5 Trendy Furniture Items That Feel Like a Waste of Money Right Now, According to Designers

Sometimes interior designers have had their fill of certain trendy furnishings. It could be that they’ve had tons of client requests for a certain wallpaper, so they’re sick of using it. Or maybe they never thought a viral sofa should have gone viral in the first place, because it’s actually not all that comfortable. 

Whatever the case, I’m curious what furniture items would make the pros “don’t buy” list and why. So if you’re currently in the process of decorating your space with a room design app or otherwise, you’re going to want to read on. These five styles might be ones to avoid because designers have moved on from them. Of course, you have the final say in your home, but if you’re interested in furniture resale value — or you just want your furnishings to be super unique and as timeless as possible — you’ve come to the right place.

Many designers immediately identified sculptural furniture as being a fleeting trend. Designer Jordan Vaughn, the cofounder of Alayna Louise Interiors, thinks curvy sofas and chairs could be pieces you’ll regret buying for that reason. “While sculptural silhouettes are beautiful in theory, many of today’s exaggerated curves lack longevity,” she says. “Furniture should feel anchored and proportional to a space — when scale or structure is sacrificed for trend-driven drama, pieces can quickly date a room rather than elevate it.” 

Designer Emily Roose feels similarly, noting that very sculptural furniture isn’t always practical or even easy to work into a living room layout, for example. “The more specific the shape, the less flexible it is in the long-term and often can be difficult to place properly in a space,” Roose says. “They can also date a space quickly because the organic shape becomes the ‘timestamp’ of the trend period.” 

Often, these pieces are too exaggerated to really feel timeless, adds designer Becky Garrity. “Some nod thoughtfully to the ’70s, but others veer into caricature territory — the kind of pieces that can feel clever today and dated tomorrow,” she says.

If you want to give the curvy trend a whirl, just look for something that’s smaller in scale or a little more subdued in form versus super-stylized, so your design decision won’t overpower the room. You could also choose an accent chair versus a sofa, for example, so the financial stakes are lower in terms of your investment in the trend.

Once featured in nearly every home decor collection and in all the big design magazines, nubby bouclé is now seen as a bit of a passé material by some designers for its lack of functionality. “It’s a ‘real life versus photo life’ fabric,” Roose says. Ultimately, bouclé can be problematic for upholstery especially because of its tendency to easily show wear and tear. “The looped texture is a magnet for dust, crumbs, and pet hair — and it can snag easily,” Roose explains. “Once it starts looking matted or dingy, it can make the whole room feel tired, even if everything else still looks new.” 

If you really love bouclé and still want to try the trend, consider a darker colorway, which may not show all of the things Roose mentioned quite as much as an ivory or white version will. You could also choose this material for accessories, like pillows, which tend to be cheaper and easier to replace should they start looking worse for the wear. Another strategy with bouclé? Spring for it on pieces that tend to be less interacted with; a bouclé bed, for example, won’t see the same kind of traffic that a bouclé sofa or chair will. This is another way to avoid some of this material’s pitfalls while still enjoying the aesthetic. 

Go big or go home? Maybe not, at least when it comes to seating. Jessica Brooks, the director of design and operations at Decor & More Design Studio, suggests skipping oversized statement chairs and sticking to traditionally sized accent seating instead. 

“While they photograph beautifully, in real life they can dominate a room and limit how you use the space,” Brooks says of oversized chairs. “What feels bold at first often becomes a piece that’s less versatile as your style or room evolves.” 

Mirrored furniture, which was extremely popular during the early 2010s, still can look amazing in homes and apartments. However, like bouclé, these ultra shiny furnishings have fallen out of designers’ collective favor mainly because their finish is so high-maintenance. “It reflects every fingerprint and scratch,” Brooks says. ”[And] when overused, it can make a space feel cold and visually busy rather than layered and inviting.” 

From a design perspective, more glamorous, Hollywood Regency-style pieces like mirrored furnishings are being replaced by warm woods and other rich tones that help to create a storied, lived-in look that’s a little more organic in terms of aesthetic. But that doesn’t mean you can’t try a pop of shine here and there. A small mirrored side table wouldn’t be too difficult to dust and keep clean, but you might want to steer clear of a big dresser, vanity, or bedroom set. You could also get that touch of glam through brass, which doesn’t have to be polished if you’re okay with patina. 

According to Brooks, people should stop purchasing furniture made from one single material, especially if they’re placing those pieces together in the same room. “When everything is the same material, a room loses depth,” she says. “Great design relies on contrast — mixing textures and finishes to add warmth, dimension, and longevity beyond the trend moment.”

So don’t be afraid to pair that velvet loveseat with a wicker accent chair and a coffee table with an iron base — pros know that variation is the name of the game! And if you have a matchy-matchy set in your bedroom or living room, don’t worry. Just break it up by putting some of the pieces into different rooms.