I’m Nostalgic for These 5 Decor Trends from the 2010s, and You Might Be, Too

While it’s difficult to say which home decor trends will ultimately end up defining the 2020s (Perhaps painted arches? Bouclé? Platform beds?), it’s easy to look back on the 2010s and instantly be reminded of the design staples of that decade. I graduated from college in 2013, right around the time Pinterest became mainstream, and it’s hilarious to me when I go back through my earliest saves and look at what I thought at the time was an absolute must-have for my first apartment.

My aesthetic has changed so much in the past eight years, but for the sake of a good old walk down memory lane, I just had to highlight some of the decor items that I miss from this era. This isn’t to say that it’s bad or unfashionable to still have or love these things (after all, I love them!), but that they’re not as ubiquitous as they were. In fact, I’m sure I’m not alone in my nostalgia — and you’re in for a treat, because I have photos of my early apartments to go alongside these trends, too. To that end, here’s what I think might be worth giving another spin in your space (if you have already parted with your back-then pieces) and how to modernize and style them for right now, if you still have them and that’s something you’re interesting in doing. Let’s go back in time, shall we?

Oh, chevron! I’m ashamed to admit this, but after completing a gigantic final paper the winter of my senior year of college, I called a taxi from my rural Maine campus to T.J. Maxx (the only home decor store available in my college town) in a snowstorm because shopping for accent pieces is and always will be my “treat yourself” method of choice. What did I leave with? A pair of turquoise chevron pillows, of course, which I proudly displayed on my extra long twin bed the rest of the school year before bringing them with me to my first apartment in New York City. Seeing that pattern will always fondly remind me of my first little home. 

Then there’s ikat, which always seemed to go hand in hand with chevron, literally, since they were often styled together. I still have a few of the ikat bowls I purchased at the C. Wonder store in SoHo in New York City in 2014 — the large green bowl I scored is still my go-to when making large salads or baking. When C. Wonder closed all of its locations in 2015, so too went the prevalence of ikat. Buy both chevron and ikat can be done well and still look very 2021 if you find the right pieces. These days, I’d shop for more monochromatic versions of both prints. There’s something about a tone-on-tone colorway that can make anything look super sophisticated.

If you considered yourself remotely preppy in the 2010s, you likely had blue-and-white pottery in your apartment. Mine were never authentic ginger jars or delftware (do you know how much those can cost?!) but instead just cheap ceramics I’d picked up from Hobby Lobby and T.J. Maxx. Maybe you would’ve had a cluster of these on a shelf in your apartment; mine lived on the IKEA EXPEDIT you see above. Sometimes I even filled mine with flowers to be extra cute.

I’ve since parted with my former collection, but when I see authentic pieces while vintage shopping IRL, I do pick them up if they’re affordable. These days, I just prefer more muted styles to the bright replicas that line discount stores’ shelves — a more saturated look can also keep this trend alive and well in your space if you prefer it, though. After all, delftware has literally been around for centuries, so feel assured that this trend will never fully go away.

Lucite pieces were a constant in my 2010s apartments. I had a lucite desk chair from IKEA (which is pictured above), lucite dining chairs that definitely weren’t the most comfortable but looked oh-so-chic, and a lucite ghost chair (again, a replica) in my bedroom. I swooned over lucite bar carts I couldn’t afford and eventually tracked down a beautiful lucite waterfall coffee table and console table on Craigslist. While I still admire these pieces when they’re thoughtfully styled, the look just doesn’t do it for me anymore (partially because of how hard it is to keep them smudge- and scratch-free).

Personally, I found that my lucite pieces scratched easily and never fully meshed stylistically with my other furniture items. My style’s a little less mid-century modern these days, and most of the silhouettes you’ll find clear furniture and accessories in definitely skews more contemporary on the whole. That being said, I can’t argue with the power of a pop (or two) of lucite or acrylic in a particularly small space though, since they’re visually light and airy.

Gold spray paint was a DIY must in the early 2010s. Whether you spray painted your IKEA coffee table, bookshelves, or went for smaller scale projects, you know that you used it at some point while furnishing your apartment.

I frequently enjoyed spray painting bar carts (yes, multiple!) but also loved experimenting with other types of decor. At one point, it was popular to take plastic toy animals and paint them gold, and, yes, I still have my elephant and giraffe that I made over, if you’re wondering. While my spray painting has slowed down over the years, I still do love a shiny gold or brass piece, and I think I always will.

If you were furnishing an apartment with IKEA pieces in the 2010s, you probably grabbed one of the retailer’s plush, affordable sheepskin throws. I frequently placed mine atop my lucite desk chair, but also spotted them next to beds (what’s better than starting the day with cozy, happy feet?) or draped over an armchair. I also had a sheepskin covered stool from Target that was super comfortable but definitely not practical in the long run, due to its color and susceptibility to staining.

While I’m not as into decorating with faux sheepskins now, in small doses, this fuzzy material still adds an instant dose of warmth and texture anywhere you put it. My parents remind me how much I loved the sheepskin that was in my nursery as a kid, so what can I say? It’s been a lifelong love. These days I just might try one in a darker color like gray or green to shake things up (and downplay any eventual spills and stains).