Interiors trends are slow. One of the questions I am most often asked is: “Should I buy such and such because I’m worried it’s a trend and it will go out of fashion really quickly,” to which I first refer you to my design philosophy. Secondly I would point out that in interiors, so-called “trends” can last up to 15 years - let’s not forget the dominance of grey walls, from when I first wrote about it for The Independent in 2009 to its eventual demise during Covid, when we realised we had so much grey in our lives that we didn’t need it on our walls as well.
In 2009 I wrote: “The colour experts at Dulux have decided that grey is the new magnolia, only they call it Steel Symphony, because no one actually wants to paint their house grey.”
So, you know, don’t come to me for forecasting advice!
However, this brings me to my second point and that is the changing meaning of the word “trend” itself. The original comes from the Old English trendan, which meant to turn or bend - often in a geographic sense; the river trends south. By the late 19th Century it had acquired a more abstract meaning, and was used to denote a general tendency such as economic or public opinion trends.
At that stage it had nothing to do with fashion. But by the mid-20th Century it had evolved once again (as language does) and that’s where things start to get messy.
To understand more about how trends take hold and how to bring them into your own homes, you can join the Mad About The House club to receive weekly posts of interior design know-how, inspiration and expert advice and interviews - as well as a standing invitation to my monthly Drop-in Design Clinic where you can bring your decorating dilemmas and we will resolve them together.
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