When did 'transitional' become a thing?

[lolo]

I keep watching HGTV episodes and suddenly everything is a 'transitional' piece. When did this start happening?

[heygrey]

i've heard the word more and more in the last, oh, 18 months? i'm not sure who coined the term, but the style has been around for at least 5 years. i started actually paying attention to houses/decor in '09 when we got married and the style was around then.

it's one of those styles that i feel is way over and boring because we see it sooo much on the internet and hgtv type shows, but irl only my $$$ friends are actually styling their houses as such. it hasn't passed down to the common man here yet :-)

[auntie]

Transitional has existed as a stylistic descriptor at least since the 1970's. It used to mean a furniture style that was a hybrid between two recognized styles or a "watered down" or "tweaked" version of a specific style. It might mean introducing neon lacquered Queen Anne chairs into a dining room with a contemporary glass table. Sometimes the term was used to describe "eclectic" rooms that mixed styles.

[TBM]

Aug 4, 2013 17:13:48 GMT -5 auntie said:

Transitional has existed as a stylistic descriptor at least since the 1970's. It used to mean a furniture style that was a hybrid between two recognized styles or a "watered down" or "tweaked" version of a specific style. It might mean introducing neon lacquered Queen Anne chairs into a dining room with a contemporary glass table. Sometimes the term was used to describe "eclectic" rooms that mixed styles.

This is true.


It used to cover more territory.  Now it seems to mean 'something for people who prefer something between super traditional and slightly contemporary'.  That, and it sounds a bit fresher and less fuddy duddy-ish.

[pitterwoo]

Aug 4, 2013 17:23:41 GMT -5 TBM said:

It used to cover more territory.  Now it seems to mean 'something for people who prefer something between super traditional and slightly contemporary'.  That, and it sounds a bit fresher and less fuddy duddy-ish.

I don't have HGTV, but I do think I've heard the term a lot more recently too.  I think it's being used for anything and everything that could be in the realm between traditional and modern.  If I was selling any home furnishings I would tell people they are transitional and they would be all like, "oh that's great that will go in my house"

Transitional also doesn't use much color and a lot of very neutral palates have been in for a while now.

eta: meant to say I agree w/ TBM

[munkii]

Everything Auntie, TBM, and Pitter said. It doesn't have to be boring, and I certainly hope most people wouldn't find it so since I would bet more than 50% of American homes and decor fall in the transitional category.

[tarheels]

Goodness, yeah, it's been around for forever. I remember reading it in my mom's decorating magazines in high school (late 90s). I didn't know it was as old as the 70s - learn something every day!

I most often take it to mean the Everyman sort of style the vast majority of American homes are decorated in. Not country, not traditional, just off the shelf from a furniture store, plus assorted freshened up hand-me-downs. I guess the Pottery Barn look, in a way. For me, it's the word you use when there's not an actual design style (MCM, modern, farmhouse, etc) that applies.