Creating Timeless Elegance Amongst the Sea of Trends
In our age of social media and countless home improvement shows, trends tend to rapidly come and go. And as with fashion, today’s interior design styles can often seem to have a single-season lifespan.
It’s exciting to learn about the latest trends and to draw inspiration from them where you see fit. But when it comes to the significant financial and time investment involved in renovating or designing your home, you want to ensure your design decisions are ones that will stand the test of time and meet your needs for years to come.
That doesn’t mean you can’t have fun and incorporate trending elements in your timeless designs here and there. What many design professionals recommend is a hybrid approach: go for timeless designs for the heart and soul of your home (and also the high investment components) like your kitchen, bathrooms, built-in cabinetry and flooring. Then, play around with other items if you want to experiment and implement subtle changes with the latest trends.
Let’s take the kitchen as an example. Choosing classic layouts, cabinet designs, countertops and colors means that your kitchen will look as great today as it will a decade from now. That doesn’t mean you are limited and can only stay within the confines of your timeless design. It allows you to have a solid foundation with room for exploring adding personal touches and trending elements subtly throughout.
A great way to showcase your personality into your interior design is to introduce your favorite colors through objects and other decorative elements, integrate current trends in lighting design or showcase a new piece of art.
Flooring is another area where you’ll want timeless over trending. High-quality hardwood floors and luxurious wool carpeting are a significant investment and they require a lot of work to replace. Invest in quality and choose light neutral colors that will complement your furniture and a range of paint colors for years to come.
When you’re making initial design choices for a new build or major renovation, work closely with your interior designer for their perspective on what lasts. Many will recommend neutral colors on walls, clean lines, statement lighting and the use of natural materials like wood and stone. It’s important during collaborating with your interior designer that you choose designs that feel right for you, not for the current trend.
If you’ve chosen timeless design for your big-ticket items and interior spaces, you now have the canvas to play with other elements. Choose a vibrant area rug, invest in the bedding you’ve long admired, wallpaper a feature wall or paint your powder room the Pantone color of the year.
The making of a timeless design is a sophisticated and relatively neutral setting that allows you to express your individual personality through your choice of objects, colors and materials. Choosing timeless elegance will outlive the trends and allow you to have a timeless foundation.
By Lynn Sully & Ward Stendahl
Featured Partners
Affinity Kitchens (Scottsdale, AZ)
Allikriste (Naples, FL)
Amanda Evans Interiors (Vancouver | Whistler, BC)
Cosentino (Seattle | Bellevue, WA)
Drewett Works (Scottsdale, AZ)
Ethical Flooring (Vancouver | Whistler, BC)
Glacier Hardwoods (Whitefish, MT)
Glass Granite Group (Scottsdale, AZ)
Locati Architects (Big Sky, MT)
Modern Splendor Homes (Scottsdale, AZ)
Nikari Homes (Vancouver | Whistler, BC)
Strong Roots Flooring (Okanagan, BC)
Theresa Sterling (Jackson Hole, WY)
Top Shelf Cabinet Solutions (Hawaii)
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