DESIGNING FOR THE FUTURE: TRENDS WE NEED TO CONSIDER NOW

I remember when I was shopping for my wedding dress, I kept asking myself, Is this dress timeless? Will it hold up in twenty, thirty or forty years? I thought for sure when I bought my dress, it would stand the test of time – I would look back on the photos and be able to say that my dress would still be in style if I wore it years later.

The reality is that fashion styles come and go and the basics of timeless classics will continue to be modified decade after decade. The same is for design and décor.

Often when we take on large home design projects, we ask ourselves what the impact of the space will be down the road. Will the kitchen you put in today feel dated and old in ten or twenty years? Will someone walk into your house forty years from now and wonder where your head was when you chose your stainless steel appliances?

Here’s my thoughts. Design trends are changing faster than the average person looking to renovate their living room. Design firms are working with the latest technology to advance how we decorate our homes, new furniture styles and materials we use.

A few things we need to consider now for future design:

1.      Clean Lines

Clearly, the lines of decorating are getting cleaner and finer. Does anyone buy overstuffed couches anymore? Does anyone want billowing valances and drapes? Clean living, fresh and bright rooms marry our thoughts on how people want to live. People are looking to minimize the fillers in our food, and the same is with home design. Designing for the future is about creating spaces that allow us to breathe.  Designing a room with “clean lines” is a trend that I believe we need to hold on to and continue to push the envelope as other areas of our lives seek to that clean living also.

2.      Black and White

To me, black and white have stood the test of time. As a decorator and home design blogger, I always encourage my clients and readers to make sure they have something in each room that is black. Black is grounding. It balances a room.  Black and white décor has continued to thrive when home design and decorating surged. Today we see more people painting their walls white than we ever have. Designing for the future needs to carry the black and white trend as our rooms don’t always need splashes of colour. Some of the most peaceful and gorgeous spaces I’ve seen, showcase black and white and allows for the personal touches to shine.

3.      Personal Touches

Speaking of personal touches. The trend of showcasing our family, friends and places we love has always been. We want to personalize our home and create a space where we shine. We can’t lose site of personalizing our spaces in the future. In fact, I think it will continue to grow as our obsession with social media and seeing into eachother’s lives continues. However we showcase our personal touches in the future, we need to ensure the element remains.

4.      Technology

Obviously, technology has changed the way we design homes, rooms and live in our spaces. Even now you can buy a refrigerator that can schedule your day, talk to you, remind you and tell you that you’re out of milk. These advances are amazing. They are where we are going in design. We just need to remember that when designing for the future that we keep in mind the users. How will their lifestyle be affected? Families gathered around the kitchen island sharing a feast or snuggled up on a couch watching a movie. Let’s make sure that when we design spaces and products we create them for people. Not robots. Let’s continue to encourage families gathering, being together and loving the spaces they are in.

 As for whether my wedding dress will stand the test of time? It was gorgeous, it had elements of tradition and “classic” style. However, it also followed a trend that many brides were wearing when I got married 12 years ago.  The reality is that in 40 years, brides will be wearing a different style but elements of that dress will be found in the future of wedding gowns. The same is in design. Stainless steel appliances might not be what we put in our homes in 40 years, but elements of them will still remain.

“This blog post is a part of Design Blogger Competition organized by CGTrader".

Keep it Beautiful.

Alicia

WHAT'S YOUR MOM SNEAK?

Hey lovelies,

We all do it. #momsneak

Did you know that 58% of moms admit to sneaking in TV "me-time"? I'm shocked it isn't more?!??! Seems too low of a stat for me. Im all about the Netflix Mom Sneak. How else are you going to get in your fav shows? Honestly!

My fav #momsneak is while making dinner. Love it. Or, I've also sat in the car after getting groceries and watch a little on my phone. When you find that show you love, its addictive!

Here's what I'm sneaking right now-

Orange is the New Black (I'm almost done....so good!)

Pretty Little Liars

Chef's Table

Hoarders - I'm addicted. I just am.

Leave me a comment and let me know what your #momsneak is

Keep it Beautiful.

Alicia

Disclosure: I'm a #momsneak addict and love Netflix. Just like you do too!  I'm part of the Netflix #StreamTeam and happy to share the Netflix love with you each month.

BIG GIRL ROOM REVEAL

Hey lovelies. Happy Monday! I've got a room reveal for you today. You'll remember I shared the inspiration boards for our daughter's "big girl room" and the the new "guest room". It was the big swap-a-roo day a little while ago. The kids went up to the cottage for the night and Mr. Fix-It and I worked for 15 hours straight. Killer. Actually, it wasn't really that bad. We had tunes, we had food and we had beer. Now the rooms are complete and I'm excited to share our daughter's room today and I'll follow up with the guest room.

This is what the room looked like before. The guest room was bright and simple and it made me smile every time I walked up the stairs. However, it was time to go pink. 

About 7 years ago, I found this armoire on the curb. It needed a good paint job but it's housed the wrapping paper and my files for Keep It Beautiful Designs. It's quite large and weights a ton, so we just moved it around the room while we painted and then slid it on a towel over to the new guest room later. 

This accent wall had my girly glitter running all through my bod. How cute eh? We decided to add the bright pink to the window wall. One, it meant that we weren't staring at a super pink wall every time we walked up the stairs to the second floor and I just loved that it would be framed with the drapes and window bench.

The DRAPES.  They kill me in cuteness. Typically we need 95" length for the ceilings but these guys worked out fine being the standard length because I needed them to be shorter behind the window bench. I bought them at HomeSense. Our daughter doesn't seem to mind falling asleep without a blackout blind and I love the airy fresh feel of the material. Win!

Next up was putting together the bed. This is the bed that we ordered. It's gorg.

Add all the finishing touches...

And we have a perfectly girly room for our big girl. 

This is my Great Grandmother's mirror. We hung it low so our big girl can see her gorgeous self in that mirror every morning. I love that generations of strong women have looked at themselves in that mirror and I hope they loved what they saw.

This chair was Mr. Fix-It mom's. We've rocked all our babies in it and our daughter had only one condition for her new room - that the rocking chair goes in it. This little corner is a perfect spot for stories and songs before bed. A cute pillow and throw and she got her wish.

I took the same frames and photos from her nursery and just gave the frames a "refresh spray" (pretty sure that's not actually a phrase). I was going to update the photos but when I told her that she said she wanted to keep her baby pics in there.

I took this side table from our bedroom. Poor Mr. Fix-It now has to have his stuff on the floor ;) but really he didn't have much on there before. His phone while it was charging and his watch charger...that's pretty much it. So, it found another home. I really like how the shiny silver works with the gold. Don't be shy to mix your metal finishes. 

The light is from her nursery. It was the first thing I bought when I started decorating her baby girl room. Its from Ikea and ADORABLE. Really, what girly girl wouldn't want a tutu light? 

I've been holding on to these two pieces of art of A LONG TIME. For years, they hung in my parent's house and when they moved, I knew that they would be perfect in a little girl's room if it was ever meant to be. And here they are. They hang right beside her closet and you see them as you come up the stairs onto the second floor. 

I bought this shelf and these brackets from Ikea and of course, sprayed the brackets gold. Instant glam. The shelf holds a few of the breakable treasures she's made, as well as some of the treasures from my room when I was a little girl. I totally forgot to spray the screws, so a quick tip...just spray the end of a q-tip and dab it on the screws. 

Our big girl loves to dress up so this tiny corner was the perfect spot for a couple of hooks and a basket for her accessories. Remember when she broke her leg this winter? I placed her casts on a floating shelf here. I want her to remember how strong, brave and powerful she was during that time. She's little but fierce!

This dresser from Ikea fit perfectly in the space. It's feminine, solid and long enough to hold all her jewels and hair stuff.

So that's that. 

She loves her room. It's bright, it's girly, its fun. It's special. It's her.

'Scuze the blurry photo. She was moving fast when she saw her room for the first time :)

Next reveal to show you is the guest room.

fresh.fabulous.sophisticated.

Keep it Beautiful.

ANYTIME IS BINGE TIME!

Remember the TV Guide? It would be tucked in the newspaper and every week my brother and I pulled it out to see if our fav shows were on the same time that week AND if they were new. Can you believe TV Guide is still around? Crazy. 

The only way to see your fav show that week was to make sure you knew what time it was on or to "tape" it. Another act that seems totally ancient and "taping a show" is completely foreign to my kids. I guess PVR is the next "taping" but even then, my kids don't even know what PVR is because we have basic cable and really what is on basic cable that is PVR worth?! 

Netflix has revolutionized how we watch tv. No longer are cartoons only on at 6am or Saturday mornings, they are ready to watch at anytime and anywhere. Honestly, God bless the afternoons where the kids need a break, I need a break and Netflix cartoons SAVE ME! However, there was something exciting about waiting a whole week for the new episode of your favourite show to air. A concept that seems weird to the kids.

Last weekend was the Great Glebe Garage Sale and Ottawa Race Weekend - my fav weekend of the year. Thousands of people embark on the Glebe in Ottawa and sell and shop for treasures. I set up a Keep It Beautiful Shop - PopUp Shop and sold my pillows, makeup cases and prints. 

In the afternoon we got the kids ready to run the 2km race. They were pumped and we were thrilled that they wanted to run the race to feel powerful and strong. 

The next morning, Mr. Fix-It was running the 1/2 marathon. He'd been training all winter (in so much snow!) and was hoping for a PB. However, Sunday turned out to be Ottawa's first scorcher of the season and he knew a few kilometres in that it wasn't going to be his race. At the 10km mark he decided to turn the race into something else and called our older son off the sidelines to run the last half of the race with him. 11km later, a very strong and tired father-son team crossed the finish line. Our 8 year-old had no idea how far 11km was, he didn't have proper running gear on, had only ever run 2km straight (the day before) and he didn't know the course. But, he knew his Daddy wanted him to run with him and they trusted each other. Melt my heart. 

Shortly after the race our older son needed Gatorade, food AND Netflix. He asked me if his legs were supposed to feel tingly. He was so tired! These are exactly the times that you need cartoons at the press of a button. When you need to chill out, rest your bod and watch your fav shows. 

Right now the kids are binging Nicky, Dicky & Dawn - it's like a younger version of Saved By the Bell. 

King Julien is another fan fav of theirs. It's actually pretty hilarious. Some of the jokes go right over the kids heads ;)

Mr. Fix-It and I just started watching the new episodes of House of Cards. Oh man that show is Ah-mazing! So twisted and so addictive. 

Orange is the New Black starts soon and we finished the new episodes of Scandal. Another binge worthy, wine drinking show that is available at your fingertips. Anytime, anywhere. 

God bless you Netflix!

*Disclosure - I'm part of the Netflix StreamTeam and that allows me to share exciting Netflix news and views with you. And, ensure you're all as addicted to Netflix as I am ;) Thanks for supporting the brands that support this blog.

Privacy Policy

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This privacy policy is subject to change without notice and if you require any more information or have any questions about our privacy policy, please contact me at  keepitbeautifultoday1@gmail.com

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The author of this website assume no liability for the up-to-dateness, correctness, completeness or quality of the information provided on the website. We assume no liability whatsoever for results obtained or loss or damage incurred as a result of application of any information presented herein. The various home improvement, lifestyle opinions & decorating methods, suggestions, and tutorials on Keep It Beautiful Designs are not free from error. Keep It Beautiful Designs cannot be held responsible for your personal safety or the outcome of your home design or home improvement undertakings.

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Any comments that are considered un-friendly or inappropriate will be deleted. Comments are approved at the discretion of the blog author.

Giveaways:

Keep It Beautiful Designs hosts giveaways and only works with companies that we feel would be of interest to our readers. We facilitate giveaways but usually do not mail prizes ourselves (this is done by the company providing the giveaway product). All giveaways are subject to provincial and federal sweepstakes laws.

Disclosure Policy:

Keep It Beautiful Designs is a for-profit blog. It contains advertisements throughout the site. The blog accepts cash advertising, sponsored posts, product reviews, or other forms of compensation on occasion. All sponsored posts will be identified within the post, and any opinions/findings/experiences on any free products received will be honest. All sponsored posts are written by Alicia Malcolm-Robinson. No guest paid posts are accepted on the blog.

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