Ridiculous H&G trends

[simpsongal]

WOW....that's insane. I'm still reeling from the article that said crown molding is "out." Mmmm k

[auntie]

Staging to sell as a universal practice.

I have a friend who is selling her house; it goes on the market Monday.

It makes no friggin' sense in the context of the house. For starters, it is a very nice house- spotless and barely decorated. The roof, the deck and all of the systems/appliances are fairly new and high quality. It's on a cul de sac in an award winning school district in one of a small planned communities that serve the price point between over-prised townhouse and McMansion.

There is one other house on the market similar to hers for sale. That house is a bit smaller, strongly decorated (pink and purple rooms), vinyl in leiu of hardwood in the entrance, no bonus room, through street, etc. Her agent brought in a stager. We made predictions at lunch last week as to what the stager would do. And there were only two surprises. As I guessed:

They swapped out some art for other more random art that looks like it came from Homegoods. She was directed to replace all her towels with white, they've removed furniture anchored to walls and made it diagonal, she's got fake fruit and plants, a breakfast tray on the master bed, new Target beeding sets for her guest room, and the tables both set. To my eye, it doesn't really make the house look more appealing, but it does give me the sense that I'm being manipulated.

The surprises were that her large wedding picture stays as well as two family pictures- "to make the house feel like a family could live there". And to frame some of the kids' artwork to that same end. The other surprise was that they used wax fruit instead of real. I would have thought a bowl of real lemons would be simple enough to maintain.

Meantime, my friend whose DH travels most of the week and who takes care of her 90 year old mom has a "To-do List" of staging chores to complete each morning before she leaves for work. And she's bummed because once her house sells, she moving mom in so she can stage mom's little townhouse.

[bunnymendelbaum]

That staging sounds ridiculous! I hate the tables being set!

That painted dipped painting makes me lol!

I still loathe the books turned spine-in on bookcases. Also, the stupid trendy Persian rugs in a kitchen ala House*tweaking. Actually, pretty much anything she does.

[Deleted]

This upcycling trend needs to die. I'm all about use what you have reduce, reuse recycle, but really some of it is starting to strettccccchhhh big time.

Lightbulb hanging platers? Really?

I also just saw where you can make "country coffee cups" by painting old tin cans and gluing on a bent spoon for a handle. WTF.
Stuff like this is what gives country style a bad bad name...ha.

[simpsongal]

I see a lot of craftsman fixtures and doors on colonial houses here...drives me a little crazy.

Do y'all think Moroccan patterns are going to look dated in a few years?  Or will it be timeless and stylish forever?  I still like ikat, but I'm not a big fan of chevron....maybe in a kid's room.

[Deleted]

Jan 29, 2015 10:31:53 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

I see a lot of craftsman fixtures and doors on colonial houses here...drives me a little crazy.

LOL. I fell in LOVE with a craftsman style door with a stained glass window at the lumberyard when we were picking out sunroom plans. I really want to use it out to the patio area. H loves it too. 

I'm debating whether or not I can get away with it. I live in the most basic ranch/rambler style house ever so I'm thinking I can pull it off as a "unique" "stand out" feature rather than "trying too hard to be craftsman." It's also going in a room with wood trim and a wood ceiling so I'm hoping it'll blend in that way.

I will also say there's a 1970s split-level here people just remodeled and they did craftsman style on the siding, doors, windows etc. It looks sooo soooo good when it's done. Like best redo of a plain basic, dated house ever. 

[sb]

Jan 29, 2015 10:11:17 GMT -5 @justdairy said:

This upcycling trend needs to die. I'm all about use what you have reduce, reuse recycle, but really some of it is starting to strettccccchhhh big time.

Lightbulb hanging platers? Really?

I also just saw where you can make "country coffee cups" by painting old tin cans and gluing on a bent spoon for a handle. WTF.
Stuff like this is what gives country style a bad bad name...ha.

Seen on Pinterest: The end of a rake stuck into a coffee can as a jewelry holder.  Stop!

[simpsongal]

@justdairy I think you can get away with craftsman on a rambler and in that room. I've seen a few split levels renovated w/craftsman features and they do look nicer. There's even a colonial with a craftsman front door that works b/c it's muted craftsman.

But those mission-style square fixtures on an uber colonial (e.g., fluted columns on the porch) just looks wrong to me.

[Deleted]

Jan 29, 2015 10:48:44 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

@justdairy I think you can get away with craftsman on a rambler and in that room. I've seen a few split levels renovated w/craftsman features and they do look nicer. There's even a colonial with a craftsman front door that works b/c it's muted craftsman.

But those mission-style square fixtures on an uber colonial (e.g., fluted columns on the porch) just looks wrong to me.

Oh I totally agree with you. It does look wrong. 
There are a few big old square farmhouses that are trying to do craftsman here too and it just looks off. You can't really blend two distinct historical house styles all that well.

[Deleted]

Jan 29, 2015 10:48:36 GMT -5 sb said:

Jan 29, 2015 10:11:17 GMT -5 @justdairy said:

This upcycling trend needs to die. I'm all about use what you have reduce, reuse recycle, but really some of it is starting to strettccccchhhh big time.

Lightbulb hanging platers? Really?

I also just saw where you can make "country coffee cups" by painting old tin cans and gluing on a bent spoon for a handle. WTF.
Stuff like this is what gives country style a bad bad name...ha.

Seen on Pinterest: The end of a rake stuck into a coffee can as a jewelry holder.  Stop!

I just can't. I saw a rake as wine glass holder. I could dig that. But they were painted, in a set of 3, in a very rustic sort of bar area. It worked.  I saw one as a jewelry holder in a pretty contemporary subdivision house and all I can think is, "Do you poke your eye out every time you set foot in that tiny little closet?" 

Why oh why. Some ideas are better than the execution.

[dr.girlfriend]

Jan 29, 2015 10:11:17 GMT -5 @justdairy said:

I also just saw where you can make "country coffee cups" by painting old tin cans and gluing on a bent spoon for a handle. WTF.
Stuff like this is what gives country style a bad bad name...ha.

Nothing wakes you up in the morning like drinking from a rusty can!

[bunnies]

Jan 29, 2015 11:13:22 GMT -5 KellyEasterbrook said:

Jan 29, 2015 10:31:53 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

I see a lot of craftsman fixtures and doors on colonial houses here...drives me a little crazy.

Do y'all think Moroccan patterns are going to look dated in a few years?  Or will it be timeless and stylish forever?  I still like ikat, but I'm not a big fan of chevron....maybe in a kid's room.

I think the stylized Moroccan patterns (many of the items from West Elm, HomeGoods, etc) will look dated, but actual Moroccan textiles are timeless. That said, I'm about to recover some dining room chairs in an ikat fabric from West Elm.    

I agree - but I do love the pattern. I think it's interesting...I have a credenza from 1962 and the doors have an extremely similar pattern/relief on them. 

[moolarkey]

Barn doors on tracks inside houses. Stop.

[msmerymac]

Jan 29, 2015 11:49:44 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

Jan 29, 2015 10:11:17 GMT -5 @justdairy said:

I also just saw where you can make "country coffee cups" by painting old tin cans and gluing on a bent spoon for a handle. WTF.
Stuff like this is what gives country style a bad bad name...ha.

Nothing wakes you up in the morning like drinking from a rusty can!

And having the spoon you glued to it fall off.

[mrs.jacinthe]

Jan 29, 2015 14:19:01 GMT -5 nursecramer said:

There was this awful DIY in a recent Creative Homes magazine-- how to make a footstool. The tutorial was fine, but the execution was the worst kind of hodgepodge of finishes. Let me find it...

What the hell?  

Is bordello-chic back in?

[lmdbww]

lol @ upcycling

I don't mind it so much, as long as the final result looks different. ie, not like a rake stuck in a can, kwim? lol

I just saw one on pinterest where a lady bought rope and a dropcloth and made a "basket" out of a diaper box. Seriously, use your rope and dropcloth money and go to Target or TJ's or the Dollar Tree and buy a basket.

[bunnymendelbaum]

Jan 29, 2015 14:55:36 GMT -5 nursecramer said:

Well, I think it is just too small for that space. The chair half on/half off would bug me.

And I'm not against all persian rugs in all kitchens, it is just that it seems like every damn blog does the EXACT same thing lately. Industrial bar stools, butcher counter, white cabinets, subway tile backsplash, wood floor, white walls, with maybe a black wall thrown in, persian rug, fiddle leaf fig plant. 

My comment was mostly aimed at blogs. The lack of anything new and the monkey-see, monkey do'isms are just starting to irritate me! I want design blogs to inspire, not for them to just all look the same!

Housetweaking:



Manhattan nest:



Little Green Notebook:

[emoflamingo]

I don't like persian rugs in general, but that's just my taste.

Also, I really like barn doors and I want one in my (currently unfinished) basement.

#noregrets

[kaylie]

Jan 29, 2015 9:58:54 GMT -5 auntie said:

Staging to sell as a universal practice.

I have a friend who is selling her house; it goes on the market Monday.

It makes no friggin' sense in the context of the house. For starters, it is a very nice house- spotless and barely decorated. The roof, the deck and all of the systems/appliances are fairly new and high quality. It's on a cul de sac in an award winning school district in one of a small planned communities that serve the price point between over-prised townhouse and McMansion.

There is one other house on the market similar to hers for sale. That house is a bit smaller, strongly decorated (pink and purple rooms), vinyl in leiu of hardwood in the entrance, no bonus room, through street, etc. Her agent brought in a stager. We made predictions at lunch last week as to what the stager would do. And there were only two surprises. As I guessed:

They swapped out some art for other more random art that looks like it came from Homegoods. She was directed to replace all her towels with white, they've removed furniture anchored to walls and made it diagonal, she's got fake fruit and plants, a breakfast tray on the master bed, new Target beeding sets for her guest room, and the tables both set. To my eye, it doesn't really make the house look more appealing, but it does give me the sense that I'm being manipulated.

The surprises were that her large wedding picture stays as well as two family pictures- "to make the house feel like a family could live there". And to frame some of the kids' artwork to that same end. The other surprise was that they used wax fruit instead of real. I would have thought a bowl of real lemons would be simple enough to maintain.

Meantime, my friend whose DH travels most of the week and who takes care of her 90 year old mom has a "To-do List" of staging chores to complete each morning before she leaves for work. And she's bummed because once her house sells, she moving mom in so she can stage mom's little townhouse.

Is this in our 'hood? I feel like you really don't need to stage here in order to sell as long as your house isn't a complete shit show. 

[downtoearth]

Dipping kitchy art is just odd and I think those staged tables all set and ready for breakfast are ridiculous also.

Personally, I don't like updating 1970's and 80's homes with crown molding, but I didn't see that in that article (must have been one I missed), and sometimes it works when people update the whole house and the kitchens and such. It's just NMS.

For me, modern ikea-type kitchens never bore me even if I see them on a lot of blogs. Plus I love, big bold rug patterns over hard wood. I can't go for boring rugs.

But I also think matching bed frame and dressers are on the out and that coordinating is in instead of matching. Same with oversized sofas being on the out - oversized and chaise-lounge type sofas only for basement TV rooms and most people I know are finding smaller sofas for the main floor. Are these trends or just things I'm seeing locally?

[auntie]

Jan 29, 2015 16:23:17 GMT -5 kaylie said:

Jan 29, 2015 9:58:54 GMT -5 auntie said:

Is this in our 'hood? I feel like you really don't need to stage here in order to sell as long as your house isn't a complete shit show. 

Yes. 

The house is pristine- and there are only 2 other owner occupied singles for sale and a single foreclosure in Newtown Grant right now. She's wasting money on stuff she doesn't need. At least she can reuse some of it when she stages her mom's house after they settle on the new house. 

[kaylie]

Jan 29, 2015 17:26:53 GMT -5 auntie said:

Jan 29, 2015 16:23:17 GMT -5 kaylie said:

Is this in our 'hood? I feel like you really don't need to stage here in order to sell as long as your house isn't a complete shit show. 

Yes. 

The house is pristine- and there are only 2 other owner occupied singles for sale and a single foreclosure in Newtown Grant right now. She's wasting money on stuff she doesn't need. At least she can reuse some of it when she stages her mom's house after they settle on the new house. 

Yeah, you really don't need to stage there at all. I can't believe what things are selling for in that neighborhood lately. 

[auntie]

kaylie I know.

One of those house is up for $515K- he's got sheet vinyl in the foyer and the kitchen and baths are the originals.

[kaylie]

Jan 29, 2015 17:32:53 GMT -5 auntie said:

kaylie I know.

One of those house is up for $515K- he's got sheet vinyl in the foyer and the kitchen and baths are the originals.

I think that's the one I saw and thought "really?". The square footage isn't very high either, if I remember correctly. We were writing an offer on a house there when we got this one (we had been the back up offer and the cash buyer pulled out) that was WAY more updated than anything I've seen there lately and it ended up going for $450. 

I've started keeping an eye on things again since H is looking at some potential job changes that might lead us to move in another year or so. Really hoping we don't have to get back in the market the way things are right now. There's an AWFUL house around the corner from me listed for $490. The owners made several wise choices like converting their fourth bedroom to a master sitting room (so it's now a three bedroom - they drywalled over the door to the hallway) and painting all of the trim upstairs bubblegum pink. 

[Deleted]

Jan 29, 2015 11:49:44 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

Jan 29, 2015 10:11:17 GMT -5 @justdairy said:

I also just saw where you can make "country coffee cups" by painting old tin cans and gluing on a bent spoon for a handle. WTF.
Stuff like this is what gives country style a bad bad name...ha.

Nothing wakes you up in the morning like drinking from a rusty can!

I also enjoy having guests over for coffee and potentially sending them home with a case of tetanus as a parting gift.


I have seen a few items made out of pallets that I like and I few I have considered replicating in my own home, but there haven't been many.  I think there are certain decorating styles that can have a pallet item or two and it will fit nicely but it seems like people are trying to make a wall hanging, coffee table, or entire wall out of used pallets/pallet wood regardless of their decorating style.  It just doesn't work.  Along the same vein, yes, pallets are cheap but you can not decorate everything in your house with them because it looks a little like you are going for the homeless-chic look. 

[Deleted]

Pallets. Enough already.

Also, I keep seeing stenciled appliances on Pinterest. Do people not see how completely bizarre that looks?