Trendy or Timeless?

1. Personal tastes. What is timeless for you may be trendy for others. To know what is timeless for you, you need to know your tastes. What is a decor element that you have always loved or used?

2. Look to history. Have we seen this before? We have seen nature fibre rugs, rattan furniture, brass hardware, bouclé, so are they trendy? I don't think so, but it will depend on number 3 below. Some things we have not seen before that I would argue ARE trendy include resin furniture and matte black hardware. These are not bad things and I expect there are some examples somewhere throughout history, but they just have not yet held the test of time to be called "timeless".

3. How it is put together. This is really important. The way furniture, finishing, colours and textures are balanced and combined is crucial in interior design. I could argue that that is interior design, but without getting too philosophical, let me give an example. While doing a little reading for writing this I read an article that highlighted the living room in the early 90s sitcom Fraser, which included a Coco Chanel chocolate brown sofa. Not really recalling that I loved the space, I had to look up an image. There it was a beautifully classic roll arm chocolate brown sofa. Sexy and lounge-y as ever. It would be as great now as it was then. But did I love Fraser's apartment? No, it was totally '90s in how it was put the together in a wash of light honey coloured pine-like wood tones. There was, however, a great Eames lounge chair. In short, two knock-out timeless pieces of furniture in a sea of '90s decorating.

4. Know that most things have and will have their highs and lows within the general consensus of "what's in". Some things will inevitably not be chic some day. Own your style and be proud or swap out with more updated accessories to help it feel fresh.

5. Some things that never go out of style, as proven by the great interior designers of the 20th Century like Albert Hadley, Sister Parish, Billy Baldwin and Dorothy Draper, include high-quality, natural fibres, artisan-made, and mixing antiques and modern.

While Marc and I were away last week at the furniture mecca of North America High Point, North Carolina, we got to see current trends and the timeless. Scroll below for our "trend" observations and how we do them at Gild & Co.