DESIGN SENSE 2015
A blog about interior design for those who care

That was then, this is now

Why do colors, finishes and furnishing styles change? Must we get rid of our things in quest of the newest trend?  I wonder what real meaning a trend has for you and me?

The 10-12 Year Rule

Every decade or so our mattresses need replacing, our upholstery begin to look a tad worn, draperies start to sag and even our wood floors need refinishing!  We probably need to repaint – has it really been 20 years?  That’s the 10-12 rule.

The same could apply to your clothing – and your hairstyle as well. 

Change is often good, healthy and fun, but it also can be very hard for many of us. We get comfortable with what is familiar. As a third generation antique dealer and a historic preservationist at heart, you could almost say I almost treasure the past.  I also try not to waste, discard unnecessarily or ignore our environmental needs in pursuit of the newest and trendiest.

Trends vs Updates

I don’t really like to do trends.  It seems a bit like a false note most of the time. I do, however, find that I constantly discover or create new combinations that in a very short time thereafter miraculously become enormously popular. My power to influence mass audiences is not that great and I am definitely not a soothsayer. Maybe it’s the gypsy in my Hungarian heritage.

Or maybe it’s that I am, through experience and training, very in tune with both the design world and how people want to live. And certainly I am an observer for whom no design detail is too small or too insignificant to be noticed. That must be it.

For the time being, I am content to bid adieu to gray, to welcome the return of gold and to turn away a bit from dead white and shiny silver, to embrace patinas and worn or rustic finishes, to say hello to yellows and rest my eyes from octagon and bold geometric fatigue. Maybe it’s too soon for damasks and flowers to reappear, but 2015 just might bring us new interiors reflecting both the past and the future.

Thanks for listening. I’ll be back soon with more “that was then, this is now” design sense..

Linda Blair, ASID   January 2015
author of Design Sense, publ. by Wiley & Son