Fall Decor and A Little More...


I have read quite a few articles this year about design trends people are getting sick of and wish would go away.


I am normally not a "trend" decorator, but if I like something I like it, whether it is trendy or not.  My taste changes constantly. If something I have is trendy, then it will probably be replaced with something less trendy before too long.

After reading some of these articles, I decided to compare my current home to the trends readers/HGTV watchers love to hate!

Open Floor Plans...


I guess I will always have a "non-trendy" home because I love the open floor plan.  When you have guests, the open floor plan is awesome...you can visit with everyone while you are slaving over food and drinks in the kitchen.  Your friends and family will always see you sweat!

Granite countertops and all white kitchens...



I have both, so I suppose I will get shot with both barrels on this one.  While I would LOVE Carrara Marble for my countertops, they are just not in this chick's budget.  As for the white kitchen...


...I like things light and bright, so trendy or not, I will probably always have a white kitchen...unless I find a pretty shade of gray for the cabinets.

Shiplap, Shiplap, Shiplap...


Shiplap has been likened to the wood paneling trend of the 1970s.  What will people do when shiplap really rides off into the sunset?  The same thing they did with that wood paneling...they will rip it off to reveal the drywall behind it and patch and paint.  OR, they will replace it with the next latest-greatest deal.  Not gonna happen in this house...that shiplap is staying right where it is for the next owner to rip off the wall.

Harvest Gold...


...but I just bought my Harvest Gold stuff...and it is out already?!?

Pine...


While I don't own any pine furniture or have pine paneling, I do have a pine staircase.

I suppose my home is going to be one of those designers will love to hate.


While it was built during some of the most popular trends, it will remain this way until we sell it.  We have changed a few things and will change a few more, but the bones are not going anywhere.

Since I wrote this post about design elements that are moving towards the unpopular realm, I decided to sneak in some photos of our fall decor.  Hope you don't mind.




I left the dining table photo out since you've already seen it up close and personal...didn't want to wear out it's welcome. :-)

I also want to thank you all for the prayers for my MIL.


Last week was rough but she is now at home and will start her rehab this week.
 
As you can see, fall is still alive and well...hanging on for as long as it can.  It is beginning to look NOTHING like Christmas around here yet...have you guys started with your Christmas decorating?  I'm so behind!

26 comments

  1. 'trends' to me come directly from Madison Avenue to keep people discontented with their homes and in debt. or if not in debt then spending money money money.
    I love pine. and your staircase is lovely. stay strong! xo

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    1. It is the power of advertising…to keep us dissatisfied! And now you throw social media into the mix and you have everyone spinning around trying to achieve someone else’s idea of how their home should be decorated and how their life should be lived. It’s enough to drive a person to complete distraction! Thank you so much sweet friend! Love and hugs to you!!

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  2. No Christmas here other than purging to sell things in our antique booth spaces (how convenient, right? I also have a daughter coming over after work to hopefully take some things for her new, big house!). Well, yea, I read that article too. I can't see open floor plans going out anytime soon. Our home was built 30 yrs ago with that concept and it's still going strong. I'm with you...whatever is disliked, let the next owners redo. In the meantime, let's live in our homes and quit putting them on the runway. I like your home and fall decor. That banner of leaves is really nice - a quiet and calm look for this time of year. Throws in baskets always catch my eye, as do table settings. All very pretty, Benita. Carry on!

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    1. I am so not ready to start the Christmas decorating. Putting all the fall stuff away, pulling out all of the Christmas things and then packing them away a few weeks after that. It seems the Christmas season is much too short for all of the trouble we go through…LOL. I hope your daughter was able to find some things for her home! The open concept has always been so great to me and I will always love it…trend or not. I love our little cottage home and while it will never be the movie star some of the homes I’ve seen on Instagram will be, it is ours and decorated to please us. Thank you so much Rita…I try to keep our decorations simple (with the exception of our dining table), especially on that fireplace…we love the wood on it and I hate covering it up. Thank you again! Love and hugs!

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  3. Benita, I never can resist reading trend articles on FB either. I love reading the "what's out and what's in" ones that come before the new year, don't you?

    Designers have been trying to bury granite for years now but as long as homeowners love it that's not going to happen. Your granite is so pretty! I think we're always going to love white kitchens because that means we can add colored accessories as we want to, or not. I've never been fond of open concept kitchens because I have a one-track mind and like to cook alone with no distractions. After 12 years of living with an open concept kitchen I realized the only time I liked it was when I was alone in the house. So I can understand others finally rethinking that one but I can see how parents of young children must love being able to keep an eye on their children playing while they cook.

    I love your staircase and your fireplace wall and your white kitchen! Gorgeous!

    Designers would have us completely redoing our houses every few years, right? I notice they also say barn doors and gray paint are out but people still love it so I think they'll be around a long time too. As for me, I wouldn't dare let a designer in my house, they'd have a field day of criticizing!

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    1. Thank you so much Dewena, you are too sweet!

      Designers can’t come into my house either…the list would never end of what they would want to change or haul out of my home…LOL I do enjoy reading the “ins and outs” for each year, but I swear, sometimes these people make no sense to me. And exactly WHO is that decides what is “in or out” for a certain year, especially with paint colors. You just can’t be white for a kitchen or a wall color for the reason you stated…you can always change your accessories to change the look of a room. You just can’t go throwing away perfectly good chairs because someone up the food chain decided that the color wasn’t popular or the style was “tired”…LOL As far as barn doors…to me, those are just updated pocket doors…and I love pocket doors…wish those would make a comeback! Just tuck those things in wall and you never have to worry about cleaning them because no one will ever see them! 😊 Love and hugs to you!

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  4. Trends, whether decor or fashion, are ignored in this house! It's kinda like high school all over again...follow the trends so you can fit in with the cool kids. Of course we can't ignore the money factor, which is the driving force behind the so-called experts spouting what we should and should not be doing. Enjoy your day! Cold and gloomy here...good day for soup! xoxo

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    1. You are so right!!! It is EXACTLY like high school!! LOL And I’m always left out because I’ve got the kinky hair and the big nose…LOL The money factor is always the driving force behind someone saying what fashion item or home item is in or out. If they ever looked in my closet they would have a big surprise…nothing special or designer in there either. If it were left up to me (because I despise clothes shopping), I would wear the same 3 outfits over and over again, sew them up when they ripped and where them until they completely fell apart…LOL. Bitterly cold here…loving it…we’ve had chili and potato soup this week! YUM and perfect for this weather! Love and hugs!!

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  5. I am right there with you Benita. I always feel if you decor your home with things you love whether the trend or not you will be happy. Our homes are our sanctuary's and where we live so we should decorate with the things we love. Have a super duper day!
    Hugs,
    Kris

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    1. One of the other items that the article said was out was "Shabby Chic". I thought, someone better tell Rachel Ashwell...LOL She's a designer and has no idea her "trend" is out the door...LOL You are so right Kris....our homes are our havens and sanctuary and it should always be filled with things we love. I know you probably get the same reaction that I do to the white furniture, but I just love it so and it works so well in our small space! And yours is ALWAYS gorgeous! Love and hugs!

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  6. I am not a trend follower. I do have a white kitchen and granite counters. But I love them.

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    1. Penny, I love mine also…and they will stay as long as we live in this house. The only change I would ever make to the white cabinets would be to paint the island gray and that is only to help hide dirt and scuffs…we kick it because we stand around it and sit there to eat. I’m going to be off-trend for such a long time! 😊 Love and hugs!

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  7. I love the leaves at the top! I have a small space, so I have to show the same areas over and over again. I wouldn't worry about that. I will always like pine. I love white kitchens, but I will always hate stainless steel appliances. They remind me of the morgue I went into as a journalist. Morgues and kitchens just don't go together.
    Brenda

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    1. Brenda, thank you so much! I try to keep the mantle décor very simple. Surprisingly, when I took A&P, we had a cadaver lab we had to work in every day and of course, nothing but stainless steel there. For some reason, I like the stainless steel appliances in a kitchen. I liked the sterile environment of the lab and I suppose it has just stuck with me. But you are definitely correct, morgues and kitchens do not go together…LOL….at all! Love and hugs!

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  8. I'm convinced that whoever they are that decide what's in and what's out, do so just to sell more things. When I think of all the trends that have come and gone in my 30 years of marriage, I'm glad to be of my own mind at this point. I loved white even in high school so I'll be keeping all the white for a long time. I love shiplap, beadboard, and all kinds of wood molding. Let's keep it! I have actually seen people taking out granite on blogs and sorry but that strikes me as ludicrous. Granite is from the earth and to remove it for something that's a newer trend just seems off to me.

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    1. I agree 100%. It is always money driven! I laugh because sometimes these designers contradict themselves with their trends. I have always loved white, always wanted a white kitchen and plan on keeping it! And I’m right there with you on the moldings. I’ve usually had some time of beadboard in my homes because it is so pretty and is just so timeless. The same with Wainscoting. Granite is so beautiful! I don’t understand removing it for a “trend” either! The only thing I never want to see popular again are the floors that you had to wax once a week and then turn around and scrub the wax off once every six months…with ammonia…and a scrub brush….on your hands and knees….I shudder just thinking about when I had to do that as a kid….UGH!!! Love and hugs!

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  9. It used to be that blogs set a lot of the trends and I think they still somewhat do. I remember when everyone had to have a red dining room and now, no one in the who's who would dare lol

    Anyway, when I read something about pine being out, I think to myself "Really? So, I should get rid of my antique pine furniture from the 1800s? HAHAHA.... NO." I follow my own weird ass rules, but if I was going to really "decorate" I'd follow Bunny Williams. I'm kind of a fan and have all her books, so from reading those, especially her book "an affair with a house", I think she'd laugh that pine suggestion right out the window ;)

    love to you,
    rue

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    1. I think some of them do as well…mine is not one of them. 😊 We set no trends around here…unless there is an “island of misfit toys” trend…then, I’m in! I have old pieces mixed with new pieces mixed with leftover pieces…you get the idea My dishes are all chipped, just like my nails…LOL I loved the red dining rooms and thought they were so elegant! I don’t understand the pine going out at all. Pine has such a rich texture to it. It is a hearty wood and is beautiful! I need to take some photos of our upstairs area…it is a hodge podge of everything…craigslist furniture, mid-century modern, rustic, broken Hobby Lobby pieces, Ikea, etc. The only change we will be making to the pine stairs is to remove the finish to try to do something to make them less slick. We’ve had a couple of people fall down them (that ain’t fun) and we have slipped on them several times. I do not look good in collars and have no intention of wearing one because I’ve wrenched my neck on those stairs…LOL Love and hugs sweet friend!

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  10. The only trendy thing I have I guess is a white kitchen....because I painted (5 coats) over the knotty pine. I live in a Victorian....no open floor pan, no ship lap. I do have harvest gold in the dining room...mine is called Buckwheat and it is staying because the room is the color of Fall, my favorite season. I decorate with what I love. Not doing Christmas any time soon. It's too early! You are not behind!

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    1. You know, pine is such a beautiful wood but for some reason, they just couldn’t seem to get it right for me in kitchen cabinets. I don’t know if it was the “varnish” they used or they part of the wood they used, but the cabinets have always needed changing. And your Victorian home needs to stay just that way with the design…original! I cannot see a Victorian home with an open floor plan…they have their own elegance and are beautiful with the closed-off rooms. It bespeaks a time when everything was done in a “proper” manner and not in the casual sense that everything is now. I’m just not ready for Christmas and am not in the mood to decorate for it. I hope that changes after Thanksgiving, but for right now, it is still all fall! Love and hugs!

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  11. It's always very nice to see home and décor but I find that home is where the heart is.
    We do not celebrate Thanksgiving in the UK so for us our celebrations, and family time, are Christmas... I'm looking forward to it :)

    Enjoy the rest of your week.

    All the best Jan

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    1. I agree Jan, there is no place like home! Thanksgiving and Christmas are our two biggies, back-to-back! Hope you have a wonderful day!

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  12. Trendy or not, I liked this peek into your home, everything looks so thought out and beautiful. But pleased tell me you tidied up for the shoot and that it doesn't always look this tidy :-)
    Amalia
    xo

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    1. Thank you so much Amalia! I appreciate it greatly! The kitchen was tidied up a bit…placed some dishes that were in the sink in the dishwasher and removed my dish drain pad along with my gloves. Other than that, it pretty much stays this way. We have no small children at home and don’t spend a lot of time downstairs, except for meals. Upstairs is a totally different story…that’s where we hide our mess. 😊 Love and hugs!

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  13. Hi,
    I have a white kitchen. I have tossed around changing it up, but I just love a white kitchen. I will probably always have a white kitchen with blue and yellow accents. :-)

    I enjoyed the tour, I love the pine staircase. BEAUTIFUL!!

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    1. Thank you so much Carla! I love a white kitchen and like you, will probably always have one! Since we've moved around so much it helps me to stay with neutral colors and just change out accessories! I love the idea of blue and yellow in a white kitchen...so cheery! Love and hugs!

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