‘Trends’ get a bad rep – both in fashion and when it comes to interior design – and they can often encourage frivolous spending on the latest pieces with not much thought on how they’ll fit in to the rest of your home. When it comes to such trends, I like to think I don’t follow the crowd, although I am a believer that taking inspiration from the latest styles and interpreting your own can make decorating your space and finding the right furniture, accessories and colour schemes a whole lot easier.
For example, it’s much easier to whittle down what you’re looking for from a coffee table with terms such as ‘mid-century modern’ or ‘shabby chic’, and can save you hours of trawling the internet for something you already have in mind. For this reason, I’d always recommend having a little search on Pinterest for the latest interior trends, or even picking up a home styling magazine and having a flick through to see what ‘buzz words’ match your personal style.
When it comes to decorating my house, I like to make up my own ‘trend’ for each individual room or area. As a rule of thumb, my downstairs is colourful, bold and maximalist to a fault, but I try and counteract this by creating a sense of calm upstairs using warmer colours and more pared back colour schemes and accessories. The flat I lived in before I moved here was the total opposite – scandi and minimal with grey walls, a grey sofa and black and white accents. It’s all about finding what works for the space.
Trends are certainly fun to play with, but if animal print isn’t usually your style, I’d recommend starting small with a leopard print vase or faux hide rug before wallpapering your living room in tiger stripes. If you love the look of a colour-pop kitchen, experiment with some stand out accessories before trying bright orange tiles.
You’ll also need to think realistically whether a trend is worth investing in at all. For example, a style I’m seeing popping up over and over at the minute is white boucle in chairs, sofas and footstools – whilst I’d absolutely love something like this in my dressing room or bedroom, I’m a big fan of fake tan and with four mucky paws ruling the roost, it’s not really an option for my house.
I’d love to know what you think – do you shop the trends or prefer to go for more long-standing pieces?
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