There’s a particular kind of regret that comes with trend-driven design decisions. You were so sure about that finish. Everyone was doing it. It looked incredible in every magazine and on your Instagram feed. And now, five years later, it feels like a time capsule. (You may remember the all-gray everything of the mid-2010s or the Tuscan kitchens of the early 2000s?)
Listen, we’re not saying that trends are inherently bad. They exist because they genuinely appeal to people at a specific moment in time. The problem arises when you make irreversible, expensive design decisions based on what’s popular right now without asking whether you’ll still love it when the moment has passed.
Whether you’re designing a single room or reimagining your entire home, these choices matter. The right decisions create spaces that feel timeless, personal, and enduring. The wrong ones can leave your home feeling dated sooner than you’d expect.
As interior designers and custom home builders, here’s how we believe you should approach design trends.
Understanding the Difference
Timeless design doesn’t have to mean boring. It’s more about knowing what has lasting appeal and what’s simply having a moment.
Timeless design marries functionality, good proportions, quality materials, and thoughtful craftsmanship. They don’t immediately date themselves or make you think, “that was definitely a 2019 trend.” They may not feel as exciting in the moment, but they’re the choices you’ll appreciate for years to come.
Trends, by contrast, are appealing because they feel fresh and new. They capture the energy of what’s happening right now, but that’s also what can make them feel dated once the moment passes.
We love trends and think they can add personality, character, and a sense of what’s current to a space. But we believe they’re best used in places that are easier to update, rather than in the elements you’ll be living with long after the trend has lost its charm (or started to give you the ick).
Where Timeless Design Matters Most
Structural and Architectural Elements
The bones of your home (its proportions, ceiling heights, window placement, room layout, and architectural character) are essentially permanent. Changing them after construction requires significant renovation investment. These are the decisions where timeless thinking matters most.
Generous ceiling heights never go out of style. Well-proportioned rooms that feel right regardless of how they’re furnished age better than rooms optimized for a specific furniture arrangement. Windows positioned for natural light and views serve you beautifully regardless of what decade you’re living in. Clean architectural lines that don’t announce a specific stylistic moment remain relevant across changing tastes.
This is why we invest so much time in getting these fundamentals right during design. A well-proportioned home with good bones can absorb almost any interior design direction because the architecture itself is neutral enough to work with changing tastes.
Cabinetry and Built-Ins
Kitchen cabinetry is one of the most significant investments in any home and one of the most expensive elements to change. This is not the place to chase a trend.
Shaker-style cabinetry has been around for centuries for a reason. Its simple, clean lines work across virtually every design direction and feel at home in traditional, transitional, and contemporary spaces alike. It’s not exciting, exactly, but it’s genuinely timeless in a way that more ornate or more aggressively minimalist cabinetry isn’t.
Cabinet color is slightly more flexible than profile, but still worth careful consideration given the investment. White and off-white cabinetry has proven staying power. Warm natural wood tones have been relevant for decades and show no signs of fading. Deep navy or forest green islands have proven more durable than other color trends.
What tends to date? Very ornate traditional cabinetry with elaborate detail and very specific colors tied to a moment such as that particular shade of gray-green that was everywhere in 2021 or the specific warm greige that replaced all the cool grays.
Flooring
Flooring runs throughout your entire home and is expensive and disruptive to replace. The timeless principle here is straightforward: choose materials and tones that have proven staying power over decades, not the specific look that’s popular on Instagram right now.
Wide-plank hardwood in warm to medium tones has been relevant for decades and continues to perform well across changing design directions. Natural stone tile in neutral tones ages gracefully. Light oak flooring has proven remarkable staying power over the last decade and continues to feel fresh.
What tends to date? Very specific tile patterns that are obviously of their moment. Classic black-and-white checkerboard tiles or trendy colored alternatives. The specific cool-toned gray flooring that were everywhere in the early 2000’s.
Primary Bathroom
Your primary bathroom is used daily and deserves investment. It’s also reasonably expensive to renovate, which makes timeless choices important here.
Large-format neutral tile. Quality fixtures in finishes that have genuine longevity—matte black has proven more durable than expected, brushed gold continues to feel relevant, polished chrome never really goes out of style. A freestanding soaker tub, if your space supports it, is an investment that reads as timeless luxury rather than trend. Clean lines over ornate detail.
What tends to date? Very specific tile patterns that feel of-the-moment, coloured bathroom suites (we all know how the pink bathrooms of the 1960s aged), and finishes that become so popular, so quickly, that they start to define a specific era of design. Think zellige tile, checkerboard floors, ultra-bold veined marble, brushed brass everything, or trendy mixed-metal combinations.
Where Trends Can Be Embraced
Here’s where the conversation gets more interesting. Here’s where we love embracing design trends.
Paint Colors
Paint is the most changeable element in any home. It costs relatively little, takes a weekend, and can transform a space completely. This is the ideal place to engage with trends. That specific earthy terracotta that’s everywhere right now? Paint a wall. The moody dark green that’s having a moment? Paint a bedroom. If you love it in five years, great. If it feels dated, repaint.
Lighting Fixtures
Lighting occupies an interesting middle ground. Fixtures require an electrician to change, so they’re not as simple as paint. But they’re not structural either. This makes lighting a reasonable place to engage with current trends while being slightly more thoughtful than you’d be with paint.
Statement lighting that genuinely excites you such as a pendant fixture you love, is worth pursuing. If it eventually feels dated you can change it for a few hundred dollars and an afternoon. The key is ensuring the electrical work (placement, switch locations, dimmer capability) is done correctly during construction, so the fixture itself can change without reopening walls.
Decorative Tile (Used Selectively)
A backsplash tile or a bathroom floor tile can engage with trend more aggressively than flooring or cabinetry because the area involved is smaller and the replacement cost (while not trivial) is manageable. A bold, trend-driven backsplash tile that you love can be replaced if tastes change without renovating your entire kitchen. Keep in mind that the same logic doesn’t apply to tile that runs throughout your home.
Hardware and Fixtures
Cabinet hardware, door handles, and plumbing fixtures are all relatively changeable. This is a reasonable place to engage with current trends because the investment is manageable and the change is feasible. The brushed brass hardware that’s everywhere right now might feel dated in ten years, but changing cabinet hardware is an afternoon project and a few hundred dollars.
Furniture and Soft Furnishings
Furniture, rugs, cushions, art, and accessories are entirely changeable and the ideal place to engage fully with current trends. This is where you express what feels current and personal without making permanent decisions. The design principle of “invest in the bones, play with the accessories” exists for exactly this reason. Using cheaper, trend-driven pieces for decorative flourishes creates a high-end, adaptable result.
The Design Framework
When you’re facing a design decision and wondering whether to go timeless or trendy, here’s a simple framework worth applying:
- Ask how permanent it is. Can you change this easily and affordably if you stop loving it? The more permanent the element, the more timeless your choice should be.
- Ask why you love it. Do you genuinely love this, or do you love it because you’ve seen it everywhere recently? There’s a difference between personal taste and cultural momentum.
- Ask if you can date it. Can you look at this choice and immediately identify when it became popular? If yes, it’ll feel dated when that moment passes. If it could belong to multiple eras, it has more staying power.
- Ask what it costs to change. Low cost to change means you can afford to follow trends. High cost to change means timeless thinking is worth the discipline.
Getting Design Right From the Start
Your home should reflect who you are and bring you joy. The key is knowing where to invest in longevity and where to have fun with trends. This approach gives you the best of both worlds: a home that feels current and personal today, but still feels right years from now because the foundation was thoughtfully designed.
These conversations are always a part of our design process at Edgehill Homes. When clients are drawn to a specific trend, we ask questions. Is this a genuine preference or a cultural moment? Is it permanent or changeable? Are there ways to achieve the feeling you’re drawn to with choices that have more proven staying power?
If you’re thinking about a renovation, redesign, or custom home, our team can help you make thoughtful design choices that create a space you’ll love for years to come. Reach out today.
Edgehill Homes has been building custom homes in the Okanagan for over 15 years. We believe every home should tell a story and we’re here to help you tell yours.
