit in it. And the homeowners leave the lights on and shades open because they blew their budget at Wayfair and couldn't afford drapes or blinds.

R70, according to the human mortality tables, the odds are you will be dead in the next 36 months. After your carcass breathes its last, your furnishings and all the outdated crap that is your life will be donated to the Goodwill, where young people will giggle at your stuff.

Here's my style: www.getthegusto.com

R72 - whatever Millennial - Gen Z is the young people now and they're giggling at your try-hard attempts at adulting and posting your latest boring crazy cat videos.

Death would be welcomed after seeing 3 more years of white and grey everything with a 'feature wall' of reclaimed wood pieces.

You have no style - and no, no, no, that wasn't a question.

Looks like a generic hotel conference room. I hate most of the overused minimalist interior design promoted almost everywhere these days. Very boring, sterile, unimaginative, and downright depressing.

This right here - this is a combination of overplayed and not done well.

And it's from Millennial Magazine.

I actually love gray walls. Light gray for living. Dark gray for drama. It’s just a palette that appeals to the Northern European in me. Not sunny or cheery - a little drab but calming to me. I’ll be sad to see it go. But I jab ent seen anything replace it in 10+ years. Gray and stainless steel - and white kitchens - seem like they going to be around forever.

Would love to hear or see any new options - but nothing I’ve seen is better and trendy.

I liked the Rothschild 1970s apartment - but takes a lot of money and focus to get the wild styles to all mesh together.

This - from Top Millennial Design Trends. This is not design.

Another abomination from Millennial Magazine

Now now....don’t trigger yourself into a stroke r75

If you like your tacky outdated style, it’s fine by us. Nonetheless, your crap is going to thrown out when you die, because no one would want it, and young people will take over your place, fumigating before they move in, to get rid of the old person smell.

R76 The sheets are cool with the birds and branches I must admit. They would look great in a more traditionally decorated bedroom however.

R80 - you're throwing a lot of stones - post pics of your place please. And please edit out the background of mom's basement so you don't embarrass yourself.

R78 Looks like a condo model, and the stager(s) haven't arrived yet.

Nureyev was another example of over the top intense design pieces that kinda worked together.

Most disturbing is that all the world's new construction is this same sterile look. It's a feature of global corporate interests and domination

Another bad one. This isn't design.

The above poster who liked the bird sheets - I like them too. Individually, all of the pieces are fine - but together, it's a mess and not functional.

Design is supposed to incorporate some textures, layers, patterns, and be thoughtful of the space - not some kitchen-sink approach to every design trend.

R84, I always return to a lower budget version of that warm sleighbed tableau (my version has gnarly old Hudson River paintings) and I’ve seen other delightful queens do so, too.

It’s a gay nest and the sheets are righteous, but we no longer smoke or toke in here.

R84 that is very cool! That look is amazing, its just right. Anything less and it'd be too minimalist for me

Aesthetics is where comfort meets living space style. I prefer more homey, earthy tones but I’m not above splashes of color or some clutter e.g. evidence of a home that’s lived. I can’t stand these profile articles of homes that look sterile and all sleek lines.

My ideal dwelling is somewhat close to hobbit-inspired decor but with higher ceilings.

R65 interesting you point that out. I’m going for a throwback 50s/60s cusp style (think Roy Orbison, the Beatles), and the bedroom I’ve moved into has shiny plated gold door handles and a glass hanging light fixture to match. They don’t seem to suggest anything to me except a prim and pretentious attempt at luxe.

It’s pretty grim, and I want to change it to something closer to my desired theme. However, my landlady doesn’t really want me to. Any way I can decorate around these gold accents to minimise their effect? Or shall I insist on a an alteration? If so, what can I change it to that won’t be ugly?

Someone once told me that busy people need a calm and soothing home environment where they can relax and people who have retired or stay at home need a more stimulating interior design.

Apartment Therapy has a lot to answer for.

R92, they convinced many twee people to hang up their ukuleles as art and for that I’m grateful.

Wonderwall triggered a bunch of music sadists.

Some demon possessed people with the need to perform one man/womyn shows in the 90s.

OP, you can go fuck RIGHT off, Bitch, I love the look and so does my hubbie

[quote]OP, you can go fuck RIGHT off, Bitch, I love the look and so does my hubbie

Ugh. "Hubbie" is even worse than "hubby."

What would be better, OP? Or did you just want to bitch without proposing solutions?

Wow - what a thread. R15 really describes a certain type of person very well, very funny.  Design can mean whatever it needs to mean. It’s free from rules and regulations for the most part. All the arguing over styles is a total waste of time. Styles come and go, and mean different things to different people. Their value is totally subjective. I think the more important thing is in a persons (or their designers) approach to their house. In order to achieve a result that is more than the sum of the parts a rigorous approach is key. You need to think about what is important to you - and how individual objects in proximity to each other will achieve this while also providing the required functionality. This can be through material properties (the look / the feel) or personal (family photograph / object by a designer you admire / artwork). And an object can mean totally different things depending on the persons intention, for instance two people I know have a version of a 'live laugh love' print on their walls. One of them is a woman and it was up there when she moved in to her place - she doesn't really care or know much about interiors, the other is a gay guy that has it up for camp value. What I mean is any particular style can be good or bad depending on how well it is enforced and what problems it solves and what it does for the person that lives there. I hate OP's photo but it's meaningless in the "grey walls are ugly" debate. Look up Oliver Gustav before you write off grey walls.

One thing I do feel strongly about is the concept of honesty or sustainability in terms of your approach - and I don't mean sustainability in terms of solar panels I mean taking advantage of natural light, making sure you have proper sound insulation, using non toxic insulation materials, locally sourced timber, traditional or colloquial details, not building a house that's three times too big for you, buy second-hand furniture where possible etc. And by honesty - no non-loadbearing beams, easy on the veneer, don't use marble on your kitchen counters that will need to be re-finished every time you get lemon juice on it et. etc.

[quote]Nureyev was another example of over the top intense design pieces that kinda worked together.

Nureyev is an example of what almost every Russian who comes west and makes money does.

It's almost a reaction and direct response to the soviet era austerity, yet it still permeates even Russians today.

Hideous R76. The wooden shelves with the mini objets/mini plants, the wall behind the bed, the mirrors behind the bed, the wooden shelves, the 10+ years too late Home Depot Hague Blue-ripoff. All of it. AWFUL.

I agree R97 but haven't you just inserted your own rules at the end there? You can't have that both ways. Either arguing over style is pointless (I agree) and it's all subjective (I agree, and I also hate the OP), in which case no solid case can be made against (terrible) fake beams and veneer and marble countertops, or you're making an argument yourself re: fake beams, veneer etc.

R100 I see it as more of a style versus approach. One could design a project in any certain style, and do it either unsustainably or sustainably. I see the sustainable factor as being a structural approach to a project rather than a stylistic one. I suppose ‘style’ is a poor choice of language given its historical use in architectural history but I didn’t start the thread - and I believe the use of ‘style’ through the thread so far denotes the aesthetic expression of these spaces rather than the frame of mind of the designer or client.

I'm really tired of grey on grey rooms, you see a lot of them on House Hunters. People paint interiors all grey to appeal to buyers but they don't appear to be done be designers because the rooms look hideous.

This tile is a trend now in kitchens and baths. It will get dated fast. Ug. I hate busy backsplashes.

Grey used to be one of my favorite colors . I wore a lot of grey shirts because they made my green eyes look fabulous. Now I scream in impotent rage when I see a grey wall .&0s interiors may have been ghastly,but you cant say they didnt have personality .

60's interiors ! I dont know how that happened.

A lot of younger buyers (50 and under) do not want to do any home decor which is why this aesthetic is so popular. Most younger, married couples want homes that are move in ready. The days of doing a remodel are over for the most part. People want new, clean, nice appliances with name value (Viking, Wolf, Sub Zero). Even the gays with money tend to go for minimalist hotel lobby chic. I really like these aesthetics as well. I do not like heavy furniture, lots of shit everywhere - spaces that are overwhelmed with stuff.

This has nothing to do with a "move in ready" home R105. This has to do with how you decorate your home. Appliances are easy to swap out.

I with this trend would end, too. Give me some old school Martha Stewart and bring back antiques. The whole industrial look is cold. I don't want anything in my place to look like it's made from a freakin wood pallet.

Old neighborhoods in southern California often have beautifully designed Spanish Mission style homes built in the 1920s, 30s and 40s. The trend these days is to leave the outside as it is (and in the case of historic homes you can get a "Mills Act" tax credit for leaving the outside as its original design).

At the same time, though, they gut the inside and make it all modern and "open concept" with white everywhere, sleek modern appliances, 21st century styles, etc. The charming small rooms like breakfast nooks, entry halls, curved ceilings, etc. are gone and it's all one big white sterile "open concept" thing.

All the original and charming character of the house is meticulously eliminated, although the house looks the same as it always did from the street. And they think they have made a huge improvement by "updating" the house.

I had a home that was built in 1940. I took out a wall and lowered one to bar height R108. I regret it to this day. I can understand buying a new built that is open concept, but older homes do not look good with open concept.

Cozy isn’t fashionable these days, but there is nothing better than a warm and inviting room with an oversized chair for reading or an overstuffed couch for a Sunday afternoon nap. The Brits do cozy well, they have a knack for adding character and charm even in more modern homes.

[quote]Cozy isn’t fashionable these days

How very dare you!

R109 Show us the before and after photos.

Giant wall clocks - your time is over!

R99, r76 looks like a room from "Trading Spaces"!

Some of you were very daring to actually post photos of your real life home decor in a thread in the spring that I can't find. It seems like a lot of older gay men go down the kitsch/whimsical route or go too heavy with antiques and chatychkes.

I like the look op. More than that interferes with my objects and demands too much attention to itself.

I like an older fella with some clutter in his home and a meticulously shaved or better yet hot waxed entire junk and hole area, scrupulously lasered unblemished skin, and perfectly controlled neck, nose and ear hair.

"No one lives long in the austerity of interior design."

Meanwhile, austerity is plentiful in the real world.

I just had to say that.

On a slightly Joey Luft note: I like teal.

I mean, I am really obsessed with it.

I'm pretty sure it's the gayest of the blues.

If anyone can think of a gayer blue, please let me know.

And don't say periwinkle. That's not really blue. And "periwinkle blue" doesn't look that gay to me. It's like gray blue. Pretty much reads like a straight person to me.

Curious what color people use. I use gray and tan because they are a neutral backdrop that can be used for multicolored art and lot of different colors of furniture and rugs. Non-neutral colors define a room. I would rather define it with pieces than full wall colors.

r118 Dwarlink, Cambridge Blue is the gayest of the blues.

A friend recently described my flat as 'very Almodovar' and I couldn't have been happier.

Make things teal(er), r118, with Andrew Keenan-Bolger.

No one actually lives in a house like that. That’s what it looks like when it’s staged

[quote]No one actually lives in a house like that. That’s what it looks like when it’s staged

Lots of people live in houses like that. The consuming masses now take their cues from failed condo show unit reps who became property stagers who became HGTV hosts, or from that nice hotel we stayed at in Tuscany, wasn't it? Or maybe Tulsa?

...more from the Shelley Winters Collection

[quote]A lot of younger buyers (50 and under) do not want to do any home decor which is why this aesthetic is so popular. Most younger, married couples want homes that are move in ready. The days of doing a remodel are over for the most part. People want new, clean, nice appliances with name value (Viking, Wolf, Sub Zero). Even the gays with money tend to go for minimalist hotel lobby chic. I really like these aesthetics as well. I do not like heavy furniture, lots of shit everywhere - spaces that are overwhelmed with stuff.

Exactly! And you will keep seeing a lot of gray/white/wood minimalist design until young buyers want something different. So far they don't. Our rehabs featuring this look sell at higher prices and at warp speed---usually we have multiple offers in the first three days.

You can hate it all you want, but young buyers are not going to do what we all did in our youth---buy an older home and lovingly restore/update/repair it in a slow, steady drip of projects (investing lots of elbow grease) over a decade. They don't have the money, time, skills, interest, patience or energy to do major renos themselves.

Young buyers entering the market can barely qualify to BUY a home, let alone do updates and repairs. When they buy a flipped 1950's, 3BR ranch/cape they can get an old "new" home on a decent size lot (half acre) that is affordable ($350K). New construction is $550k and up in my area..... and on tiny lots.

When I go into one of those open concept houses that has been redone, I feel as if I’m in a barn. One thing I think was so cozy in the older 1930’s/40’s houses was the breakfast nook adjacent to the kitchen with carved wooden built in benches. If I had one of those, I would switch out colorful table clothes every week and sit there all the time having coffee and planning my day. Instead, you have to perch like a crow on awkward stools arranged around an Island now. I guess I just want to live inside a Doris Day movie.

^Yup, that's pure fantasy. Most of the homes built in DD's day- post war to 1980 were poorly designed for the way people in the modern age actually live. Big dining rooms--no one uses them anymore. Living rooms far away from the kitchen so parents can't keep an eye on kids. Entry to the house right into the living room (no foyer or mudroom). Tiny kitchens with limited storage. Three and four bedroom homes with only 1.5 baths, and very small ones at that. Tiny windows = very dark houses....on and on.

One of the issues we run into all the time with older homes are what I call "dance floor" kitchens. They are large square boxes with all the cabinets and appliances lining the outer walls and a big area in the middle that's too small for a dining table or island, but too big not to look awkward. We usually end up taking out at least one of the walls and redesigning to put in an island.

ubiquitous shades of light tan.

I see far fewer entry ways or mudrooms in newer homes than in older ones R128. Other than that I agree with you, older homes have their pluses (mainly lot size and quality materials) but they have their flaws too

A few months ago the neighbors behind me decided to take down the row of cypress that blocked our view of their house. When I first saw it I almost had a heart attack. The backs of early 2000’s McMansions are nothing more than massive blocks of grey siding with tiny windows. The siding they used then wasn’t hardy plank, it’s vinyl so you can see seams in it and mildew growing on it even from far away. My house was built in 1955 and the construction and materials are a lot nicer. The 80’s through 2005 or so were the dark ages of suburban design. Now at least the windows and siding look real, although I’ve had it with faux arts n crafts farmhouses.

Does anyone else here use shoes as decorative pieces? Très courageux!

Shoes no. I use vintage cups.

I sold real estate in SF. All the properties are staged b/c younger buyers can't seem to see past something that isn't impeccably done. Staging can literally be as invasive as a new bath, new kitchen, but the basics are paint (a light grey/blue is the color) and an aesthetic very much like OP's pic. If it's not staged, even if tastefully decorated, it does not sell. This is very different than LA where the properties are just as is for the most part while seller occupied. When I say remodel or redecorate, the buyers under 50 I was describing don't even want to paint or do anything. Many couples are dual income and to afford a 2M, 1500 sq ft condo in SF. Even in high end, I don't think many of todays women really want to do the whole house remodels projects of the boomer generation. They just want it done and move in ready. R126 was spot on. Staging can sometimes be six figures easy, but in SF, you get that money back and there isn't an option.

I live in Albuquerque. So let's start with that. A glass house in the foothills is 350k, that is about as much as you can spend, unless you want to lose money. Postermodern minimalism. Mixes with some old shit. So some Ettore Sotsass mixed with an old Chambers stove. Get creative, you people are mostly gay? Also, mix the masculine with the feminine. I mean really. Stop this Target/West Elm shit. Hit your local Craiglist or Offerup and get something cool for 100 bucks. If you don't like lit, take it to the dump. Do that ten times and your home will look like YOU and YOUR PARTNER. Stop being generic. No more Eames, no more cheap fixtures. Hans Due, Prescolite, Lightolier, work at finding something interesting. Bruno Rey chairs, a ROUND dining table. Knoll s fine, but what about Joseph D'Urso? I grew up in a farm town and you people are disappointing me.

I’m with you, OP.

Personally, I like using warm tones - with the occasional splash of colour. White and grey are absolutely off-limits.

What’s really ridiculous is the height of the ceiling in all of these design photos & photos selling furniture. The average American home has 8 foot ceilings & these photos have a minimum of 10 ft ceilings. It’s only been in the past 15 years that houses & condos have gone for the high ceiling look. So if you buy all of that furniture & put it in your 8ft ceiling house, it’s not going to look anything like that photo, with its high ceiling & large windows.

I do not like sand, which was a popular color used in the last decade. It makes it so much harder to much furnishings and I don't like brown tones or the faux Mediterranean colors. I love original Spanish redone on the inside.

Lately I’m vibing with a Dustbowl Carnivale aesthetic, dark 1930s mysticism. I crave fringed furnishings, battered Edwardian antiques of indeterminate ethnic origin, symbolistic and slightly creepy art, Lenormand palettes, velvet and dust. I want to live in a moody caravanesque interior which suggests defiant iniquity.

Anyone seen good examples of this working in a house? Post pictures if you got em.

Go neutral on the expensive items. Add your color and other things that are easily changed and not very expensive. Add a pop of color with your pillows or rugs.

I have an open concept kitchen and living room and never again. The kitchen counter and counter top in front of the stools is constantly covered in crap. No matter how hard I try it just turns into a magnet for crap. Never again will I have a large open counter top. It’s just asking for trouble. Give me a kitchen with good counter space and a door into the living area. Maybe a window between the two but no big slab of marble.

Sending requested images telepathically, R139.

P.S: Be careful of all that fringe. It's a fire hazard.

R118, I feel compelled to inform you that Le Creuset has just introduced their newest color of "Deep Teal." If I didn't already own about forty pieces,...

The Modern House tends to showcase more eclectic home furnishings and decor for the homes it lists for sale - still some bland, but far more character and colour in general.

R139, that’s my “Optimistic Depression” vibe. Go with the dark jewel-toned Ralph Lauren fabric, bakelite red on tables, old flatweave runners for the feel on your bare feet.

I read Lenormand cards as a performance piece, in tearoom I created on the second floor of a nearly abandoned building around the corner from the Fulton St mall in the early 90s. The aesthetic was negro Plaquemines bordello meets Hudson River School painter-hobo orientalist.

Now that look has been done to death. I've been sorting out a North-African Bauhaus Deco meets 70s Biba in Saigon.

I love Sean Gaston’s work. Palm Springs and SF, I think.

I recently had a bathroom renovation. When I warned the guy at the renovation company I didn't want grey or beige I thought he'd look down at me, but he practically hugged me. Said he was sooo bored with building grey rooms, but it's all anyone asks for.

I also hate, with a passion, concrete inside the house. Terrazzo on the floor possibly, if you live in a hot area, but fucking polished (or worse, not polished) concrete, whether on floor, walls or benchtops - gimme a break. It's like living in the shed.

If it hasn't been mentioned, may I please add that inspirational words or phrases stenciled on walls make me want to blow my fucking brains out.

R151 - maybe you need to live, laugh and love more.

R149 my personal favourite is a guy another DLer pointed out to me, William R Eubanks, guy is in Florida, does a lot of very nice and extremely traditional interiors very much up my alley, the Classic and Traditional gallery has some really amazing interiors, really fussy and ornate, just what I like

At least someone is still doing places like that

If it’s not in your living space why do you care?

r154 = Why talk about anything?

R143 Passementerie and Bullion are worth the hazard. Many quite surprisingly ordinary items are highly inflammable: bread, steel wool soap pads, Doritos, flour, non-dairy creamer, powdered spices, dry fertiliser, oranges, lint, cotton, etc.

R139 I like your style.

[quote]we made the four bedrooms in the front of the old house into one bedroom and three bathrooms because...you know when you have people over and they want to use your bathroom in your bedroom? We hate that. Hate it! So we have seven full and three half baths in our four-bedroom house because we're that kind of people!

Lmao @R15. Makes me think of the "Set up 1-2 litter boxes more than you have cats" rule.

I commented that I really like the open airy minimalist vibe. The other style I like is the masculine, "British Clubhouse" vibe of Timothy Oulton. I am trying to find a balance between the 2. I love dark paint colors (blacks, etc) in the right spaces. I lived in London for a few years and I love some of their design aesthetic.

Interesting website R189.... The "Loft Living Shabby" section features an unabashed knock off of a de Sede sectional sofa.

R139, you still around? Have you seen Sharon Stone's house in Nurse Ratched? I comes with a monkey.

^It.

I am an avid shopper at estate sales and find that no matter how beautiful the home, how tasteful the décor, how wealthy the owner, one can find all manner of tasteless crap in the nooks and crannies.

The beautiful homes with tasteful things are the exception. Many people live surrounded by crap from the decades of their lives, along with the sad, tacky remnants of their parents and grandparents. Hoarders of knickknacks abound.

What is rare are homes once inhabited by artists, collectors of fine or interesting thing esoterica. They are treasure troves and I've seen more than a few.

Whether a dingy abode or hilltop dwelling, the treasure hunt is great fun and I've found and sold many amazing things.

Just went to a house this weekend once lived in for decades by an elderly female artist. Every last thing in that old home was vintage circa 1920-1950. I found a small framed image given to her as a toddler in 1927, according to the faded writing on the back.

One thing the modern, minimalist homes lack is that interesting and personal character.

Please excuse typos and errors. ^

[R162] where do you live? That woman’s house sounds amazing and I was imagining someplace like New Mexico from your description, for some reason.

[quote] Living rooms far away from the kitchen so parents can't keep an eye on kids.

Are children really in danger if they’re watching TV in the other room without an adult present? Is their a high risk of injury if the kids play in their bedrooms without the parental supervision? Is it ok for them to use the bathroom alone? Why not install a latrine in the great room “so parents can't keep an eye on kids.”

R164, Sonoma County, CA. The estate sale was in Santa Rosa in a lovely neighborhood of character homes and ranches built circa 1930s-50s called Sherwood Forest. Hers was a modest home but the vintage charm was off the charts. I went back for the 50% sale today and the estate sale proprietor said she was sad to leave when the sales was done, it was one of her favorites. Mine, too.

R162 best few finds - prices paid v price you sold for. Go!

Neatest: Wall hanging Stuffed canadian goose - $15 purchase price, sold @ $110 after I added a Brooks Brothers rep tie.

You need silliness to sell shit to the Friday afternoon antique groupies. They were usually drunkish.

I’m guessing, but most Americans don’t have a lot of interesting architectural detail in the interior of their abodes. Mostly rectangular spaces with some utility like a door way, an uninteresting window and maybe a closet door. Surely, a blank canvas for someone with talent to decorate. But look at every advert or TV interior, IKEA Ad, Restoration Hardware space, and they have interesting windows, or a turret, fireplace, cubby hole, etc. That pulls the eye away from a dull colored wall as the actual architecture dominates. There is no need for further drama. They could really help out people by showing/decorating these kind of “regular” spaces.

R167, OK, I'll share.

A box filled with Culver midcentury cocktail barware, at least six full sets in various patterns, 22K gold accents, with pitchers, prices averaged $1-$3 for each piece. Sold for about five times what I paid. I saw what was inside and bought it all.

A three foot high antique porcelain swan vase bolted to a matching stand, at least 100 years old. Paid about $30, sold for $300 within days of putting it out.

An ornate Italian candelabra made almost to look like a plant of brushed gold on metal, dripping with prisms and with chandelier bulbs. Wonderfully eccentric and unique, paid $40, sold for over $300.

I look for the opulent, unique, and eccentric and I'll drive as far as about 80 miles for a good sale. Also go to thrift and consignment shops. The hunt never ends but I love it. Just last week I scored 40 stunning cocktail glasses, two large sets, for $20 total. That was a rare steal. My return could total $300-$400, broken into smaller sets.

People can make good money selling vintage furniture, especially if they paint or creatively restore it. I don't carry a lot of furniture because my space isn't big enough for larger pieces.

Every kitchen on those home makeover shows looks like a hospital emergency room. Yeah, orange Formica was once a "look," and not an especially good one, but I think we've gone too far in the opposite direction.

its not exciting but I can see why this appeals.

people move a lot. this impersonal design is disposable enough to simplify moving.

americans hoard. we have way too much shit! this look is streamlined and clean.

Appropriate capital letters would have been too ostentatious for you, r172?

If we get a “A Dog And His Boy” second term, I expect a full faux return to pine and maple colonialesque furniture with spindle lamps and berber carpet wall to American wall - so much easier on the hips should you fall amen.

Wtf?

Faux patriotism always involves pine furniture and velour wall hangings, r175

I'm sick of the sliding barn doors.

Grey, Gray & Grey!!! Everywhere!!! Haven’t these stupid bitches with no taste realized that grey is the new beige which was the new avocado green. The gray trend is so played out. It’s ugly, it’s depressing, it’s done!!

It is so lazy. Women are scared of color because they lack control in design. If they start with “a pop” the next thing the room looks like a fucking circus tent. They resort to the other extreme of a homogenous color palette to rein themselves in.

Also, mirrored furniture has become Trailer Park Bordello Chic thanks to the Frau Design Brigade.

R171 is spot on. Best comment so far.

Again can be done nicely - these examples are just terrible

The above is more gallery than live maybe but more easily seen here

Again

I was going to say R180 - that is hardly a "livable" space. Your pic at R181 is better. R182 is interesting I suppose but nothing I would want to live with. Too monotone and so bare - even more texture in textiles (rugs for instance) in the same color palette would help. Your designer may have an interesting look, but the pictures that you provided only show slivers of rooms (as if the photographer were making an artistic photograph) that show off the architecture and not the furniture. Without the dramatic and interesting ceilings I doubt that this particular look would be all that appealing (for instance, if you applied those colors and exact furnishings to a more "normal" room with low ceilings). Better than the OP - I will give you that.

R180/ R181/ R182 those are grim. Like a rather spacious prison. I suppose you could always paint the cell bars for a pop of colour!

r181 = a splinter a day

Um. I hate this.

I like this.

Love these tiles.

R186 Dear God! Frau-sanity

R187 except the nasty fur blanket and ugly curtains

R188 only for a kid’s bathroom

I feel very positive about the future of purple! - Barbra Streisand, Architectural Digest, 1982

Fraus are trash.

I’m so over the human version of this aesthetic! Can hipster shit just die?

My thing is that my old house has white crown molding and trim. I would LOVE to have natural stained wood, but I don't - and I'm su9re as fuck not going to replace all of it or strip it.

So, what's the problem? I loathe bold colors with white trim - well, except green in the sunroom. I just hate how it makes the white trim stand out so much. It looks trash IMO (I've seen some well done attempts, but usually not). So, I do warm light neutral walls so the white trim doesn't "pop" and really make an effort to get my color elsewhere - plants, art, pillows, rugs, furniture, etc.

And all that shit about warm or cold and different color undertones to the seven million whites, off whites, beige, gray, greige, and taupe paint - it's true. Lol.

If I gotta do muted colours this way would be my choice. I just wish this aesthetic or variations of it would come back.

Lol R194 you have no knowledge of interior design or taste in the area. No no, that wasn’t a question.

R193: Why paint the cornice and woodwork white, then?

Why not paint it a darker neutral for contrast, or the same color as the walls (in the same or slightly contrasting finish.)

R194, that’s memory care and all doors open to the same courtyard, Darling. You’ll love it.

R197 I doubt those doors open up to any courtyard - its a penthouse apartment.

Splat!

[quote] My thing is that my old house has white crown molding and trim. I would LOVE to have natural stained wood

That’s an outdated look. Very 90s.

R196, I've considered it and will consider it in the future. I've Googled "walls and trim same color" and people seem to have a lot to say about it. Lol. Some purists are aghast which I think is ridiculous.

Only bought the house about less than a year ago, so the current neutral pallet is easy to work with as I get things established. The nice thing is if I go bold walls and trim/molding I probably wouldn't even have to prime since I'd be covering a much lighter color. The trim was in really good shape when I bought the house, so I didn't consider painting it at that time because it just would have been another large project among many.

But, yes, it's a good option. Thanks.

What is very 90s, R199?

Wood trim, white trim, white trim with color?

R196, I didn't paint it white. It was freshly painted white when I moved it.

R201 my question also. It’s not clear.

R198, if you pay $20,000 per month for Memory Care, that’s the furniture used in common areas.

Are you queens painting your rooms red and yellow and using garish furniture ? Neutral colors are the right for almost every room. There is absolutely no need - and I fact I think it overwhelms and ruins a room - to paint the entire thing a bold color. Unless you want a stage set - a home requires neutrals.

R205, no. This isn’t a golf resort; it’s a lair. I want Maxfield Parrish hued walls of blue and green and rosy fingers of fucking dawn glowing about with lamps that are low enough to see shit without making people too distinct. I’m 53. We need kinder lighting - not more of it.

R196 is awful. So depressing and claustrophobic. I would want to escape..

Landfills are overflowing with the granny furniture @ R194. A ton of it is being dumped on younger generations as their parents and grandparents pass. No one wants it and it's a real problem trying to get rid of it.

R208, that trend began because of the bed bug panic of 2004 - killing demand for second-hand upholstered furniture.

There is still a glut; a baby boom means more and more old people shit as we push the population into Medicare consumerism.

No. It's not upholstered furniture with bed bugs that caused the change. Well, maybe in NYC. But that's a nonissue anywhere else.

Heavy, traditional wood furniture is the real problem. Things like dining room sets with curious, hutches, china cabinets, buffets and breakfronts. Purchased by well meaning elders in their youth with the intention that they would become family heirlooms that could be lovingly passed down. But no one wants that stuff now. It's in great shape and still beautiful-- just out of fashion and way too big and heavy for the way most people live and the space they have.

R206, You pretty much described my house. I inherited a house with grey woodwork, and (mainly) white and grey walls. I was desperate for some color, and indulged myself, since I wasn't planning on moving. The painting contractors were nervous about my color selections, but I knew the angles of the sun over the course of the day. I figured I could always repaint with different colors, but I'm still happy with my choices, which is all that counts.

R205

[quote]Are you queens painting your rooms red and yellow and using garish furniture ?

Yes. Yes I am. Neutrals are lame and boring as fuck

Beige = Death.

Why do so many sofas have a chaise end? And why do people buy them? They're obnoxious and limiting, and always seem to block an otherwise natural pathway. Can't stand them.

My home was built in 1786 so I think I’m allowed to go with bold colors. Fuck this neutral crap.

R214 Because it's nice and relaxing to be able to prop up one's feet? And if you align the chaise end in a corner against a wall it doesn't block a damned thing.

[R215] colonial people used bold colors, as can be seen in the mount Vernon dining room posted by another DLer.

R205 Writing to you from a vivid blue office. Come at me!

Oooh, post a pic or a paint chip, Syl. Please.

What r216 said. However...buy carefully. Two friends had a sectional sofa that looked like that, but it would split at the slightest pressure. It would not stay together if anyone dared to sit on the longue part.

R219 A peek for you

Just delightful, Sylvia, in r221. I have dishes that color. Really gorgeous room.

Thank you R222! Space is at a premium in my house, so we removed the doors from the closet in this room and remade it into a computer desk area painted in a contrasting color.

I come from trashy demented people who taught themselves to paint and decorate so as to torture everyone else with “visions”.

Children today do not have the mental illnesses required to throw anything as delightful as R221 onto a wall.

When my mother died we had a hell of a time getting rid of her stuff in Florida. The entire state is a big pre-cemetery. When we brought stuff to the dead people’s thrift store, what jumped out at me were the number of baskets. Big, small, round, square, rectangular baskets lined the walls. No doubt bought from Pier One, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Linens N Things, Pottery Barn, Smith & Hawken in the 1990s.

Walls full of baskets = death

[R225] Baskets and clay pots are two things I only buy at thrift stores because they’re so plentiful and a fraction of the price than buying them new. Does Florida have good thrifting with antiques that the millennials no longer want?

As a gayling, I remember tall, wood cannibal fork/spoon combos lining the walls. I vaguely remember a movie where they pull them off the wall to cook a guest.

[quote] Space is at a premium in my house

Why don’t you get rid of the True Crime books?

I can speak to the issue of Baby Boomers' "stuff." My mom and dad (age 73 and 74) have so much shit and they're always telling me that my sister and I that we can have it when they die. But, only tiny fraction of it would we actually want.

I trashed 48 Ethen Allen windsor chairs that were each worth BILLIONS - except there were broken spindles, missing legs, and bashed stretchers. Old people are ambitious with restoration projects.

R214 I despise pit groups in any incarnation . Every single person I know has one in some form . I hate them as much as I hate gray and beige.

R228 Wrong! I have never started a Zodiac thread in my life. I -have- started the Canadian Killer Twinks On The Run threads, do keep your facts straight.

R186 that's the worst thing posted in this thread. Second worst is those 'minimalist' prison-like interiors, holy fuck those are bad.

My home(s) are exactly as I want them with old and new. I look at things and simply decide if I like or don’t like and pay little attention to the latest trends. I like stainless counter tops and natural wood everywhere and that will never change. I like pillows and Persian carpets. I love oak. I cannot live with orange or lime green- natural colors. Cannot stand brightly lit rooms at night (its night after all)- although effective reading lights a must- I read books not screens. I like quality and if I can’t afford it I don’t substitute junk. (Now I can afford what I want but since what I have is so good I rarely need to replace.). I don’t collect (much). My art and objects are highly personal- not collected.

I want to learn about interior design and decorating. I need to learn the basics, what to do. Would someone please recommend a source, books and course of study? I would be very grateful for you help. This thread has only encouraged me. I used to love looking at Architectural Digest a few years ago. More later. It is past midnight, I have to sleep. Thank you in advance.

R233 minimalism isn’t what you think it means.

Now here’s a living room I’d adore.

Warm but clean, quality furniture, cozy but not stuffy...

What sayeth the DataLounge?

R237 to each his own. That bookcase filled with useless objets is hideously depressing, to me. Also the stupid cunt decoratress who put the big vase of flowers in water on the ottoman. Yes, how practical. The carpet looks pleasant.

R237 It's the most wonderful room in the world if your favorite colors are beige and beige-adjacent.

Ginny from Accounting says she absolutely did NOT give her permission for her living room to be shown in Data Lounge.

She's parking her fat ass on one of those Live Laugh Loveseats with a pint of Haagan Daz and her favorite spoon right now because she feels a little hurt.

Ginny = R237 photo

It looks like an Ashley Furniture ad to me R237. Too country, cheap and "new" for that sort of look and feel. I don't mind the color scheme (orange hues are always fun choices for accents), but it could be done better. Not a huge fan of those super tiny loveseats and I hate the cheap chest of drawers placed right up against the arm (a legged table would be preferable). The ceiling would be really nice if not for the terrible pumpkin color/faux copper painted between the beams. Also that much seating shoved so close together feels oddly unwelcoming, it seems like a seating area that would be hard to get into to and hard to get out of - just too close for comfort. That said, I have seen far worse.

AND it's open floor plan = burn it down and salt the earth.

Let's be honest: Deep down most of us are sheep who follow trends like our lives depend on it.

Also, we are put in a no win situation when it comes to interior design. Either you're being judged for following trends or you're being scolded for your terrible, personal taste you have the nerve to torture your guests with.

At the end what matters is you since you have to live in your own space and it should provide the comfort or energy you need. Fuck the judgmental pricks using any excuse to demean you.

How about a tent theme. 19thC Schloss, not mid-century modern.

Boring. What that room needs is moldy moss glued to the walls.

Right, R185?

My first thought was those floors look nice, but are they actually finished/sealed? I can just imagine a pet accident, cat litter tracks, an elder accident, or a big spill. Will those floors soak up all the nastiness, mud and dust bunnies? Maybe yes--it'd just add to its character?

R247 your cat is your main problem.

I love the wood, gold and powder blue.

R249 - beautiful apartment. The chandelier is a bit low rent considering the quality of the rest of the place, but I love almost everything else. A great example of a small space done WELL.

I feel like, Misty Copeland needs to, like, work on her diction.

She's a dancer, so she doesn't need great diction.

R248, 20 years ago I'd have agreed with you 100%.

But then the cats and dog I'd had since they were babies started to age. And my parents aged.

Instead of lifting their feet, parents started shuffling, scuffing the floors. My 20-year old cat became senile, right before Mom did. Then the Cockapoo got cancer. Then Dad had two strokes. Then my Maine Coon got lymphoma. In an instant, beings that never so much as THOUGHT about shitting/pissing/puking on those flawless cypress floors we were so floorproud of, did shit/piss/puke right on them.

Or that time when Mom in the throes of dementia thought it ok to repeatedly flush her Depends, sending toilet water and Depends gel cascading out of the bathroom and out onto those cypress floors.

Aging/serious illness are heinous bitches, R248; I hope you and your loved ones live long, healthy lives and never have problems with either.

This is why I'm getting rid of so many items, and I mean with a junk hauler not any stupid yard sale---clothing, furniture, dishes, glassware, collectibles I haven't displayed in a decade, Christmas decorations, lamps, books (primarily cookbooks, but still keeping too many with pretty photos, haha), etc.

YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE NO ROOM FOR OUR OLD PEOPLE CRAP!

Never mind not having the same taste that collected decorative plates and figurines; the same mentality that got taken in by the Franklin Mint or Thomas Kinkaide; the same parents---ours---who lived through the Great Depression so saved deli containers by the dozens, pill bottles for nails and thumbnails, old toaster wiring, and other bits of flotsam and jetsam because "you might need it"; the same pre-computer need for records, turntables, tapes/CDs, film cameras, typewriters, VCRs, encyclopedias, etc.

R237 that is pretty nice. I'd have more patterns and colour personally, but it is perfectly livable as it is, and nice warm colours too. It looks comfortable and cosy. Its a hell of a lot nicer than the room OP posted

R237, Autumn colors aren't my palette, but I like the seating. However, where are the lamps? And the ottoman is worthless; give me a real table!

I don't necessarily mind the look OP's griping about, and in certain rooms it does look quite good. One problem is that it is everywhere now, to the point that it's become quite basic (in the negative sense of that word). In my city, almost every new restaurant or shop has something related to that aesthetic, if it's not done in that look entirely. Another aspect I get annoyed by is the inherent cheapness of the look that comes with that muted style of decorating. And I am getting sick of decorators showcasing this look as high-end when the furniture simply looks cheap (not to mention that most furniture isn't made with the quality it once was). I was staying in a nicer hotel several months back with this aesthetic and everything was plastic and rough unfinished wood. It was expensive plastic and reclaimed wood (I like that factor), but plastic and wood none the less. Lighting fixtures were just bare bulbs on metallic pieces with little flair. I feel like it's hard to grasp onto the look as tasteful when there's so little there. But I think that is part of the problem in a lot of areas of culture, whether it's interior design, theater, film, fashion, etc.. Everything is just produced on the cheap and promoted as being high-end and fancy.

[quote] In my city, almost every new restaurant or shop has something related to that aesthetic, if it's not done in that look entirely.

In case you haven't noticed people tend to use more and more excuses to judge and reject others. And that includes not spending money in a shop they think looks ghastly or has terrible service or doesn't live up to their standard.

R258 has stated her boundaries!

R258 stated nothing. It was a dim-witted comment.

Women are taking over the design world and they have the taste & imagination of a gnat.

Gay men make trends, women follow trends. Women beat a dead horse in design.

Live Laugh Love to y’all

This is a friend's place. Beige on beige.

r264 = Residential Care Home chic

So what is the new aesthetic? People are over gray and beige - but yellow and red aren’t going to be “in” anytime soon. White kitchens with stainless steel appliance seem like the only acceptable aesthetic. No one wants wood kitchens - or concrete - or granite. And for living spaces, neutral colors are still the only marketable option. No one is going to buy another person’s individual color scheme.

R266 it seems to me that it’s moving towards palettes where your material’s own colour is what drives the palette - i.e. natural plasters on walls which have their own hue and therefore don’t require paint, with non stained woods and metals with a living finish. Lots of muted tones for the plasters with kind of mud or clay tones (but with a lot of depth) and dark metals. Colours appear differently over time and in different light. Is very effective. Kind of like facemask tones lol.

If we're going to judge the aesthetic skills of an entire sex based on the looks the straight, white members of said sex go for, I fear men won't really come out of that better than women.

I do get it, the whole "Live, Love, Laugh" (you know what I see a lot of here? "Dance like no one is watching" stenciled onto walls, oh dear) is awful. But my straight male friends aren't really setting any trends either.

The secret behind the off-white walls is it's cheaper if you paint the whole place the same color.

I loathe white walls and neutral colors. White is for trim, doors and ceilings. I don't want to live in something that looks like a hospital or a doctor's office. Excessive beige reads very dated to me. Some grays are soothing, but those are usually the ones with a subtle blue hue to them. Off-white just looks dingy. Pale, buttery yellows are the closest I'll come to white or off white. I'm not trendy when it comes to home decor, I know what I like and I know how to make it look good.

I like the chunky table, sideboard, and the big green plant in the corner, but not so much anything else.

Sorry, but we have a lot of nice artwork, and it looks best on white walls.

I have lots of nice artwork too R272 - it looks best on dark grey walls.

Honestly, to each his own; personally I can't stand white rooms, but plenty of people love them.

R273 I don’t think anyone needs to debate what colour walls art (as a broad term not specific pieces) looks best on - the answer is white. Have you ever been to a museum? Not to say your grey doesn’t look nice but there are certain absolutes / non subjective items that should be respected.

[quote]Have you ever been to a museum?

Not R273, but most people don't want to live in anything that looks or feels like a museum.

Lol R275 i don’t think anyone will think they’re in the Guggenheim if you paint your 1,000sq ft apartment white lol.

Have you ever been to the Met R274 -- none of the European Painting galleries have white walls. So enjoy your white, but it is in no way an absolute; in fact, it may just be the lazy, non-creative choice. Put that dogma in your "n'est pas une pipe" and smoke it.

R277 oh my god I said generally. Obviously there are exceptions to the rule. And I’m not saying they’re not individually nice in their own right. Jesus.

Uhh R278 You said "there is no need for debate -- the answer is white" and "there are certain absolutes / non subjective items that should be respected."

So take your dogmatic shade and your mealy-mouthed backpedaling and go sit in your all white room. With your beautiful art.

Do you even Museum, bro?

R276 is easily amused by herself.

R280 oh come on I can’t make a little joke at someone’s expense over that? It’s just so embarrassing to suggest that wall colour is the signifying component of whether a space feels like a museum or not. That it’s not the enormous volume of the space, or the wildly different proportions to a residential space. Or the public use aspect 🤭

R279 did you read my first comment? Like, all of the sentences? With a working comprehension of the English language as a guide? Do you know what ‘broad’ means? P.s. I think when you do the ‘bro’ send up thing you can drop the comma to make it look less formal and therefore more believable but you do you.

Since the actual point was the color of the walls, you look pretty dumb right now. Maybe stop digging that hole?

I was replying to 275 who suggested that if you paint your walls at home white you may be confused as to whether you live in a museum because of that wall shade. I didn’t bring it up girl chill out.

I am R275 so maybe you need to chill out? You seem a bit fixated right now.

R285 I don’t think that follows a logic but how & ever. Ok to establish it quickly and evenly. If you have100 different sets of 5 different pieces of artwork - it will look better (on average) on white walls. That’s not to say it won’t be nice on dark grey, and in outlying cases it might be better here or there, but as a general collection, white will work better.

Sigh. Another thread ruined by moronic bickering.

As is tradition.

The "Wayfair Aesthetic" which seems to have taken over every single HGTV home remodeling show. Everything looks like a China-made cheap knock-off of a legitimate interior design trend from 10 years ago.

R286 has long past oil and is closing in on China.