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March 12, 2010

More dated decor

Is your home’s style behind the times? A panel of pros provides a list of dated-décor elements to help you find out.

LaMar Lisman
Lisman Studio, SLC
lismanstudio.com

• Anything "Shiny Brass"—hardware, lighting, etc. It looks fake and very cheap. This was one of the biggest frauds ever perpetrated on the American public.
• Anything "Beige." Contrary to popular belief, it is NOT neutral—it's just boring. It makes ANYTHING placed next to it dull, uninteresting and very out of style.
• "Display" towers to showcase DVD's, CD's and video collections. There is no need to show off this visual confusion. No one is impressed with how many Duran Duran albums you have. Back "in the day" you could impress people with your vast collections of entertainment options—now it almost makes a room look pitiful.
• Curio cabinets with enormous collections of Lladro or Precious Moments figurines. One or two can be charming, five or six annoying—more than that is completely painful to look at.
• Formica countertops. Laminates have come a long way, but tired looking laminate can make even handsome cabinets look awful. New affordable options abound—and they are a lot more durable.
• Anything "Faux" (except fur or animal skin). Faux paint, faux columns, faux tile…

Anne-Marie Barton
AMB Design, SLC
annemariebarton.com

• Different color of carpets in each room. This interrupts the seamless flow in a home and makes it feel frenetic.
• Old World decorating in general—finishes, furnishings and fixtures.
• Faux painted walls, particularly rag-rolled finishes.
• 30" high vanities. Homeowners prefer taller vanities so they don’t have to stoop over to use the sink.
• Busy Travertine tiles. They have too much visual action and are predictably ‘90s.
• Showers with decorative borders (yikes!). Keep it simple.
• Stained knotty alder cabinetry
• 2 1/4" red oak flooring
• Accessories that don't serve a purpose
• Chair and halves
• Metal cased shower doors
• Fake leaded glass aluminum clad front doors
• Decorative tile backsplashes (please keep it simple)
• Armoires

 

Sue Harman and Jason Wilde
Harman Wilde Interior Design, SLC
harmanwilde.com

• Display jars of pastas, oil-drowned peppers and dark vinegars. Choose functional canisters or nothing at all.
• Interior water features—they may sound nice but most splash, making a mess of the floors. Buy a rain-sound CD instead.
• Heavy, large valances
• Themed décors, from “Gone Fishing” to “Cowboys & Indians”
• Heavily knotted woods
• Showplace rooms. You know the kind—living rooms with the invisible velvet rope and don’t touch attitude.
• Art niches at every turn
• Bowls of dust-collecting potpouirri. Keep the wood chips in the yard, not on the back of the toilet.

For more dated décor elements, see page 30 of the Spring 2009 issue of Utah Style & Design magazine

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