Trendy vs. Classical Family Room Design
I love it when I walk into a time capsule at a client’s house. They bring me back to my childhood. My favourite experiences are when I am hired to redo a bathroom that is currently adored with pink or blue bathroom fixtures, or a family room that has wall to wall orange shag carpet and wood panelling on the walls, or better a kitchen with hunter green countertops and white and green checkered tiles from the 80’s. You can just imagine these spaces provide the most amazing before and after pictures ever!!
What do each of these time capsules have in common? They were designed entirely using the latest trends of the decades. What else do they have in common? These rooms were entirely designed with the trends of the time, which makes these rooms hard to ‘refresh’ without having to do an expensive reno. When I design today, I try to avoid this from happening in the future. Don’t get me wrong I love to incorporate new trends into my designs, but I prefer to weave them in using means that are easily exchangeable in the future when a new trend comes in. It might be the conservative and practical side of the designer coming out, but I really prefer classical design for the larger, more expensive pieces and then incorporate the trendier pieces into the concept in easy replaceable ways. Let me take you through this using the Family Room as my example.
To get started, let’s look at design elements today in family rooms and the best way to incorporate current trends without ‘stamping’ your family room with a date of 2020.
Colour: Changing your wall colour to what’s new and trendy is the simplest and least expensive way to update your space and incorporate new trends. Want to go dramatic with a bold monochromatic paint palette or paint your room all white with black doors? Go for it and change it out when you get sick of it.
Furniture: Right now rattan is big, and so are more rounded lines on furniture. Instead of investing in a sofa with rounded curves, consider incorporating a chair into the space. This is a more affordable option that is easier to change out in the future. If you are looking at purchasing rattan pieces too, try injecting one chair, a stool or a lamp to your space.
Fabrics: Currently large, bold, floral patterns and performance fabrics are where it’s at. Let me tell you, I LOVE pattern, but patterns can really date a space. Who doesn’t have flashbacks of the pink and green floral sofas from the 80’s or plaids from the 90’s. Keeping this in mind, rather than going bold with a pattern on a chair or sofa that are expensive to reupholster, consider adding these patterns to toss cushions, and draperies and upholster your sofa with a neutral performance fabric.
Metals: Mixed metals are where it’s. Thank goodness! Nothing dates a house more when the entire house is finished with brass, or brushed nickel. I love to mix metals in a room. A little brass, black and polished nickel in accessories looks fantastic. My rule of thumb is to incorporate two pieces of a metal into the space. Mix it up with metals in your lamps, tables, but when choosing hardware for your doors consider going with a metal that stands the test of time. Bronze or black are my favourites.
Flooring: Right now the trend is light flooring. Light white oak floors seem to be what most of my clients are asking for these days. When choosing your flooring, please consider the difficulty and expense of changing it in the future, let alone the impact of it on the environment. With all of that being said choose your flooring wisely. Stay away from extremely trendy flooring and go more classical with style, colour, texture. If you want to go with a more trendy finish, please consider installing a hardwood floor that can be sanded and refinished in a new stain in the future, rather than one that gets torn out and tossed into landfill.
Fireplaces: The style of a fireplace can really date a room. Here is another example where I lean to a more classical design. We all know how expensive fireplaces are to change out. Go classical and accessorize with contemporary art to modernize it.
Truth be told. If you want your family room to stand the test of time, then go more classical on the fixed elements and larger ticket items of the space when you are designing our family room. Pull in the trends with items that can be easily changed including, rugs, chairs, lamps, toss cushions and even paint. Don’t be afraid to mix old and new in your family room. Have fun injecting trends into your space, but don’t over do it. You don’t want your space to look like a time capsule from 2020, the year of COVID.