The Biggest Interior Design Mistake? 

I don’t think the white kitchen will ever go out of fashion. It’s so easy to customise with a few bright appliances, a unique light fitting, some plants or a bold floor rug.

I find the best way to achieve a timeless aesthetic is to design according to the character of the space. I live in house built in 1936 therefore we opted to go for a mid-century style, from the baseboards to the fireplace to the window trims, everything feels cohesive. Dont design for a farmhouse in a Manhattan condo.

My trick to this is to never focus on trends. And instead focus on lifestyles.

A white kitchen will never go out of fashion. It's a neutral backdrop. It's easy to add decor, furnishings and art to warm It up or add colour.

sorry, i can't accept a white kitchen as a trend: some things are just timeless, classic backdrops.

Or, alternatively, just install the kind of kitchen that YOU like, right at this moment - and stop seeing your home as an investment that requires you to keep second-guessing what someone in 10 or 15 years might want.

As a scientist, I never thought I'd see a PNAS paper cited in a design video. And the point is a great one. There's good advice here. Thank you!

The white kitchen may go in an out of popularity but it is not a trend. No one will ever walk into a white kitchen and think it looks dated - but they sure will think that about many other trendy kitchens. White kitchens are a blank slates which you can keep up to date via appliances and other accents - try doing that with a Tuscan kitchen ( I’m have 90s flashbacks as I write 😂).

There’s nothing like downsizing (which we’re currently doing) to highlight that the only things you end up keeping after many years (25 in our case) are the items where form follows function. Yes we want to be surrounded with creative design that inspires us, but that artsy chair that no one wants to sit on bc it’s so uncomfortable, is wasted at the end. The magic happens when you have a sanctuary that is cozy and comforting that is also gorgeous to look at, especially if your personality shines through. 😊

My dad's midlife crisis was to "modernise" our family home: out with the 90s yellow pine, beige wallpaper and linoleum, and in with the 2010s grey, rustic and nautical/industrial. Looking back I wish he would have kept some of the warm tones, we live up north and we have enough grey outside some warmth indoors is really needed

If you decorate your home to fit your and your family's lifestyle, it will never go out of style. It's worked for 44 years now.

I think trends are great when you see them as introducing you to something you may not have thought of before. When I read up on trends, it's to see if there's anything I never realized I liked before. For example, having a pop of red is trending right now, and I realized how much I love seeing a bold pop of red in a space, and. I want to try it somewhere in my home. Overall, though, I think it's best to look at lots of things for inspiration and buy what speaks to you. A lot of what is trendy right now doesn't speak to me, so I don't buy into it. My design style is more traditional/eclectic, so things that fall into those styles are going to catch my eye before anything else.

This is one of the most elegantly stated descriptions of trend acceleration. Top notch production quality too - pace, graphics, explanations. Well done!

One of the most interesting videos on home design! Thank you! Our old 1950s tiled bathroom in the 100 year old apartment rent is now in fashion (47 years later). And our 'thrift store' esthetic (born out of necessity) is now on point. Like most of my clothes, if I just keep things long enough, I become (however briefly) fashionable.

I’m in a home that was remodeled in 2017. It has white cabinets and in trend or not, I absolutely love them! It is also open concept. Which I hear is out. Not for me. Our home is small, and walls would cramp things up. As long as my home is clean and well taken care of, I don’t think my white cabinets would hurt resale value. I believe they are timeless. ❤.

❤Like yourself I too decided on an all white kitchen with no shine nickel hardware in 2023. However, just recently I added the warmth of wood to my kitchen by getting rid off 3 white cabinets and installing thick raw wood for shelves, I also introduced a lamp plus old kitchen items from my great-grandmother. Surprisingly this gave a warm elegant inviting life to my kitchen. Having said that, white kitchens will never go out of style, all one has to do is add some color with your items, like kitchen towels, coffee, sugar, & flour canisters, etc.

I think there's another layer to this calculus: barrier to entry/exit. If a trend doesn't steer you into some sort of structural or functional change that's hard or costly to pull back from, you can be more free to jump in and out of it. In which case, fine. Repaint my wall: sure, tell me what 2024 has to say. But if a trend is urging for a deeper renovation, it merits more skepticism.

I say just do what you want and when you go to sell throw white paint on it so someone else can throw their pink paint on it.

Designers have been announcing the end of white kitchens forever. Real people still like them. Let it go.

Twenty years ago I bought my first house and had it adapted to my taste. I looked at many interior decoration magazines and chose everything according to my taste. I really fell into the trap! Today I can see the trend of the tiles that really dates my home. Now, after my kids are gone, I am considering downsizing and I am wiser. Probably will make different mistakes! 😂

I think the minimalist trend of clean white kitchens can't go out of style, it's completely inoffensive.

As long as you get the layout right in the kitchen it doesn't really matter if it goes out of trend because you can always change the cabinet fronts and handles at relatively low cost. Just make sure you select a neutral worktop and tile or backsplash.

The hardest thing is to not be at least a little influenced by trends. I wanted vinyl plank throughout but the cold grey made my existing grasscloth look dirty. I searched high and low to get at least some tan tones in the floor. I finally got it at a deep discount because nobody wanted it. I was lucky with that.

I was thinking of this a few weeks ago, when i started the renovation of my house. To me, you gave the best advice you can give and we could also had that the more you improve your tastes on some materials (what kind of wood do i like the more for example ?) the more you can be sure that you are focusing on tones of colors and materials you really like, instead of taking those which are trendy. Thanks for your work Daniel, love your content 🙌🏻

First I do not make enough money to be able to follow any trend nor do I really want to. So for the past 2.5 years I have been curating my own look. However what I want to design seems to be what is in style and the second hand furniture I was buying piece by piece is now expensive and I have to take a forced design break. So there you have it my style is patience. LOL. But I really like the design ideas you bring together in you videos. So thank you and keep up the great info💕

I received the same Forbes article straight after renovating 6 wet rooms with grey concrete look floor tiles and white walls. The next article I received was completely the opposite with curved furniture, etc. Every year it’s the same, “what’s in and what’s out”. Take it with a pinch of salt. My chrome taps are always going to look clean and shinning. The golds, blacks, pewter etc. tarnished before my eyes in the showroom shops. 😅

Trends are interesting, but I don't follow them. I base my decisions on how colour and objects tap into my emotions. I find too much fussiness in terms of visual stimulus causes me anxiety including things like kitchen door handles and even a multitude of different colour product bottles in the bathroom. I love my white lounge but hated the white colour in my bedroom because it tapped into my distress as I spent a prolonged period in hospital with my mum. Mauve makes me feel calm and helps me sleep, and I don't understand why.

Good to watch and give a thought !! ' Who decides something is officially unfashionable ' - strong statement there 😂

I really appreciate the professional and balanced tone you use on your channel. I've been following your series on makeovers with great pleasure, but I think I've enjoyed your ideas of solutions for small interiors the most. Your channel is a pleasant change from the overly flashy trends on RU-vid and other social media.

Always GREAT to see a video by you, Daniel!

Hmm, I think you missed a spot. One more reason people tend to remodel interiors according to the current trends is because that's what's on sale. There's very little else, especially if you're on a tight budget. Yesterday's trend will be on deep discount, and today's trend will be EVERYWHERE, in every store. If you're looking for something else, you best hope your budget can afford custom, bespoke, or you're good at DIY.

This RU-vid channel is very valuable. Thanks for the effort you’ve been putting into it.

I agree with not focusing on trends but it can become very difficult when shopping for home goods to find items that are outside of the current trends; the stores are saturated with them as they have bought into what’s trending now and what they expect the public will want. This has been my experience in fashion for instance

Sometimes it is easier to inherit a feature that came with the house and just work with it. We have been debating about adding a high-efficiency wood burning fireplace ever since discovering a 50 cm deep closet that someone closed in years ago. It's been 5 years of decision paralysis. We would currently dislike the Scandi designs we considered early on. 2 weeks ago we had a power failure scare at -40C so this needs to happen.

I am beginning to appreciate you more and more. In my opinion, design in all of its forms should never be about trends or fashion. Balance and harmony never age. Honesty and integrity last forever.

Great filmmakers often say that inspiration shouldn't be limited to just great movies - learn from paintings and books and nature and people. I wonder if the same could be said of interior design, the best designers looking to the past but also the rest of the world for inspiration when creating something timeless.

i love the comeback of chrome or metallics..its timeless in my opinion and i like it a little more then messing or copper..

Impressive. So great to see a video that encourages introspection, rather than just pushing choices. ❤

Great video! On a side note, it's a "heuristic" :)

Hello and thank you for your work!! I've been following you from France. Your advice helps me a lot :)

It's a struggle. I have learnt not to jump on the fad bandwagon. I wait it out for a bit to see if it is something I really love. When it comes to trends I have fallen for it. But when you truly love something I also think it is important to not worry about the trend factor. I was on the early adoption of the grey trend. Very few were doing it. I did it but then I noticed I was doing too much of it. So I scaled back and created a balance with it. I am in the process of starting to re paint and I am still chasing grey but a lighter version in some cases. The beige trend is one for me that I just can not see myself living in, even the newer versions of it. To me it feels blah. So if you love something ignore the trends.

Hearing about the psychology behind design trends and their longevity was very interesting, and your examples made the concepet very easy to understand. Thank you for sharing your insight on this!

We have completely different style preferences. However you talk a lot about functionality of items or trends which is why I watch your videos. You have great insights on some things I never thought of.

If I like it, it’s in fashion… simple as that 💕

Such an interesting set of observations Daniel! Thanks so much.

Such deep thinking for a youtube video; I like it! Having also recently renovated my apartment I've thought a lot about this too. And I think partly it is (as you say) unavoidable, what I like is influenced by trends, and it'd be stupid to buy something that I don't like, just because it is not trendy. I also noticed these things you mention, that if you go for functionality first, the highest costs are made on the most durable things. It's a lot easier to switch out kitchen cabinet doors than it is to re-plumb my bathroom. And second I noticed that the bigger the room the more classic my choices became. So the toilet it's super on trend, while the living room is much more modest.

Way too much emphasis is put on just about every aspect of life these days, causing stress and disappointment when you find it's unachievable... Just live your own life in your own way, adopt your own individual style and to hell with what people think you should or should not be doing. Decorate your home for YOU and nobody else. I'm 63 and I'm telling you, life is way too short to be bothered by short lived nonsense 'trends'

Great to see someone on social media have see though this! Great video ❤

I love your videos! great job!

I remember when I had just painted my kitchen 🍏 green and saw a cover article that I was on trend. Right next to that magazine was another declaring that green was OUT for kitchens.😂 I do not let a magazine article make me feel bad for my design choices.

Of course we follow trends … whether we like it or not!! The manufacturers eagerly grasp either a design style or fad and make it to the exclusion of all else ! It’s amazing how you see the same thing over and over in soo many stores! Can I find a soft ash brown rather than the very orangey tans that are out there …no of course not! Or if you do it costs so much more! If you buy the faddy stuff they will also make the ornaments and rugs and pillows and you can blend and match. When you want something different it’s much harder to find complementary pillows throws etc! I so appreciate your almost scientific analysis of interior design, it has given me a lot to reflect upon while attempting to furnish my home. So thank you! 😊

Really great perspective and points presented - thanks! And as an engineer by training, I’ll always subscribe to function first, looking to see if the latest “trend” can offer me anything new to improve that. But as a “moderate” binge-er of social media content on home design, I totally agree that I am susceptible to being influenced or else I wouldn’t keep watching! The “rise and fall” slope effect was very interesting and totally makes sense - now if we could just quantify that in real time!

Follow trends if you want to, but do it with things that are easy to change. Stick with timeless for the expensive stuff. Pretty safe advice. (I would put a white kitchen in the timeless category.)

I love the kitchen you did in your mom's home. I think your style is awesome. I consider myself to be mixture of mid-century, Scandi but I really think I fall into Organic Modern. Simple, clean and not overdone. I would never feel comfortable in an overdone room.

I love your insights. Thanks a lot 😊

I installed a self designed kitchen to our home, an Australian Contemporary design, 9 years ago. It combines a simple white tall shaker style doors and deep under counter drawers, and accented with black v-groove pantry and integrated fridge wall, in addition to the are area around the black cooking appliances. The only nod to trend was concrete look engineered stone bench tops. The v groove echoes some of the exterior treatment. Simple white hand pressed, rectangular tiles. Just sold the house. All the prosective buyers commented on the "new" kitchen! Assumed it had just been installed! It was a great lesson to not be too safe, but steer a classic, proven style direction, and take in the whole house as a guide.

Trends lose significance when you recognize that they exist and are fuelled only by the businesses that make money by inspiring you to (or scaring you into) replacing, rebuilding, and throwing away perfectly good stuff. Agree the most important thing is function, then cleanliness (who wants to dust all that clutter?), then avoidance of all Extremes, and then does it make you happy? It’s your space. Cool or warm, casual or formal…do what works for you. That said, I find I’m happiest with results when I honor the vibe of the home vintage. My smallish 70’s townhouse bedrooms accommodate mid century furniture far better than any other simply due to scale. [when I found a bed that fit perfectly under the 96” wide window, it all just worked as the original designer likely intended. Thank you Daniel, for introducing me to Article :) ] But my living/dining/kitchen area is a warm eclectic mix of art deco to mid-century with timeless shaker cabinets, French doors with the clean lines of art deco inspired textured glass, and minimal mouldings. Certain eras and styles merge easily, so no need to be a slave to any style.

Thank you for this video that takes a balanced stance. I just renovated my house and installed custom white cabinets only to discover this is now out of style while still in the process, but I'm okay with it. I do my best to be as neutral. as possible for the expensive, hard to replace items, like cabinets, and choose other finishes that are easier to replace. I don't have tile floors because tile dates quickly. Instead, I installed LVT that wasn't inexpensive but is easily changed when the styles change. I try to remember that there was a time when we covered hardwoods with carpet because hardwoods were completely out of style and old fashioned.

You raise a good point, sometimes less is more in design.

I like the objectivity of noticing how fast a trend has been adopted. As much as people say “just ignore trends and and focus on what you like!” the truth is that we’re social creatures, and for the vast majority of us, what we personally enjoy IS shaped by our social context. It’s not like people in the 70s were all getting shag carpet and wood paneling against their will; most of them genuinely liked it! And most of those same people who are around today have happily moved on to other styles. While individual pieces can be timeless, I think it’s impossible to design entire spaces to be timeless while still making them cohesive and enjoyable in the present. Just avoiding fast-moving trends, at least for investment pieces or things that are harder to change, seems like a sensible approach.

I really enjoyed this video. I’m in the middle of a renovation and I have been trying to convince my husband that we don’t need beige grey white walls. For me I want our new home to reflect on who we are as a family and our heritage, and if we do choose to sell it one day in the future, then that’s when we can see the painting walls page to make a home look less personal.

To heck with the "trendsetters".

Well said Mr. Daniel Well said!

Thoughtful observations and agree some trends do recall a specific time period. I think we all need to observe how interiors; colors, furniture, flooring, lighting ect. function and feel when we are in them. On a realistic level we need to ask ourselves how long we plan on living in a specific property as this can affect our choices.

Love this episode

"Hueristic" would be quite a nice name for a decision process involving hues :)

Very very good video to think about, good food for thought

Wooo, boy. . . that was great info.

The living room @2:03 looks amazing! That is a very nice and full of character living room, timeless as well. Not everyone´s cup of tea, but brilliantly solved, nonetheless, from a spatial distribution point of view.

I currently have a warm wood kitchen and just ordered white cabinets. I think white kitchens are classic and can be updated with decor or a change in backslash or wall paint colors.

I’ve decorated my home with the things and colours I like. My furniture is a combination of glass tables, dark woods and light coloured soft furnishings with plants thrown in for softness and nature. It works and is timeless I think.

I think the most important elements to have in mind, other than your budget, are comfort and coherence. It doesn’t matter the style really if it looks well in a defined architectural context. For example: I’m looking into buy a house with very high ceilings and original frescoes on them so it will be very difficult not to do a light limewashing on the walls because a flat paint doesn’t look well, but in other areas of the house you can go with flat tones without problem. Other important thing is to avoid buying everything in a rush: it’s better to wait and see what works in different scales and you can adapt or send back stuff you feel doesn’t adjust properly to your lifestyle. What I’ll absolutely avoid is to decorate in a style you don’t feels comfortable and lacks of any real functionality because it will look bad faster and you will hate yourself for ages. Nice video!

My belief is decorate with the colours and designs you love. Your home should bring you joy and comfort (both physical and emotional comfort), not concerns over resale value in the future.

This is the first time that I've watched your channel. I like it.👍

Your extension still looks great :)

Interesting at the end of the video when sustainability was mentioned, I want to use or incorporate bamboo in my next build. (in the Philippines)

Working in the residential sector, especially on developer lead housing projects, the interior design decisions focus on the trend, the instagrammable aspect, in order to sell or rent the units quickly upon completion. I have seen this transitioning from everything grey or white (I get sick to my stomach every time I have to specify another grey vinyl, grey tile, grey splashback, grey carpet), to scandi, to eclectic interior designs which do offer more freedom for architects but ultimately end up in the same dead end of cheap finishes and materials with a 5 year lifespan. Personally and professionally, I have always been of the opinion that, the use of natural, good quality, durable materials: wood, marble, granite, concrete, terrazzo, ceramics, terracotta, linen, cotton, wool, leather, is what gives an interior space the timeless quality that it needs. The result could still be a white kitchen, but full of the rich textures given by the white stained oak veneer (or solid wood), possibly a white granite or terrazzo countertop and white glazed ceramic tiled splashback (or the countertop returns onto the wall to create said splashback). The focus should be on quality and durability, rather than fads.

Trends? I wanted a certain look (after lots of self-reflection) and this look became warm minimalism/ organic about 5 years later. Still love this look.

Great video! Love the inclusion of the scientific paper to help understand which trends might stay for longer than others. BTW, I'm definitely inspired by the white kitchen, even if it's going out of style... my current kitchen is only 8 years old, but it was put in by house flippers and parts are falling apart. It does have white cabinets, but everything else is dark grey. I think the white countertop looks great though.

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠ I picked exactly the white matt kitchen he showed (I think it is from IKEA), but with black worktop. I really don’t think it will go out of fashion. Will install it also in one of my client’s kitchen, he loved mine.

Well said. As someone who is studying interior design as a profession, to focus more on functionality, sustainable design that have positive social, environmental and economical impact is a wise way forward. By constantly focusing on what is on trend now for a living room for instance, will be outdated by a few months. This will cause headaches and a lot money down the line as well. To incorporate who you are as a person with a specific design will always be on trend for YOU. By studying specific problems of a space, getting solutions, working on making it better for the person using it rather than keeping up to a trend that drains the overall potential of a space and this can cause the user of the space to feel unease.

I may love some trends but having a limited income I can't buy them before they go out of style, so I have to stop and look at practicality instead of impulse buy. We just had our senior apartments renovated and it was an epic fail because the designer chose form over function. Lighting is bad, replacement floor to ceiling windows lost us an entire wall , kitchen redo leaves us with less living space , a dark kitchen and unusable to the ceiling cabinets, bathrooms with safety grab bars removed, lower and smaller toilets and smaller sink cabinets.

White kitchens are timeless. Wood tones are constantly changing trend. In a white kitchen you can paint the walls if you want a change.The only part of our white kitchen I regret is white countertops.

Hey Daniel, which camera and microphone you use? Voice and video is super clean!! Plz tell :)

I'm about to have a new kitchen in my housing association bungalow. I have no idea what choice (if any) I will be offered, but I hope to be able to choose something that will wear well. I suspect I will express myself by changing the handles! 😂

What I was surprised the most about, is a RU-vidr saying in a clickbait titled video is to stop listening to clickbait and fads. And while I was amused by the irony of it, I greatly appreciate a candid and honest take. Personally, being an academic sort of a person, I prefer to follow designers that have that sense of philosophy or professor like touch to them, like say Ilse Crawford. It's more rewarding to follow the principles than following the virality. I have a Luxe corner with the most expensive electronics, a frolic zone with a bright coloured ikea couch and a simple and functional scandi-mid-century kitchen and dining.

This makes total sense.

White, grey or black are so neutral they’re quite literally timeless compared to other colours. I don’t think it would go out of style really.

So according to that article my kitchen with charcoal grey lower cabinets and pale sage green upper cabinets is so outdated…. And I LOVE IT!!!!!

Another really interesting video! Thanks for this perspective and analysis. Subscribed (I thought I was already! 😅)

In one week, I am moving into a new home with an all white kitchen. It is a blank canvas that I get to decorate. Yippee. Wood cutting boards, a stone vase with branches, wicker pieces, a painting. Can’t wait.

White kitchen is the way to go, you have a neutral color to work and you can "dress" your kitchen in accessories. If you are rich well you can change kitchen every 3-5 years, if not, just go for white :)

This was an especially good one. Really liked the inclusion of psychology and science.

Awesome video! What a great analysis! Personally, I am avoiding slats even though I love them. I don’t want to have a home that looks really dated quickly and I am sure that slats will go this way. I love them now, but if everyone is dissing them in a couple of years. I will hate them!😂

Another eternal design is the black-and-white chequerboard floor. You can see it from 2,000 years ago in Ephesus, a few hundred years ago in Renaissance buildings, and a century ago, too. Ideally in marble, and laid diagonal to a rectangular room, it’s not anything that could be called fashionable or unfashionable. You could use vinyl or ceramic tiles and still have the same stylistic impact. In another video you mentioned a parquet timber floor. That is another thing, along with mosaics, that are always valuable because of the labour involved in producing them, plus the durability of the materials used - with the colour running through the material, not just on the surface. This adds a sense of luxury, irrespective of their colour.

I grew up in a house with unpainted wooden walls, and heavy mission brown window frames. Even though my window faced north (Southern Hemisphere), in the daytime I needed the light on to be able to read. As a result, I don’t think I will ever get over the desire for more light inside. For me, white will never be a fad. I’m not afraid of colour, but I will always have a neutral background. I’ve had my white kitchen for over a decade now, and there is nothing about it that I’m tired of. In contrast, I recall trying to find a rug to give a friend with a bright red sofa, and having difficulty finding anything that wouldn’t clash, look garish or look immediately dirty (Inended up with a cream flokati). It made me quite aware of how any bright thing needs to fit into an entire scheme. As for now, I have enough perspective to see what is fad and what is useful - I look for things which function well, and ignore the style.

A trend or fad is promoted as a method for increasing profits in home construction, design, and anyone who will make money by changing designs quickly and frequently.

I pretty much watch design videos as entertainment. With the exception of the colour I chose for my basement renovation, which came from a small AD article about a hotel on Vancouver Island, I don’t think I’ve ever chosen an item for my home based on a video or magazine. To me, interior design videos are like couture fashion, interesting to look at but highly impractical. I do love your videos though. You have some practical ideas that seem well thought out. It’s still just entertainment to me though.

Trends are for merchandisers. So many times, I have tended to use paint, lighting, and furnishings to correct proportions, add illumination, and improve traffic flow. I select a fantastic fabric for the color scheme. I don’t chase trends, but have a home I love.

I agree that it is very hard if not impossible to see outside of the time/era you live in. I always shrugg a little as soon as someone sais ”classic”! I think that with cloths & interior designe you should look back and see trends past maybe a 100 years and study details! I think a stunning home as well as a stunning warderobe is completely depending on time, climate, continent, culture & surroundings. Anything can look brill when this is in the right place but awful in the wrong place! A collection of cloths/ furniture that stretches past times but grounded in the surrounding climate & culture AND with a hint of the current moment if you feel it will fit in. So with this too long, well I wanted to say that you are soo right! It is a good reminder to take a second look at what you like and what is in fashion. And your mums kitchen. With the right colours, curtains, plants, furniture and nicknacks you can make it look anything but but all white and minimal…