Coldness to current interior design

Just been talking about this with a friend. She was fondly remembering the big sofa that originated in her grandparents house and ended up in her childhood home, and I was recalling the piano in our dining room that we inherited when mum's cousin, a music teacher, married an Australian in the 60s and moved to Sydney which might as well have been Mars in those days.

My friend also has a small chest of drawers in her bedroom that her parents bought second hand and brought home on the bus shortly after they were married. We have a many times re-covered chair that originated in my great grandmother's parlour.

Those kind of layers of connection and family memories to be missing from a lot of today's smart and chic homes. To me that makes them lacking in warmth and comfort.

I like my home to be warm, wlecoming and cosy. lots of antique furniture, lots of books, lots of pictures, a squashy sofa and, in winter a wood burning stove. Just like a really nice upmarket pub!!!!!

The exception is the new big kitchen and that is Mid century modern. - in other words - Ercol - dining table chairs and sideboard with Denbyware for everyday eating.

Not only that but my home is environmentally sound. Nearly everything in my house is second hand, from the cushion covers to lots of my kitchenware.

Both AC have their version of the same enviromentally sound living ethic. DD's taste is leans more to Cottage Chic/Kirsty's Home Made House. She even made her own staircarpet.

I think pieces of Art are a very personal thing.

I struggle to find exactly the right thing, but luckily I have an artist friend who knocks out some beautiful works in different media - pastels, splodgy canvases, charcoal etc. I usually commission pieces to match the colour scheme in a room.
A house without art would be worse than a house without books for me.

Doubt if I have such an ‘eye’ *Gagajo’ but I like what I like, this one needs put back on the wall now decorating is completed.

I like uncluttered and clean looking. We've spent two years weeding out books and DVDs and CDs and clothes that we no longer want. Many of our walls are white, but we also have red rugs covering light oak floors, an orange wall and bar stools in our glossy white kitchen, quilt covers embroidered in gold and terracotta colours, jewel coloured cushions and throws on the furniture, beautiful paintings on walls. And of course bookshelves. White or grey walls don't have to be clinical, it's what you put with it.

People are desperate to buy our house too. But it's got nothing to do with what's in the house. It's where it is and how much parking space it has. I have no doubt at all that when they move in they will replace the (almost) new bathrooms and kitchen and cover the garden with patios and outside buildings.

We all have 'an eye'!!

Me neither Jaxjacky. But I come from a family of arts and have 'an eye'. And I know what pleases my eye. Which is all that counts really.

I really don`t like clinical and that goes for the shiny white kitchens and grey walls. I also dislike wallpaper. I have loads of colour and furniture that does not match but adds up to a very homely feel. Lots of nice cheerful large pictures, especially framed and in shades of pinks/browns/greens. My walls are all the same and also the ceilings, all painted in a very matt soft white, auro 321 paint. Lovely and is not hospital white

My decor was with an eye to future maintenance. I don`t have any old brown furniture, we bought expensive dark ercol when it was fashionable and we could not give it away when we downsized. We had to pay to get it removed. I do have some ercol now, modular to fit anywhere and light oak. Learnt the hard way

I’ve never watched a design programme of any sort so have no idea of what’s on trend or not. We like clean lines and minimal clutter, always have done and since the children are long gone it’s easier to keep rooms like that.
We have a small wardrobe and one chest of drawers in our room and a small wardrobe in the two spare rooms. We’re quite good at decluttering too.

Don't forget antimaccassars !
Maccassar being the oil that men used to dress their hair with !
And yes , I've embroidered a few of them !

I remember the pattered carpets , the clashing curtains and wallpaper , emroidered cushions , china cabinets groaning with china - only brought out for best and the huge collections of knicknacks .

I loved the Laura Ashley look and a touch of William Morris - so that style with the floral frocks puts me in a time warp !
I'm a book lover too so a house that looks like a library is my idea of joy .

And art work too !

I freely admit it !

I love clean white /cream lines in the kitchen as I'm a cookery equipment addict and it can easily look too cluttered .
And bathrooms without too much pattern as well .

Each to their own !

...but of course you're right. Grey is out!

Casdon, I suppose on Gransnet we are mainly mainstream!

I do have antique items. 17th century painting, washing jug and bowl. My mum's 1970's bits. But as touches in an otherwise stark, white background. A bit museum-like. I love it!

RichmondPark1

My mum's style of decor was pattern everywhere..flowery curtains, swirly carpets, stripy wallpaper, embroidered cushions and a different kitten's face on every coaster.

I like clean and cool. When I decorated my first house I thought it was peaceful but mum described it as clinical.

These things go in cycles so I expect the next generation will be all net curtains and flowery sofas.

Same here! My grandparents didn't have anything without a pattern. My grandad made some cushions (he sewed beautifully) with a plain fabric and decided they were too plain, so sewed some patterned fabric around the edges! Their house made my eyes water!

Anyone else remember the bright orange net curtains of the late 60s? Can't wait for that to be trendy again!

Meanwhile, minimalist with shades of green and cream here and very happy with it. Pops of colours vary with vases/plants and that is quite enough for us.

I've never liked clutter ,my cd collection lives behind wall to wall curtains ,I have panelled doors to match the walls in the bathroom,my GD's call it Grannies secret storage ,There are lots of them all over the house which looks clear and just how I like it .We do have feature colour walls or fully wallpapered in some rooms ,Dark green in the living room,bedrooms with purple,copper,forget me not blue all with white.The room as I use as a gym is yellow and orange .

When we got married in 1975 our living room had a dark brown main wall with cream on the others and a brown and cream shag pile carpet with cream Habitat sectional sofa.
Not a lot different from what I see nowadays in friends houses ,no florals then or now

I had a look at the ‘Granny Chic’ link and thought it was ghastly! Scandi minimalism might be on the way out but I doubt it will ever be replaced by cluttered tat!!

All the colour in my ‘cottage chic’ suburban bungalow is provided by picture frames, cushions, throws and book cases. Potted plants are a Godsend because you can paint the pot holders to compliment the various shades of green. Most of mine are charity shop finds. I love it and that’s what counts.

I watched Worst House on the Street last night and at the ‘reveal’ thought it was far more cluttered than a ‘Granny Pad’ but then they just had to have their bi-fold doors an island with stools and a kitchen table and chairs.??

Less is more.

Very glad to hear the minimalizt look is drifting out of fashion.
I really hope young people will start to treasure old family furniture as well. I know so many people who, when downsizing or selling their parents old house, cannot give beautiful old chairs, tables, bookcases etc away. Meanwhile, the younger members of the family are spending a fortune in Ikea, John Lewis etc on brabd new generic stuff.

To each their own, but I think a blend of old and new is lovely.

The Current look is more "Boris and Carrie", what has been considered old dark furniture is now on the return according to my DD's.
I have my house as we want it. Ornaments and photos can be put away if and when we move.
When we moved here we were encouraged to knock the kitchen and dinning room wall down thank goodness we didn't it is now a second cosy small lounge for anyone who wants to disappear ,it can easily be changed back into a dinning room.
We use the kitchen to dine as that is where the AGA is all warnth and comfort with a door leading into the garden in summer.
What goes around comes around.

I think that with soaring energy prices, big open plan areas might not seem so desirable.

Smaller individual rooms can be cosier surely.

I’m happy with my separate kitchen, dining room, sitting room.

I like different rooms to go in, and yes, we eat in the dining room every day, just the two of us. No trays on our laps in front of the tv.

Veri peri - very purple !!!

Honestly, I know I’ve said it once already on this thread, but the clinical look is not the latest fashion at all, it’s now mainstream. The fashion in interior design has moved on. Pick up a copy of Ideal Home or similar and it’s clear.

One by one each 1930's house in our street is being sold and literally gutted .
In some cases , the only part remaining seems to the adjoining wall with the next semi .
So these modest two beds are becoming four or six beds with a a paved over front garden and a tiny fragrant of a garden at the back .
Even those which have been extended into substantial four beds are being virtually demolished .
I've seen nearly new bathroom suites and kitchens thrown onto a skip .
Inside , is a vast open space usually one huge room with an integral kitchen and all decorated in ubiquitous grey .

They look nice in a magazine , but I'd hate to live in that space .
I like to shut the door on the kitchen after cooking -I don't want to look at dirty pots and pans whilst I eat .

If I move - I wouldn't want one that had been so altered .

As it is , there's a constant demand for original houses like this one and I even have people knocking on the door offering to buy it .
This intensifies as the beginning of the school year approaches .

The estate agent told me that he has dozens of people waiting to snap up a house like this and not to worry about it needing a new kitchen - which it does - desperately !

This clinical look is the very latest fashion , but I wonder if eventually people will tire of it .

Grey is quite "old" now I think. The move out of the pandemic has encouraged lots of colour in designer and high-end homes. I suppose grey will be with us for some years though as it's so easy to work with, comes in all shades - bluey, yellowy, rosy, purpley, greeny etc. - and can be used as a neutral foil to lively pops of colour.

There's also a resurgence of maximalism it seems to me but not everyone will like that!

The interiors pundits are predicting "reconnecting with nature through a sea of soothing greens" or alternatively using the pantone colour of the year "veri peri" which is a bold periwinkle blue.

www.google.com/search?q=Very+Peri+in+Home+D%C3%A9cor+and+Interior+Design&client=ms-android-samsung-ss&prmd=minv&sxsrf=ALiCzsaiK8gkETeQGmNIpTREJBhsx_Oxzg:1659518290189&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjbiL2xq6r5AhUJiVwKHQVjAWwQ_AUoAnoECAIQAg&biw=360&bih=619&dpr=3

So pleased to see this post - I visit my DS house and come away feeling quite depressed! Everything looks so gloomy. Grey is the main colour and when they said they were going to paint a 'feature' wall a different colour I got quite excited! They painted it dark blue ?