In 2018, The Glam Pad launched the tradition of beginning each year with our favorite “Anti-Trends” as the antithesis of all the usual coverage you will see this time of year. We advocate the curation of a timeless, classic style which transcends fleeting trends.

In January 2018, we featured a series of interviews, and tips from celebrated designers and industry leaders including Leta Austin Foster, Holly Holden, and the late Mario Buatta on how to achieve timeless design… all of which remain fresh and true today.  We discussed the importance of the “collected look,” the value of “brown furniture,” and even the proliferation of blue and white that exploded during the 2010s (you can read a summary of the over 1,000 responses we received here.)

Fast forward to 2025… Instagram and social media have transformed the way we consume news and process trends with the the average person spending 2 hours and 24 minutes on social media every day and checking their mobile device 159 times a day (source).

“Before the Internet, the process of forecasting trends was clearly outlined. It involved identifying consumer attitudes, needs, desires, spending patterns, and lifestyles in relation to economic factors. Trend analysis involved a close study of socioeconomic factors, historical context, and political dynamics to speculate design identities of the future,” writes Arch Daily. Today, social media allows users to create their own trends by promoting their own personal style and become a part of a siloed community of followers who appreciate a very specific aesthetic. The creation of trends now lies in the hands of the general public and their online “influencers”, dictating the way interior design trends now evolve.

“Be yourself, everyone else is already taken” – Oscar Wilde

Social media has also created a platform that allows individuals to explore and express their personal style, be it through fashion, or interior design, or “fridgescaping“. Niche design communities are cultivated online, gathering like-minded followers dedicated to coined styles such as Grandmillennial, Balletcore, Coquette Core, Dark Academia, Ralph Lauren Aesthetic, Little Women Christmas, Coastal Grandmother, Grandpa Chic, and more. Two of my favorite Instagramers includes an artist fascinated with 18th century French boudoir style, and another who dresses and decorates in authentic Victorian or “Cottagecore” style.

 

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Designer Nicola Harding compared it to the British cooking revolution in the 1970s and 1980s. “Supper at one point became a form of creative expression. Delia Smith’s iconic books were everywhere and everyone was suddenly trying to find glycerine to make a torte,” She told House & Garden. “I think the same sort of thing has been happening with interiors.”

But, House & Garden asks, are we just churning out a series of cookie-cutter interiors, keeping up with the Joneses rather than giving free rein to our personalities? Nicola advises “using Instagram to tickle your imagination rather than being slavish to it. Try and develop a good sense of what is going to be everywhere. I think it works when the bones of your house are classical and timeless, but you can have fun with some things that are in fashion like you would with a piece of jewelry, and let it be something easy to change or reinterpret down the line. Ultimately it’s a good thing that interiors are more in the public consciousness because there is more variety accessible now.”

We could not have said more perfectly!

 

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The Psychological Effects of Social Media

As the daughter of a psychologist, another question I’ve been pondering is what are the psychological effects of these highly curated digital worlds that occupy so much of our time nowadays, “connecting” us with “friends” we have never met? Are we living in a real life version of The Matrix?

A study on Social Media Use and Perceived Social Isolation Among Young Adults in the U.S. evaluated a national sample of young adults (age 19-32) showing correlation between the time spent on social media and perceived social isolation (PSI). The authors noted that directionality can’t be determined. That is, “Do people feeling socially isolated spend more time on social media, or do more intense users develop PSI?” If it’s the latter, they noted, “Is it because the individual is spending less time on more authentic social experiences that would decrease PSI? Or is it the nature of observing highly curated social feeds that they make you feel more excluded?”

Also on the rise are overall rates of anxiety and depression, especially among young adults (source). In May 2024, a study by Johns Hopkins investigated the significant increase in the prevalence of depression in adolescents and young adults — and a simultaneous uptick in the inclusion of technology and social media in everyday life.  “We found that if you tended to be a person who was depressed, you were a person also spending more time on social media,” explained author Dr. Carol Vidal. Findings showed that participants who had higher social media use tended to be more depressed, and people who were more depressed also tended to use social media more.

Personally, I find if I’m spending too much time on Instagram, I start feeling pretty rotten about myself. While social media can be a treasure-trove of inspiration, and I love the connections it allows me to make, too much of a good thing yields an immediate negative change in my mood. As clinical psychologist Jerry Bubrick, PhD, explains, “The more we use social media, the less we think about being present in the moment…. if we’re always playing catch-up to endless online updates, we’re prioritizing social interactions that aren’t as emotionally rewarding and can actually make us feel more isolated.”

Might this explain the number of “old school” outlets including magazines and even independent bookstores tenuously appearing to be making a comeback?  While the old model of print is gone, according to Bloomberg, certain print magazines are experiencing a resurgence as nostalgic, luxury items. “All of this may seem counterintuitive, but it makes more sense if you remember that people never stopped enjoying magazines, even as the economics of producing them got more tenuous,” Bloomberg reports.  “A similar pitch has fueled nostalgic revivals of all kinds of physical media, from film cameras to vinyl records. It has also managed to stabilize the business of books and bookstores, both of which e-books were supposed to kill years ago.”

The Rise of Independent Bookstores and Bible Sales

While big box shops like Costco are ending book sales in hundreds of stores this year, the number of independent bookstores has grown by 200 from 2022 to 2023 and the number has more than doubled between 2016 and 2023 according to the American Booksellers Association. A Harvard Business School white paper identified several key factors that contributed to the independent bookstore resurgence: (1) COMMUNITY: Independent bookstore owners promoted the idea of consumers supporting their local communities by shopping at neighborhood businesses. (2) CURATION: Independent booksellers began to focus on curating inventory that allowed them to provide a more personal and specialized customer experience. (3) CONVENING: Independent booksellers started to promote their stores as intellectual centers for convening customers with likeminded interests—offering lectures, book signings, game nights, children’s story times, young adult reading groups, even birthday parties.

Yet according to The Wall Street Journal, U.S. book sales for 2024 were up less than 1% (through the end of October). The shining light can be found in Bible sales, which were up 22% during the same time period, making for “a golden age of Bible publishing,” the WSJ reports. So why the increase?

“People are experiencing anxiety themselves, or they’re worried for their children and grandchildren,” Jeff Crosby, president of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, told the WSJ. “It’s related to artificial intelligence, election cycles…and all of that feeds a desire for assurance that we’re going to be OK.”

Another potential reason, according to The Christian Broadcasting Network, is the rise of celebrities such as Jordan Peterson and Russel Brand speaking out about faith, and influencers on YouTube, TikTok, and other platforms sharing their beliefs with new audiences.

Social media even appears to be affecting alcohol consumption in the younger generations, and not in a way you might expect! In June 2024, Newsweek published a fascinating article analyzing why “Gen Z is Abandoning Alcohol“… Among myriad reasons including increased pressures, additional information revealing health risks of consumption, and reaction against the unhealthy drinking habits of their Millennial and Gen X parents, social media also appears to play a role… “being drunk a few decades ago might embarrass you in front of a few friends for one night, but social media means now that number could be multiplied massively, and the results could linger forever.”

2024 was “The Year of Artificial Intelligence”

According to Forbes, 2024 was the year of Artificial Intelligence. “If 2023 was a year of wonder about artificial intelligence,” the Associated Press reports, “2024 was the year to try to get that wonder to do something useful without breaking the bank.” The public discourse has shifted from “is AI going to kill us?” to treating it like a normal technology, AP says. Artificial Intelligence technology has transformed the way we seek information extending well beyond ChatGPT and creeping into an increasing number of technology services whether we’re looking for it or not — for instance, through the AI-generated answers in Google search results or new AI techniques in photo editing tools, says AP.

Last year The Glam Pad explored a few ways AI is affecting the interior design community from a design aficionado who used it as an inspirational resource to transform her home in the Irish Countryside to a U.S. interior design firm using AI to play with paint colors, showcase products available in their shop, and serve as marketing tools to show clients designs they have envisioned and can create for them. Will Artificial Intelligence take over interior design? We typed this question into Google and “AI Overview” yielded the following response: “No, artificial intelligence (AI) is unlikely to replace interior designers. Instead, AI can be used as a tool to help designers work more efficiently and explore new ideas… Designers can benefit from understanding AI technologies and incorporating them into their work. In fact, some say that the popularity of AI can motivate designers to increase their expertise.”  We agree and would love to hear from more designers about how they are incorporating AI into their work.

What’s next for The Glam Pad in 2025?

It’s hard to believe The Glam Pad is entering into its 14th year, and we are continuing — or at least attempting — to survive and thrive within this crazy and rapidly changing world… all while embracing and remaining true to the comforting timelessness of our classic roots. As we enter into the uncharted territory of a technological future and globally precarious times, there is a soothing nostalgia that comes from traditional interior design that has withstood the test of time. A warm and cozy home designed with historical reference, classical detail and most importantly, personal style, evokes a sense of nostalgia, childhood memories, and an overall feeling of permanence that no matter what happens, everything is going to be OK.

We are so grateful for your continued support throughout the years, and would love to hear what you would like to see more from us in 2025!

Xx,
Andrea