The holidays are over and it's time to get back into the swing of things. This month, we'll be kicking things off with our annual January Jumpstart. Personally, we'll be taking a good look at our home's decor and making some changes. This week's Los Angeles Times Home & Garden takes a look at some popular trends from 2008 that deserve the heave ho in 2009 (we're guilty of a few), suggests some ways to reuse old film canisters and, since we always start off the year optimistic about how organized we'll be, rounds up some letterpress calendars that'll keep us on track. If you've resolved that this is the year you'll actually decorate your home instead of just reading about what the rest of us are doing, find some inspiration from a house in Silverlake furnished entirely from street finds and another with items found at flea markets, thrifts stores and in alleys. After all, one man's trash -- even last year's trend -- is another man's treasure (getting it for free is on trend). More, pics, and links, after the jump...
Bad Design Trends We Hope Die in 2009: From granite countertops to fake suzanis, here's a round-up of the design trends Los Angeles based designers hope are out with the old year.
Film Canister Uses: When celluloid dreams die, here's a way to repurpose those old film canisters.
Letterpress Calendars: Start the year off right with this selection of cool letterpress calendars, all of which are made in LA.
A Home Full of Salvage in Silverlake: In LA, especially at this time of the year, you can find practically anything on the street. Ask Al Teman. Even the house itself -- built in 1909, it was red-tagged after the 1994 Northridge earthquake -- is salvaged.
Recycled Living: A bohemian L.A. loft is decorated with flea market finds: When it comes to furniture, old is often better and, given LA's proliferation of thrift stores, flea markets, salvage yards and prop houses, it's not impossible to find what you want. Just keep your eyes and your mind open. So much the better if you have a loft downtown to display it in like Robert Heller and Elizabeth Kramer.
[images: Eric Boyd for LAT; Debra Prinzing; Gary Friedman for LAT; Spencer Weiner for LAT; Irfan Khan for LAT]
Well, according to the LA Times, I'm passe. Sh!t happens, I guess.
view wc_canuck's profile
Hello again AT and happy new year! Glad to see "new" posts again :)
http://notyourgoddess.blogspot.com/
view Harpa's profile
My halogen lighting system is greener than CFL's??!!
Thank you, LA Times -- I'll sleep better knowing that.
view Kathryn's profile
I realize these were trends but were they really bad design? Is it bad design now that people are tired of seeing them?
view petworthdc's profile
I personally think that the Suzani-inspired bedding and the coral plates shown are quite pretty.
To play the "what's in, what's out" game is not sustainable, nor is it financially feasible for most of AT readers, I think .
I am only buying what I love, and if it happens to be a major trend, or a trend on its way out, too bad.
view firebird's profile
Forget the trends. None of us on real-life budgets can afford to keep up with them. Who changes their kitchen counter or their dishes or their bedding every year? Buy what you love - it's the best way to ensure that you will keep using it for a long time and not be tempted to get rid of it and run out and buy something new, and that's the "greenest" answer of all!
view mfarling's profile
Hi, glad to see the new posts up and running. Happy New Year !!!
view gallupgirrl's profile
building on mfarling - if you keep your stuff long enough, it'll be in again anyway. In which case, it might be more fruitful to consider yourself as 'ahead' of the game, rather than 'behind' it. happy new year, all.
view wc_canuck's profile
The designers quoted in the article sound insane. Get rid of your sleigh bed and replace it with a a gilt-leather upholstered headboard? Yes, all of you! Get rid of that bed! Now find a gilt-leather headboard! Find one noooow!
view martha's profile
I guess their world is different than mine. I haven't seen so much of the coral, but definitely a big trend on the branches. Not saying it's "over," but suggesting branches instead of the coral sounds to me like branches were out for a while, coral was the big thing, and nobody noticed this going on the whole time; we're still doing branches from the last time, and someone is trying to convince us to use branches like they're some kind of news.
As for "pushing" for an orange Formica comeback? Does not matter what "it" you're pushing for, if everyone is doing the same look, like the granite, or something as specific as orange Formica (coming back? was it ever here? was it ever really gone? what kind of statement is this?) it will not be everyone's friend, and we're tearing it out again. As for the marble, I love marble. Given the means, and this guy comes back in 3 years and say marble was now hideous and passé, and rolled his eyes at me and declares "butcherblock!" I will still love marble forever and ever.
The overhead lights do need dimmers, not sure about what's necessarily wrong with chandeliers. It can look nice, or it can look like you're clinging to decisions advised to you by many magazines and not your own feelings.
The dvd/cd racks, I agree, those need to fall off the way. Buying a tacky little rack or (shudder) tower with shelf height the perfect size for media is weird. We're not talking about vinyl record albums that need a big shelf height, we're talking about something that is about the size of a book or can be stored in a binder. Maybe your stereo is not in the same room with your bookshelf, but it's sort of making a huge exception on pretty decent (not perfect or beautiful) design to allocate resources and floor space and relatively appealing roomscape to an abomination called a cd tower. Yeah, I have a strong opinion about it. Do you think your books would be insulted to share space with movies and music? Just because they invent the shelf doesn't mean it makes more sense than lining them up inside a regular cabinet or drawer or putting them alongside books. Typical examples:
http://img.alibaba.com/photo/50760438/CD_rack.jpg
http://fusionhomestore.com/catalog/images/cd-rack-web.jpg
http://www.chinatraderonline.com/Files/Household/CD-Rack/Wooden-and-Metal-CD-Rack-19401164695.jpg
I would not say get rid of your sleigh bed, or not get one if you've always thought they were a nice bed. I would try to recognize in what way you want one if you don't already have one. They are, I'm guessing, a very popular choice as people invest in a bedroom piece or suite of furniture, but I think everyone should ask themselves before purchasing anything major, "is this really me? or am I just easily influenced by popularity of something?" Does it matter? You eventually have to settle on something (in most cases; I do not own a headboard because I still most of all want the Cassina I saw about 12 years ago, so what should I do without $$?), but do you tend to hate things in a few years, are you able to admire something that's not specifically fashionable right now? Sleigh bed, or what's next, or what you actually like, even if it's still a sleigh bed? I've never liked upholstered headboards or brass beds, for example, so would not be influenced by the most fashionable examples of either to get either of them.
view K T G's profile
hate to admit it, but i might pimp the urinal trough as sink idea.... if i can get past the gagging.
view healthyhome's profile
Thank goodness trends don't last. Or trendsetters...
view quiltmaster's profile
lol @martha.
view Seaside's profile
No, see, you are missing the point: DESIGNERS want these things to be passe -- you know, the people some folks PAY to be trendy for them -- THOSE are the ones who think all those icky old ideas need to be jettisoned. Not sane, sensible, homeowners who actually live with the stuff.
It's called (or hoped to be) "job security". (Plus, probably they just get bored with using the same stuff over and over.)
My new kitchen has granite. It will remain a selling point to most people for as long as we own the house. Regardless of how "common" and "ordinary" it may be. People only live in one house at a time, generally -- it doesn't really matter what other people live with if they like what THEY live with.
view SherryBinNH's profile
Here in New Zealand, the big trend was/is black leather-covered lounge suites, in fact, black furniture - tv's, credenzas, dining tables and chairs, with light coloured carpet. All that black is a bit much for me. It's probably thought to be sophisticated and dramatic but practical. Meanwhile, where's the colour? There are no cushions (pillows) or throws to give colour or texture. It's time for this trend to go.
view Battling Betty's profile
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