Decorating Trends That Come & Go

Decorating trends are fashionable. Until they're aren't.


Years ago it was country. I loved country decorating. I'm not sure how it came to be called that. For if you live in the US, you'd think it was all about red, white and blue. 

I embraced it with my handmade quilts and old crockery. 

Then somehow we moved on to "cottage decorating."

It was more feminine. White slipcovers and floral paintings.

Then before we knew it we found ourselves emulating those living on farms. And galvanized hit the scene. Farmhouse decorating became big. 

Then modern farmhouse, whatever that is. 

Seems a little silly now for those of us who live splat in the middle of the city or suburbs to go for chippy farm tables. It's not like the farm hands might walk in any minute for their noonday meal. 

Not to mention having them sit down on that white furniture with the dirt on their overalls.

Ah well, it was the look, not reality. Unless you truly do live on a farm.

I jumped right in with cow paintings and old signs. I thought it was the cat's meow. I already had wash boards I'd been collecting since my twenties.

At one point we dug discards out of the trash and gave them new life. Albeit a chippy and shabby life, of course.

Some went for the neutral look. That never grabbed me.

Bohemian decor caught fire. For me, briefly. But I painted furniture in bold orange and purple hues just the same.

Industrial crept in with lots of plumbing fixtures and matte black. Metal and screws were prominently displayed instead of hidden. 
 

I was hesitant at first, but then I came to like these trends. What's shiny and new does tend to draw the eye in. 

And then your wallet seems to follow.

I embraced them all to a degree. 

Until I didn't anymore. 

But I suppose of all the trends I've seen in my adult life, I think cottage was probably the prettiest and most sensible. Cottage with perhaps a touch of country. 

Lately I've been thinking about all this. As I sit here with my industrial-style end tables and cow and horse paintings hanging on the walls. 

I find myself yearning for pretty floral paintings. 

If I had to start from scratch, I think I would go with a simple yet cottage-y vibe. More feminine.

Janet Hill paintings (I have a few) would grace the walls because I truly love her style and use of color.

My industrial tables would be replaced with furniture like dressers, which would hide those ugly electrical cords I didn't think about.

It would all just be lighter and brighter without the clutter I once loved. Of course back in the day I didn't realize that's what a gathering of tchotchkes was. Clutter, that is.

So will I change my current style? I don't know. 

But I'm keeping the idea tucked away in case circumstances somehow change.

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