How Important Is It To Follow Trends?

When you are making plans for a remodel, you get ideas from a variety of sources. You can choose to attend home shows, open houses, ask friends, read home improvement magazines, and visit design centers. If you read blogs as well, there will be many that discuss the trends and fads of the current time. How much importance should you put to feeling the need to follow trends and fads when you are redesigning your space?

When you are looking for ideas about your remodel you can look over the trends and fads, past and present, to give yourself a place to start. There are ideas that will seem good to you and ideas that you will not want to implement. What’s important to remember with a remodel is to understand and learn about what you like, what will fit in the space, and what you can afford. What some people do is they look at their friend’s houses or celebrities and want to implement what they see into their own remodel. Some of what they see can be something they like this minute, but won’t in the long run, or it will be something they simply cannot afford. Another issue would be trying to implement something they see into a space where it will not fit.

People who share a home will need to come to a consensus about the changes that will be made. If there is a disagreement, then there will either need to be a discussion, or it could be that the remodel will need to be put off until a shared vision is formed. A way to start could be to have everyone share their thoughts about the space, possibly cutting out design ideas or using a computer program to post ideas, and everyone giving their thoughts. Everyone should be free to say what they like and don’t like about the proposed changes. If more than one room will be changed, the decision-making process could take some time.

If you are unsure if you will like the idea down the road, then set up a mock room (either on paper or with the computer) and make the changes that you want, then put it away for a few days. When you look again, pay attention to your initial thoughts regarding what you see. Are you now thinking that you don’t like it? Do you think you might want to add something else? Or change the look entirely?

It’s better to discover before you actually make the change, whether you will want the new look for the long term.