Worst Interior Design Trend in History

OP, I prefer the kitschy 2000s Tuscany look over the bland and safe hues of beige and grey.

R1 the new Incest Survivor Museum Chic look of today is just the Tuscany look without any hue or character, and under the guise of minimalism.

Rustic Tuscan style is timeless and comfortable. Not horrible.

R3 that’s leaning French Country.

Cluttered gay lux schickimicki. It's the worst.

R5 example….

R4 this is overlap. It just means the real authentic style of bourgeois country homes.

R6 a recent one. Hamish Bowles.

Grey interiors with pops of neon yellow, orange, or green. Eccchhh.

R8 sweet fucking Jesus. Is that what happens when a bottom has tried every thing in sight to fill his hole and failed? So he’s starts filling his armoires instead.

Those piles of stacked books are triggering me! There was also that thread about the couple who moved all their shit from SF to NYC...lots of owls and plaid...one of them worked for Ralph Lauren?

I haven’t a clue what OP is talking about- had no idea there was a Tuscany look. What I do know is that Tuscany is one of the most beautiful places in the world with some of the best food.

R8 that apartment look like the estates of Iris Apfel and Minnie Pearl were combined.

gay schickimicki is all over Europe too. I have a circle of friends who live in such abodes. Sometimes several. Its always a mix of quality pieces, judicious spreading around of high-end fabrics, papers and paints, and "restorations", and plenty of flea market "treasures".

Anything that is considered a "trend" is the worst. They all tie for worst.

I don't know if it has a name, but: the blocky, cold, sterile grey-greige 'industrial' look that I've been seeing in the Renovation Hardware catalogs for the last few years.

And you can't buy a stitch of it for less than a few grand.

I'd rather be stuck in a 70s grandma's cluttery, kitschy, dusty suburban tract house than have to live like a colorblind person in a slightly upholstered operating room.

I'm not a fan of most rustic southwest/Santa Fe style decor. It's usually ugly and tacky...cowhide rugs, Kokopelli and coyote motifs, all that beige and terracotta...yuck!

Shag carpets, I guess. Just the amounts of dust that drops down into it.

People are confusing Design Trends with authentic design. Both Tuscany Design® and French Provencal® designs are hideous. The authentic designs of Provence and Tuscany are wonderful. The ruffles on ruffles design of Pierre Deux has nothing to do with actual design from the Provence region.

One of the worst design trends was the Gay Grey, industrial design of the 1990s: grey rubber coin dot matting, polished grey concrete, sanded and polyurethaned steel. One couldn't tell is it was a living room or an operating room.

OP, just Google "Memphis Decor" and prepare to be horrified.

Or watch Ruthless People

Most people would have included this kind of '60s-'70s look as among the worst ever, but I personally love it. I guess it's nostalgic for me (this pic from "Family Affair").

R21 at least it had some warmth

[quote]I'm not a fan of most rustic southwest/Santa Fe style decor. It's usually ugly and tacky...cowhide rugs, Kokopelli and coyote motifs, all that beige and terracotta...yuck!

Please don't forget the "sunset" (aka off-pastel) hues of pink and purple, little bits of leather tie on things ... oh my God I just regurgitated

80's Southwest.

[quote]Most people would have included this kind of '60s-'70s look as among the worst ever...

It IS the WORST EVER.

R24 gives me hives. Entenmann's on Corelle. Synthetic fabric placemat and napkin. Mr. Coffee coffee and USA Today.

The living room set from the “Eyes of Laura Mars.” Whatever that was. Sorry couldn’t find a photo.

The illuminated urn on the pillar was very glamorous to my young eyes.

r4, not really, the table, chairs, ceiling, artwork are distinctly Italian.

Carpeted kitchens & bathrooms are unforgiveable. I also detest everything Laura Ashley ever put out. Thankfully, all of their stores closed by January 2021.

Basically, I hate almost everything from the very late 1970s, to the late 1990s. That twenty year period produced more offensive interior design trends than any other in the Twentieth Century.

This couch is every DL'ers nightmare!

r30, you just reminded me of that 80's Laura Ashley/Holly Hobby decor. There was a reason I totally obliterated it out of my mind:

That sofa is from the flea market Montgomery

Clutter, à la R8, can be cozy.

[quote][R21] at least it had some warmth.

But not as much as Mr. French's bunghole.

Glass bricks were the worst IMO. They always made any room look like trash.

R32.....holy shit! Wins the thread- unfortunately

I don’t remember that, OP. Early 2000s was all faux-Scandi to me.

It was AWFUL, R32! I HATE that stuff, and I'm glad it's dead.

[Quote]Carpeted kitchens & bathrooms are unforgiveable

I interviewed a HUGE French actress in the 90's at her home and her bathroom was carpeted in plush creme-colored high pile. It was considered quite glam then.

R39, while that look is often referred to as Laura Ashley, it came from high end designers like Sister Parrish. I remember Park Ave apartments designed in that chintz upon chintz look. Even the lining fabrics of curtains were tiny checks. This was also used for the backs of semi-upholstered chairs.

For kitchens: Stainless steel appliances and those fucking granite countertops. Charmless, painfully ubiquitous and a nightmare to clean without causing surface damage.

The mishmash Miami Vice brand of "modernism"

while largely associated with Florida

this disease has spread to the likes of Houston and other major cities...

It's interiors tends to take the style of Joey's loft from My Two Dads

looking like a cross between a prop studio, flea market and an episode of hoarders.

Do you people think interior design is only a century old? Why am I the first to mention the horrors of Victorian interiors!

Dark, cramped, overdecorated, cluttered, far too much furniture, fucking obligatory dreary wallpaper. The only thing worse, is modern Victoriana in the hands of some frau (of either sex) who loves decorating with magenta and twee.

The cold cold "am i at the hospital " white white modern . Get me outta here !

R44, you are an idiot. "Victorian" is a time period. There is no "Victorian" style.

The interior you chose to illustrate your point is charming. As to style, the furniture is Colonial Revival. As to the period, it is Edwardian (1907), not Victorian at all.

Was there not a mauve and blue period? I found that unnerving.

[quote]who loves decorating with magenta

Magenta is the worst colour for decor. Magenta paired with emerald green is the worst pairing.

For the haters of chintz I've seen some photos of Princess Diana in Kensington Palace in the 80s that embodied that look. Awful. A lot of blue and pink paint.

Wallpaper borders.

Bear rugs with the head, and zebra rugs.

OP is a buyer for Home Goods.

I fucking love chintz everything.

Sue me.

I love Memphis design and I think the apartment at r8 is interesting. I hated the Ralph Lauren one.

My hag had her whole condo done inOP’s trashy faux Tuscany, and it was truly vile, like living in a Macy’s.

For me, it would be the Scottish Highland castle motif of mounted animal trophy heads.

I've also had the misfortune of living in places where the owner had a collection of African, Haitian and New Guinean sculptures. What a malevolent presence they had! I shuddered whenever I had to get up at night in the dark and pass them.

This magenta and green room is fun and elegant.

Anything beyond offwhite ivory and light beige is too distracting. My presence makes the statement, not my walls.

That's not magenta OR emerald green at R55.

This is magenta.

And this is close to the green I was talking about. Note how both of these awful colours have had to be matched with black/white/grey in order to lessen their hideousness. Now imagine them together. Awful.

I'd get tired of looking at that magenta very quickly. It's good only in the pages of design magazines, not to live with.

That darker color in r58 is NOT magenta - I would describe it as plum. Magenta would be a shade midway between purple and hot pink. I don't care what Behr calls it.

If we have a flame war about what is and is not magenta it's going to be the gayest thing that's happened on this board for months.

Bring it on, R61. That IS magenta at R58!

Avocado appliances and burnt orange kitchen tiles with beaten copper range hood and utensils hanging from the ceiling.

R61 is right, R58 — but I’m willing to break up the fight by dubbing that colour “Old Magenta”.

I'm OK with 'Old Magenta' - I only did a brief google image search and even I thought it wasn't saturated enough/too much grey. It's still magenta to me, just a dull magenta. Or: Old Magenta. The original post definitely did not include magenta - that was hot pink.

Thank you for your diplomacy, Dutchie. I admit I was sharpening my claws.

Magenta and mauve are different?

While a Uni student in London in the 90s I rented a small flat that had a sweet entry with "velvet suede" forrest green wallpaper. It was gorgeous and the gilt framed artwork hanging on it popped. I'll always appreciate this look.

The recent white gray beige trend. It’s sterile and looks like you’re in a hospital/museum. Of course every annoying as fuck white girl loves this trend. You see them on TV wearing oversize sweaters talking in vocal fry cradling their mug .. sitting in a white box.

I guess I'll accept "Old Magenta" as the color in r58. Thanks for your diplomacy, Dutchie. For me, "New Magenta" is a brighter, lighter shade of purple. It is well explained at the link below with lots of comparison pictures. I agree that the picture with the green and hot pink was not correctly magenta either -it made me sick, so I didn't want to linger.

The color posted at R58 is a deep MAUVE!!! And if it were a slightly cooler purple, it'd be PUCE!!!!!!

But seriously, deep pinks and purple are absolutely finteriir colors. Not only are they an offense to the eye, but for some reason, interior paint companies just can't make good purples. I don't know why this is.

This might not be the worst ever interior design trend, but when I was looking at houses around 2000, my heart sank at yet another interior painted coffee brown or battleship grey. How can anyone live in that environment and not feel drained and oppressed?

I like white, cream, eggshell with various blues and greens as accent colours.

I did like the interior of the house in the original Stepford Wives.

Still can’t figure out how they did it, but it seemed to be grey on grey moldings and walls, slightly different shades.

An interior shot.

Another shot.

How did they get that look?

The wainscoting is a slightly darker shade of grayish than the walls, R74, other than that I can't tell anything from those photos.

Except that that is a GHASTLY shade of dreary yellowish gray. I can't imagine having to live with that depressing color.

Well, it looked real classy-type to me, r75.

Minimalism - all white, or all griege or the two mixed. Concrete everywhere. Cold and hideous. I'm with R16 on this

I'd far prefer the interior R44 posted, that looks fantastic, just needs a cute little ornate table for the lady to rest her phone and laptop on. I'm with R46, its charming, and would love a home that looked like that

[quote]The cold cold "am i at the hospital " white white modern . Get me outta here !

R45 or am I at the morgue?

R55 I love that, and I like the look of whatever the upholstered furniture is in the foreground

[quote]I fucking love chintz everything.

Fuck yeah!! Give me chintz or give me death! R52 its great to find a kindred soul on here!

I think the Stepford Wives house had to have some clever selection of different paint finishes in the various greys.

I’m interested in exploring those historic paint companies in England at some point.

More English paint companies.

This isn’t the worst in history, but remember that big horizontal stripes on the wall painting trend?

I never saw it done well, personally. Quite anxiety inducing.

21st Century DIY Influencer

Open floor plan.

It makes construction cheaper for builders, but it is horrible in the long run for homeowners.

Kitchen, laundry and bathroom smells go everywhere.

Noise travels to every room. There is nowhere to have a private conversation.

Color has to be somewhat monochromatic or the demarcation points look jarring.

No family needs to be within eyesight of each other 24/7.

Bedrooms become the only safe space.

Agree, I love a closed off kitchen and don’t want it to be the focus of my house.

R83, when I designed my house, I used an ancient floor plan. There is a long passage that runs the length of the house. The working rooms are on one side, the living rooms are on the other. You cannot smell cooking or hear the washing machine from the living side. The passage has outdoor finishes so both doors can be opened (or removed) during the summer and it becomes a breezeway for better air circulation. As per the ancient rules, the passage is large enough for a pregnant cow to pass through.

Interesting, r 84. Where did you fond the plan? What era is it from?

*find

When did they do away with the practice of building the upper floors of a country house, where the servants lived, with small windows?

I always thought that looked odd.

R85, everywhere. It was a typical Medieval floor plan in northern Germany (hence the pregnant cow rule). It was also used by H.M. Baillie Scott for Springcot in the early 1900s.

R74 the reason why those greys look great is because of the materials they were painted on: Texture is everything. Take the interesting wood cladding in the pic you shared, for example.

R84 I can almost picture your floor plan!

And it makes absolute sense. If I’m not mistaken, you basically take 1/3 of the house for all types of work (cooking, washing, storage) and with a long corridor you separate it from the 2/3 meant for living and entertainment.

R47, yes there was a mauve and blue (or mint green) period. It was called the mid-80s, and many Eldergays remember it very well.

R58 that colour is aubergine. It's a go to shade for those without an imagination but who think they're being brave in their design choices.

It's a dusty aubergine.

ALL laminate flooring, but there’s a special place in hell for that gray-ish laminate flooring people are installing lately.

It’s just grotesque. Every time I see it, I think to myself, “Now there’s the perfect floor for a depressed incel to commit suicide on”.

These hideous floors are now being installed in thousands of apartments and homes, in & around L.A.

They just suck any speck of joy and creativity out of any room.

Gray floors are acceptable when the flooring is smooth cement. Other than that, GTOH with that gray, cheap laminate shit.

The housewares section of any Ross Dress For Less or TJ Maxx is a virtual museum of worst design trends.

I'm thinking maybe Late Pompeii, with porno frescoes and Priapus statuettes.

R94, My best friend JUST put that flooring in her family room! I will go see it soon! She added new gray sofas and newly-painted gray walls!

R94, do you mean the grey wood grain flooring? One of my pet peeves it when perfectly good wood is made to look like stainless steel.

R94, I'm with you on the weird "greywashed" wood tones. But I think most of the time laminate is just used because it's cheap to buy and cheap/fast to install. It's hard to hate interior design that looks lousy because the designer didn't have enough money to make it look nice.

There's plenty of inoffensive-looking laminates, though, that would look ten times better than the grey. And the greywashed woodgrain will look totally dated in 5-10 years, while a simple oak, pine, cherry, or walnut finish may still look cheap, but it will never look dated.

I put gray fake wood laminate in my small bathroom. I wanted a cooling effect. Very low budget.

Take heart, R100. Easy install, easy de-install. In 10 years, maybe bold black graphic patterns will be in, or faux-60s Congoleum vintage patterns, and your cheap flooring can be replaced with something more "in."

I know I may be blackballed by the DL queens, but I think that, in this scary economic climate, there should be a moratorium on mocking choices people make to save money. Times are uncertain and sometimes decor isn't at the top of one's list of necessities.

We took your suggestion under advice, R101, and decided there shan’t be any moratorium on criticising people for poor design choices.

We remain true to the creed found on our crest and embroidered on our timeless caftans:

🕊 FASHION ANTE PANEM 🕊

Way to go Dutchie!

[quote]And it makes absolute sense. If I’m not mistaken, you basically take 1/3 of the house for all types of work (cooking, washing, storage) and with a long corridor you separate it from the 2/3 meant for living and entertainment.

R90 / Yes, there is a large eat-in kitchen. It really is our family room. We eat there, play cards there, pay bills there, etc (Because of working from home during COVID, my partner has my office now.) There is a proper butler's pantry for china, glass, and silver, and a larder with a chest freezer. The laundry room is also large by American standards. On the other side, the rooms are probably smaller that normal in the USA. The living area is 14x22. Off that is a library and an office separated by a powder room.

My parents built their house in 1958. As an adult I appreciated how well it was planned out and furious with my parents for not using the design as it was intended. My father kept records in the cabinet designed for trays. The silverware drawer held extension cords and light bulbs. The drawer designed for table clothes had wrapping paper. Because of this, they bought furniture to compensate which made the rooms that were under scale because the built-ins made furniture unnecessary, very cramped. Also, much of that crap belonged in the garage.

I LOVE avocado appliances and bathroom sinks/toilets/tubs, R63. I think being born on the Millennial-Gen X cusp has made me nostalgic somehow for the time that immediately precedes my own. I have no affection for 8-s decor but that 70s stuff...ugh, I'm starting to come around.

R101 I hear you but that way I deal with this is separating my aesthetic opinions from my real life. In real life I'm pretty much a poor and can't afford most of the elements I love. Hell I can't even afford a house to decorate! But even poors are allowed to have opinions and personal taste.

That was badly put. What I mean is I have quite strong opinions on taste, decor etc. but I don't judge people for having differing ones, or for not having enough money to afford to live in surroundings I would consider beautiful.

R105, you are just like a young friend of mine, except he prefers the bright colors of the early 1970s.

It's very possible to make a lovely, warm, comforting, beautiful home out of the kind of earth tones that were fashionable in the early 70s. Warm browns, golds, tans, and creams go beautifully together, and the occasional touch of orange or green for a bright accent can add the last little spark needed to make a place beautiful.

BUT NOT ORANGE AND GREEN TOGETHER, R107!!! Christ, that's hideous.

Shag carpets and that horrible 70s heavy oak furniture, usually with a dark stain.

Here's some nice earth tones, starting with the natural warm browns of wood, and going up from there!

Of course my own dream house will be decorated in sea blues and celadons, but I can still appreciate other colors well done.

R108, funny that you should say that. Apple Green and Tangerine Orange is my least favorite color combination. Unfortunately, it has been popular in Germany for the last 15 years, and does not appear to be going anywhere.

Vern Yip velcroing plywood panels to walls wrapped in fabric and foam that was hot glued to them.

I love R107. It would probably get to me after awhile (that yellow is a lot) but I love it. Oh dear. Maybe I just need to give in to the 70s? Sometimes I even look at old avocado sinks and bathtubs on eBay.

Another idea I've toyed with is turning the inside of my small apartment (I'm the poor who can't afford a house) into a spaceship. Like really going insane and fully making it look like the interior of a spaceship. It would be a lot of work and no one would think it was cool but I think maybe late at night in a certain mood, I would.

What sort of spaceship, R114? Colorful like the bridge of the original Enterprise, gray and functional like the inside of the Death Star, or cramped like an Apollo capsule?

Pastels

Like the Starship Enterprise, R115. Like a lot of digital art I see of fantasy spaceships. I even got into trying to figure out how to make a fake window with a view of space. Perhaps a super high res monitor(s) hidden in the wall somehow? And spaceship-style lighting, of course. Yes.

There's something in this house for everyone, especially the chintz-fans and the 70s-lovers (deep pile, and it looks original)...

(Actually a very interesting house...)

R118, you've sealed it for me!

THE WORST interior design trend of all time, bar none, is...

[drum roll]

[deliberate pause]

[more drum roll]

Wallpaper on the fucking ceiling! It is THE WORST idea ever, both hideous to behold and claustrophobic! Want to make your family feel like the ceiling is falling in and about to crush them? All you need is more wallpaper.

But of course, the minute I realize a trend is THE WORST ever, it becomes the height of fashion.

Minimalist. How anyone can stare at a blank taupe wall is beyond me.

R119 that isnt wallpaper on the ceiling of the lounge in the house on R118, its moulded ornamentation - possibly original to the house or more likely added later. But I agree the examples you posted are pretty awful, especially the one in R120 which has a fuck ugly light fitting as well to really up the hideousness quotient

I'm not a great fan of wallpaer on the ceiling either, would prefer an ornate pressed tin ceiling or proper moulded plaster ornamentation as in some Regency and Victorian houses

R121 is that taupe or griege? Looks like shit either way. I loathe minimalism too

Eight years ago neutral minimalist was all the rage. Had several friends who paid designers to do their spec houses in grays, taupes, creams. They all looked the same, like institutional airport lounges with these hung over their white fireplace mantles.

Just learned that my "too much is never enough décor" is now called Maximalist.

A blank wall reflects a blank mind.

Maximalist = Drag Queen Moderne

R124 Bitch stole my act.

r124, that's your actual house/apartment? It's not my style, but it's beautiful. It works.

Given a choice between minimalist and maximalist I'll take maximalist, but I'd really rather have moderation. But at least maximalist decor is fun!

Maximalist has been The Thing in the high end design mags etc. over the past ~2 years. Which means it's about to be The Thing on a larger scale. Maximize your decor now, so you can claim credit when all your friends follow suit.

[quote] "I interviewed a HUGE French actress in the 90's at her home and her bathroom was carpeted in plush creme-colored high pile. It was considered quite glam then."

It just defies logic, because it's filthy, R40. And I really hope it wasn't Juliette Binoche. I like her, and she doesn't seem the type.

[quote] "while that look is often referred to as Laura Ashley, it came from high end designers like Sister Parrish. I remember Park Ave apartments designed in that chintz upon chintz look. Even the lining fabrics of curtains were tiny checks. This was also used for the backs of semi-upholstered chairs."

Thanks, R41. I didn't realize that, because I detest the trend, and didn't bother to read into the subject .

R119 and R122, That isn't wall paper or molded ornamentation. That is a putty texture. It is often used, as a cheap fix, to disguise crumbling or spongy plaster work. I hate it.

R114 Build your spaceship. I want you to.

The presently inescapable grey-white-black color scheme.

R132 I was wondering if it might be something like that, it just didnt look original but I couldnt tell for sure. There is also no ornate crown molding which I would have expected if there was proper plaster ornamentation on there, I just knew it wasnt wallpaper

R112 I know a sheik who had his Mayfair townhouse salons done with quilted walls and tented ceilings. All exquisite fabrics and to beautiful effect, but man, what a fire hazard.

R136, all of that had to be fire retardant unless it was wool. I knew someone with a ruched silk ceiling. The fire department came in each year to spray it.

Good to know! The 19th c immense hôtel particulier on Avenue Foch is done in 1970s Art Deco. Total time warp but exquisite.