Skip These Awful(ly) Popular Design Trends
Some design trends look absolutely amazing online but quickly turn into headaches at home. Sure, they’re pretty, but they’re not always practical, comfortable, or easy to live with. Want to avoid those stylish and popular design trends that just don’t work in real life? Read on to find out which trends to think twice about.
The Open Shelving Struggle
Open shelves might look great in styled kitchens, but in real life, they’re nothing more than dust magnets. Add some cooking grease to the mix, and you’ll be cleaning them 24/7. Plus, unless your dishes are perfectly stacked, they look messy.
White Out Woes
All-white spaces look clean and dreamy… for five minutes. Then fingerprints, coffee splashes, and pet paw prints show up like neon signs, destroying the all-white facade you’ve created. Unless you enjoy scrubbing surfaces constantly, you might want to give this one a skip.
Minimalism Minus the Comfort
Minimalism is becoming incredibly popular. But it can also feel empty and sterile. Homes need warmth, texture, and, most of all, personality. Otherwise, you’re living in a furniture showroom and not a comfy nest where you can escape from the world.
Acrylic Mayhem
Acrylic furniture feels fresh and barely there - until the scratches, cracks, and fingerprints show up. One bump from the vacuum or your kid's toy truck, and you’ve got damage that’s impossible to hide. Leave the acrylic furniture to the design studio.
A Faucet Fiasco
Wall-mounted faucets elevate your bathroom style to the next level, giving it that boutique-hotel vibe. But what about when they break? Get ready to tear into the drywall to fix them. They’re tricky to install and even trickier to fix.
Barn Door Blunders
Barn doors bring that rustic charm, especially if you’re looking for that farmhouse feel in your home. The reality, though, is that they don’t seal, rattle when opened, and offer almost zero privacy. Pretty? Yes. Practical? Not so much. Rather invest in a solid door.
Marble Marvel Drama
Marble looks incredibly high-end, especially in your bathroom and kitchen. It’s also super sensitive, and lemon juice, red wine, and even water can leave marks if spills aren’t cleaned up immediately. If you want your counters to stay pristine, you better be ready to clean them constantly.
Slippery Rugs on the Move
Flat rugs on hard floors slide, curl, and refuse to stay put no matter what you do to secure them. Even with rug pads, the corners flip, and you’ll be tripping in no time. Sounds fun, but it’s really not. It’s more wrestling than decorating with flat rugs.
Glass Bathroom Wall Gazing
They look sleek and spa-like, but glass bathroom walls offer zero privacy to those looking for a bit of peace and quiet. Sure, they’re fine for hotel suites, but not so great for your family home, where awkward bathroom run-ins are almost guaranteed.
Floating Vanity Fails
Floating vanities bring a touch of modern chic to your bathroom and make cleaning floors that much easier. That’s until you realize they provide far less storage and ultimately collect dust underneath. This design trend screams grime more than glam.
Industrial Overload
Exposed pipes, cement, and metal can look stylish in the right setting. But without soft textures and warmth, the vibe turns cold and echo-y, and is not anything you would want in your home. Unless you’re aiming for factory chic, go easy on the industrial finishes.
Bulb Blindness
Exposed bulbs belong in a factory, not in your cozy home. Without a shade, they glare in your face and highlight every little feature in your home. Stylish? Maybe. Comfortable? Definitely not. Just invest in a pretty shade or two already!
Dim Edison Bulb Drama
Vintage bulbs, like the Edison bulbs, are pretty much useless as main lighting. They cast a romantic glow, which is great for cozy dinners with your beloved, but good luck reading a book or chopping veggies under them - you might just lose a finger!
Concrete Countertop Conundrum
Concrete countertops sound cool - until they stain, crack, and weigh as much as a small car. Installation is tough, and maintenance is even tougher. This is one popular design trend you might want to rethink when you’re redoing the kitchen.
Dark Ceilings Gone Dark
You might have seen the design trend of painting your ceiling a dark color. It adds hue and drama to an otherwise dull room, but it also shrinks the room visually. Unless your space is huge and bright, a dark ceiling can feel claustrophobic fast.
Mirrored Misery
Mirrored furniture looks oh-so-glam at first glance. But that sparkle doesn’t last long when you see that every touch leaves a smudge, and scratches show up like neon signs. Unless you really love daily cleaning, it’s more effort than it’s worth.
Sectional Sofa Swallow-Up
Oversized sectional couches look comfortable, but they quickly dominate a small room like a monster. They’re incredibly heavy, hard to move, and really limit your layout options. Sometimes, less is more when it comes to furniture, especially when you’re tripping over the chaise just trying to vacuum.
The Ceiling Statement
Wallpapering your ceiling seems artsy until you have to install it. One wrinkle or mismatched seam, and it’s game over. And don’t even think about removal - it’s a neck-craning nightmare. A bold ceiling should wow, not wobble your insanity, and drive you bonkers.
Kitchen Island Power Fail
Kitchen islands without power look sleek, but they forget the basics. No outlet means no blender, no mixer, and, most importantly, no easy phone charging. Your island just becomes a giant unusable table when you actually need to cook.
Matte Black Finish Trouble
Matte black fixtures transform your home from drab to fab in no time. But real life quickly sets in, and you see water spots, fingerprints, and soap stains that just won’t go away. You’ll find yourself wiping down
Open Plan Overload
Open layouts feel fresh and social - but they also come with noise, smells, and zero privacy. The loud clatter of dishes, the sound of the TV, and the scent of dinner all travel, making you realize walls and doors really are the true MVPs of peaceful living.
Sink View and Storage Blues
A sink under the window overlooking the garden is a classic dream - until you realize there’s no place for upper cabinets. Sure, you get a view while washing dishes, but at the cost of your very important and necessary storage.
Fireplace TV Fumble
Mounting your TV above the fireplace sounds space-saving and pretty stylish. Your neck, however, won’t thank you, and the heat of the fire can really mess with your electronics. The angle’s awkward, the setup’s tricky, and it just doesn’t make for good binge-watching posture.
Pendant Light Panic
Oversized pendant lights bring drama to your home. But in low-ceilinged rooms, they bring danger. They dangle, just waiting to bonk you on your head. Yes, they look good on Pinterest, but in real life, you’ll spend more time ducking than admiring.
Bathtub Beauty Beast
Clawfoot tubs are every girl’s dream. Using them, however, is another story. They’re deep, slippery, and tricky to step in and out of. Plus, there’s nowhere to put your shampoo unless you have a caddy or bath rail. They’re more photoshoot than functional.
Splash Zone Shower Situations
Open showers with no doors make your bathroom look spa-worthy. But all they really do is splash water everywhere. Unless your floor slope and drain are perfect, get ready to mop your bathroom daily. Say hello to soggy socks and puddles on the floors!
Faux Fireplace Flops
Faux fireplaces look super cute and cozy. Ironically, most don’t heat, some don’t even light up, and many just gather dust in your living room. It’s a real waste of valuable living space that could be used for something else that actually works.
The Sofa Snowstorm
White sofas scream glam sophistication - until someone sits down, that is. From pet hair to snack stains, everything shows up on a white sofa. Unless you live in a showroom, your white chic couch quickly becomes a dirty gray mess.
Patterned Tile Overload
Bold tiles add personality to those otherwise plain walls and floors in your home. Using it everywhere, however, is a bad idea and turns into a dizzying eyesore. Let statement tiles shine in small doses and avoid patterned tile overload.
Farmhouse Fatigue
Farmhouse has to be one of the most popular design trends that is quickly becoming overdone. From shiplap, signs, and sliding barn doors to Highland cow prints and wall hangings, the charm of farmhouse decor wears thin after a while.
Pendant Lights By the Bed
Ever wish you had a light by the side of your bed? Introducing pendant lights - the solution to your problem. But beware the pendant light - they’re hard to reach, tricky to install, and hard to live with. You’ll either end up with bedtime shadows or blinding glare that keeps you up at night.
Low-Slung Furniture Living
Low-slung furniture is a relatively new trend - but it’s quite literally a pain. Getting up off your low-slung sofa takes effort that your knees and back won’t appreciate. Furniture should be relaxing, not demand yoga-level flexibility.
The Faux Plant Jungle
Faux plants look great online. But in person, they scream “plastic” and collect dust like crazy. Forget watering - you’ll spend the majority of your time cleaning these plastic nightmares. They’re way more maintenance than a real fern, so choose wisely.
Dark Wall Drama
Black walls used to be reserved for goths. But now they’re dramatic and moody, making your home look stylish when done with. The only downside is that they suck the light out of a room. Without great lighting, your room feels gloomy and a bit depressing.
Open Closet Chaos
Open closets are great for that perfect Instagram shot but not so great in real life. Let’s be honest - your clothes rarely stay color-coded and wrinkle-free, and with everything on display, you’ll spend a lot of time trying to keep things in order.
