Design Trends - The Softer Side of Design

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A new era of design?

As a total history AND design nerd, I've been absolutely geeking out lately. After years of design trends that emphasized austerity, simplicity, and utility, we're starting to see a BIG historic shift in the styles we're all seeking out every day.

And historically, we're right on schedule.

In fact, big, decades-long trends are surprisingly cyclical, and the pendulum has started to swing back to what we left behind.

It's all about overcorrection...humans love to throw the baby out with the bath water, and once we lock on to an idea, we take it to the nth degree. We throw away all our old trends and habits, declare that the new way is the only right way, and that everything else is dated, or even objectively bad. But once we get there, we quickly realize we overdid it, and begin to reach for the opposite of what we've been obsessed with.

So for example, after the Victorian era that was characterized by frilly, cluttered, over-the-top, highly formal décor, we catapulted ourselves out of it with an extreme reaction that resulted in severe, harsh, and minimal styles characterized by right angles, empty space, and lots and lots of white.

And now we're doing an about-face, and beginning to run far and fast from those characteristics.

In addition to the reactivity of trends, we also subconsciously reach for design that comforts us, and are usually inspired by world events, so it's no wonder we're all seeking out nostalgia, coziness, and color given the current state of the world.

While large-scale trends like these can take awhile to get to all markets (especially lower-income areas like my hometown of Akron, Ohio) we're starting to see them pop up all over social media, TV, and pretty much everywhere else you look.

Feminine touches, over-the-top drama, eclecticism, and nostalgic designs are starting to take hold while brutalism, minimalism, and other similar modern styles are taking a back seat in a big way.

And while I was very on-board for a long time with calming, simple styles that emphasized clean lines and helped us escape from the cluttery, dated remnants of other styles that were still holding us back in the early 90s, I'm now 100% ready for something new....or is it something old?

But despite my previous love of minimalism, I've always had a soft spot for something more personal and involved than white walls.

See, my grandma (she would hate me calling her that - she was always Gram G. because 'Grandma' was for old people 😆) anyway, she had the coolest vibe.

I grew up going to her condo and gently pawing through her layers of collectibles, and feeling something like awe at all the odds and ends she had collected from her full rich life, the funky juxtaposition of maybe dozens of design styles all side by side like they were old friends, and the elegant, playful, and unique pieces she brought together with pure confidence.

She was stunningly gorgeous, right up to the very end, she was 5 foot tall with heels on, and she sang on a radio show during WWII which I always thought was the coolest thing ever - she could hold her liquor like a queen, she knew every service provider by name at every restaurant, club, and bar she frequented, and always tipped them generously.

'Miss Blue' she would say - that was her nickname for me - 'Miss Blue, nobody is better than anyone, especially those who work hard and make our lives better. Always respect everyone you meet, no matter their profession, and treat them with kindness. Because not enough people do.' And that was that - she'd go right back to asking me what I was up to in school, or what kind of fashion I was into these days, which always threw me for a loop because I generally wore cutoff jean shorts and an oversized T-shirt from a thrift store at that age. 😂😂

But she had grown up working in her father's fine clothing store and had always been an impeccable, creative, timeless dresser - the kind of woman that just oozes class.

Anyway, back to her amazing condo, a place I thought of as desperately elegant and sophisticated. I realized much later it was a very frugal little flat, but hot damn did she make it seem like her own little palace!

It was packed to the brim with character. Every inch was unique and had a little gem for you to explore. An ancient oil portrait in a gold oval frame presided over the red plaid sofa in her living room, while tucked in another corner of the same room she had a mysterious little vignette comprised of a red lacquered chinoiserie granite-topped side table with some sort of gorgeous oriental lamp, and a beautiful laughing Buddha statuette carved from an exotic dark wood that I still have - he's one of my prized possessions.

In another corner she had an old cedar chest she had painted a bold blue covered in a collection of thriving houseplants right in front of her big, bright, second story windows, with handmade braided rag rug pads under each one.

In her bedroom - a place you could honestly have called a boudoir with a straight face - she had an ivory silk chaise lounge dramatically set against a cream on ivory backdrop and a dresser covered with female trinkets, perfume bottles with tasseled atomizers, and lipstick cases that always sent my imagination back to old Hollywood.

Her bathrooms both had monogrammed towels and fancy paper-wrapped soaps, her guest bedroom featured a huge antique wooden pitchfork, and a painting of a native American Chief hung on the rich persimmon colored walls. Her kitchen was dressed top to bottom in old Scottish brass and copper she had traded with an overseas cousin for during the war, and strawberry themed everything, from the hot pads to the butter dish.

I was in awe of this woman.

In fact, she and Judy Garland (a childhood idol of mine) were sort of the same person in my head.

She always smelled wonderful, had fielded and turned down several proposals from wealthy men in favor of the memory of the love of her life who she lost fairly young, and had my distinguished old elementary school bus driver absolutely drooling whenever she was in town babysitting me and my brother and walked us to the bus stop at the top of the hill.

Given the opportunity, I think he would have laid his cloak down in the mud to keep her feet dry like a knight in a story.

She had that kind of effect on people.

She could be harsh, occasionally bossy and judgmental, and she strongly refused to 'baby-proof' her condo for my mom who lived in terror that my brother and I would shatter one of her irreplaceable crystal candle sticks or draw on her wooden rocking chair from the early 1800s.

But she loved fiercely, looked you dead in the eye when she asked you how you were, sang like an angel, always spoke to me like a trusted adult rather than a stupid child, and maaaannnn was she cool.

For God’s sake, she had once smoked cigarettes using an honest-to-god cigarette holder, had always dreamed of owning a sexy little sports car, and always ALWAYS had perfectly manicured, long, elegant fingernails and immaculately styled hair.

When I was hired to sing for a local Big Band she sent me money to buy a dress but told me it had to be BOLD. I bought a red satin little number, took a picture, and wrote 'bold enough?' on it so she could see what I had bought.

She had that picture on her fridge until the day she died.

My voice - the one that bought me a 40s style singing gig - came from her. She was even a vocal major at OSU but told me she dropped out because she was partying too much - an idea completely foreign to my little book nerd introverted self, but it just added to her mystique.

But here's the thing that gets me.

Even after decades of design experience and formal training, I've never been able to figure out exactly how she managed to make all those wildly different styles and motifs work together. She had figurines of Amish children, elegant nautical landscapes, busily patterned wallpaper, strawberry themed décor, gorgeous antique wooden furniture full of crystal and brass and china from another era, old but immaculate channel tufted cranberry leather chairs, and a marble-top coffee table with intricate wood carving that is the stuff of dreams - my dad still has it sitting right in front of those cranberry leather chairs, with the same antique footed ebony and pewter lighter that perched on it back then.

She was so far ahead of her time she had lapped it. Because nowadays I keep seeing gorgeously eclectic, elegant, over-the-top spaces dedicated to the sentiment that you should surround yourself with things you love to look at - regardless of their style - and that every day is a special occasion.

And she would have loved it all.

So here's to making our spaces a little more like Gram's. May we all be so bold.



Current Trends I'm obsessed with that can help you achieve timeless eclecticism:

Follow the links below to shop some fun, quirky items Gram would have loved! Contains affiliate links at no extra cost to you.

• Collect décor based on whether or not it makes you happy, not whether or not it matches a particular style
• Incorporate LOTS of different colors, especially saturated ones
• Be bold in your selections and placements!
• Place items from different styles together
• Layer different colors, textures and styles together for greater depth
• Use both warm and cool tones
• Favor unique, quirky, and funky items
• Incorporate décor that is or looks to be collected from travels abroad
• Consider color drenching your ceiling, trim and walls
• Think drama!!! Floor to ceiling drapes are never wrong.
• Vintage items are a must have
• Layer different tones of the same colors together for maximum oomph
• Never discount the power of whimsy
• Aim to make your guests smile

Part of my love for Airbnb Design is rooted in the fact that a short-term rental can and should be something special...elevated from everyday life and packed with character that soothes the soul.

I'm so excited about some of these current trends and I hope I get to incorporate all of them into dreamy properties for my clients. And if you're thinking about incorporating one of these styles into your property, I'd love to work with you to make it come to life!

My books are officially open for Virtual Airbnb Design, so reach out and start a conversation if you too dream of creating an over-the-top getaway for your guests.



And if you're just bringing a little more joy into your home, think of Gram and tell her hi from me. 😉

Much Love,

Amy 😊

Think nostalgia, gingham, chintz, coziness, eclecticism, a mix of old & new, cut flowers and found objects/hand-me-downs.

It's all about recreating the feeling of Grandma's House.