The Glam Pad’s Anti-Trend Month in Review

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27 COMMENTS

  1. Thank you so much for these posts! Trends come and go. I love them all. But good design is timeless! I appreciate your pictures and words. They are decor affirming!?

  2. This article exemplifies why you are my favorite blogger and why your blog is the very first one I read every morning. Timely and
    timeless information and creativity. Intelligently written with beautiful illustrations. Thank you for sharing!

  3. Andrea, you encapsulated my thoughts exactly. My interiors rarely change. I always tell people, “I got it right the first time.” I use mostly antiques, with a few newer, but still classic style, upholstered pieces. No trends for this girly. Trendy interiors always look so nouveau riche to me anyway (she sniffed disapprovingly). Plus, they have no warmth whatsoever. I don’t even like traditional interiors that are too highly fixed up. There was a house that I used to pass that I coveted, and one day I was invited inside. The house was nearly 200 years old, but the interior was so overrestored that it looked brand new. There was no character left. It became a pastiche of itself. Very sad. My contractor is sanding and staining my interior staircase at the moment. He was trying to make the edges the same colour as the middle. “Don’t make it too perfect,” I said. “It will lose its charm.” And that is the what makes a home. It’s a place that is loved, and used, and not “too perfect.”

  4. I love your blog-it’s my daily restoration of hope for humanity! But seriously, I never tire of these beautiful photos-when everyone around me seems to be redoing their interiors in the latest trends, I look at your posts and am reassured by my own aesthetic. Thank you!

  5. I loved this post and coudln’t agree more. There were times I would look at a room in my house I was trying to decorate and think to myself…I have no idea how this is going to turn out (as my mind would be running in every direction from colors to fabrics) but I do know one thing…it will be timeless. :-).

  6. This made me feel so much better. I sell Real Estate and although I know there are important elements that go into selling a home, I am tired of seeing all the same beige, chevron and blue and white objects you discussed. None of it is unattractive but growing up with parents who were collectors and could move the contents a traditional colonial home to a 4,000 sq factory space in New York City I love the concept of incorporating the old and new.

    I always think of my father saying “It’s just soo vanilla”.

    Today I feel like it’s ok to still have books on your bookshelf. Thank you!

  7. I so enjoy reading your blog, especially this anti-trend series. My wish, like yours, was granted when Mario finally presented us with his wonderful book! He’s still my favorite. And after reading your post featuring Holly Holden, I purchased her Pretty & Proper Living Room book, and I completely agree with you that it is practically a text book and should be required reading (even though her proofreaders don’t know the correct spelling of “mantel”). Thank you for sharing.

  8. Andrea, you are a star! Thank you for the effort you put into this blog and for really thinking, having an opinion and all the research! This series has been interesting, scholarly, thought provoking and insightful. And I second all of the above comments. You have made the case for traditional interiors and I am 100% sold. You really have the very best blog. Thank you again and congratulations!

  9. Thank you for the wonderful series. A bonus to me was to read all the comments and realize a great camaraderie exists among us. I look forward to seeing what you have next for us.

  10. This has been the most amazing month of articles. I have loved everyone of them. I have always loved traditional and still love my old decorating books. I still pull them out even though many are from the early 1980’s. Thanks for coming up with such a great month of discussion. It was fun reading all the comments too.

  11. This may be the best blog post I have ever read! I have always loved classic design, but it is difficult to convince younger clients that it’s more affordable to collect things of lasting beauty and value. How encouraging to see that perhaps we are going back to that idea, even if it is with baby steps. Thank you for this series about anti-trends…what a breath of fresh air.

    Oh, and I love the above comment. “I got it right the first time.”

  12. Oh my goodness, thank you all for the kindest comments and compliments!!! I am truly humbled and grateful for your support. 🙂

    Xx,
    Andrea
    The Glam Pad

  13. Thanks for this post- it pretty much sums up my design philosophy…classic and timeless! I still love chintz, toile, antiques, and accessories and am obsessed with antique blue and white! As a designer I am really not a beige person and am so happy that color is once again “back”!! It never left for me!

  14. Andrea, This whole anti trend series that you have started is fabulous. Interior Design is all about an individual and not what is in today. Trends are for people that have no conviction and must follow and be herded into what is the latest. I cringe when people ask me what’s in. What’s in is what you love today and will love forever. Be yourself and live with what you love. Step out and be yourself.

    Hopefully this series will educate some and validate what so many feel. As a professional Interior Designer I applaud your efforts and giving recognition to our industry greats such as Mario Buatta and Leta Austin Foster. Thank you.

  15. Those “in the know” will always like good traditonal interiors , when something is widespread it looses its appeal. That said ,traditional does not always equal beautyful. Good taste (rare) is the key.

  16. Very sad to read that Dan Carithers passed. I became
    A fan in the late ’50’s when I was just a beginner and
    always enjoyed seeing his inviting southern style interiors! I met him in New York in the
    Sixties and was very impressed with his demeanor.
    He left so many visual examples of
    his work for all to enjoy!

  17. I have loved all of your posts about anti-trends! Please keep up the great work! I think younger people will see the light once they have embraced a few trends only to see them bottom out and go completely out of style. That is how I learned my lesson!

  18. M growing up years involved many moves to many continents and never too long in any particular house. My mom was great at setting up quickly and making a lovely, homey space (even when my parents were enamored by Danish Modern brought back with us here to the states!). For me, that instability left me longing for more permanence and whenever I was in a home that had evolved over time and been curated through generations I was like little 8 yr old Mario wondering why we didn’t have that type of beauty in our home. Naturally when I grew up and married in the late ’70s I decorated in an American version of English Country that felt passed down, well-loved, collected and timeless. I never had the luxury of generational fine furniture so I gravitated to what I could afford to buy, early American crocks and textiles and graphics. (probably because my heritage is very southern and that what I’d see in the homes of my Aunts and grandparent). Even though I always have fresh, current accessories in our home and others told me our home was beautiful, for a long while it felt dated, out of step, old fashioned. But since I didn’t love the all-gray look (looked like Water World to a color lover like me) and I’d already done French Country & Primitive Country in the ’80s I wasn’t about to throw out all the things I love just to appear ‘with it’. You writing this blog has affirmed my style. It’s got to be a TON of work on your part because you research and inform instead of just copy and paste pretty pictures. So, thank you. Personally I don’t think you can just look at pictures, there has to be an understanding of the how and why behind it when decorating. That’s why Instagram and a lot of blogs feel so boring to me. You have introduced me to some of the legends of design and some of the new Traditionalists and I’m still learning.

  19. Yes, yes, a hundred times! My house doesn’t look like a Restoration Hardware ad and I often wonder if I’m an old soul because of the things that I choose for my home. Most of my friends don’t even know what Staffordshire dogs are and I’m only 52. Love your blog and am so glad that I found a kindred spirit!

  20. I have always loved blue and white, especially dishes which I have hanging in my house. I’m a plate person. I have also loved toile! I call the look I have now French Country farmhouse! Lol! I do like some trendy pieces… not because they are trendy but because I love them. Some people buy things because they are trendy. I buy things I love… if they happen to be trendy… oh well. But mostly I am a traditional person who likes some old furniture, brown and painted. My friends will say your house is nicely decorated, come help me with mine and I say… buy what you love!
    Thanks for your article, I enjoyed it.

  21. Thank you for the toile. I don’t know why it makes me happy but it does. Love the chintz. I have brown furniture because it’s real. I’m not an interior designer, but people who come to my house always say it’s so warm and welcoming. We have a lot of books. I think all homes should have books. And art.

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