These Once-Popular Home Décor Choices Are Aging Your Space

Many of us grew up in homes with exposed wood everywhere… except on the floor, where you want it. Those hardwood floors got covered up with plush carpeting that greeted wallpapered walls, usually with a floral print. Houses had closed-off rooms with designated functions — like a formal dining room with heavy wooden cabinets that displayed fine china — where the family gathered twice a year at best. All of the bathroom fixtures, shower trims, fireplace trims, and cabinet handles were shiny brass because, I guess, gold is “fancy.”

All of the following decor elements are surefire signs that your decor could use a refresh. Do you have any of these in your space?b

Wood Paneling

There was a time when people couldn’t get enough wood. They grew up with heavy wooden furniture, bedroom sets, TVs, and stereos encased in wood. It was never enough timber.

To fuel their insatiable appetite for wood grain and a living-in-a-log-cabin vibe, homeowners installed faux wood paneling on their walls to “warm up” a space. When younger homebuyers purchase a home reinforced with this woody reminder of a bygone era, they are sometimes forced to just paint over the paneling. Removing wood paneling is a huge hassle and can damage the wall that should never have been covered in the first place.

Floral-Patterned Upholstery

We’re all about bringing nature inside, but many love intricate floral patterns on the upholstery of couches and chairs. Why have a boring solid-colored couch when you can have a whole flower bed of colors?

Floral patterns became popular in the 1950s and continued into the 1960s during the flower-power era. Today’s floral upholstery prints—even if they are newly made—harken back to the Kennedy presidency.

Chandeliers

Many households had at least one faux-crystal chandelier hanging over the table in their formal dining room or in the foyer if the ceiling was high enough. These ornate light fixtures sparkled in the light provided by the faux candle stalks with small light bulbs embedded in between the stringed “jewels.”

Today, younger homeowners prefer open floor plans and are unlikely to even have a formal dining room where a bejeweled lighting fixture would look at home. However, some DIY decorators are not above hanging a chandelier in a giant walk-in closet or over a soaker tub for a touch of glam.

Signs That Say “Eat,” “Home,” or “Love”

Must everything be labeled? Younger generations don’t like labels of any kind, but some homes have an affinity for painted wooden signs that say “Eat,” “Home,” “Love,” “Family,” or some other warm sentiment.

Everybody knows it’s your home, so are descriptive signs necessary? If you were sitting in a kitchen with dinner in front of you, would you not know what to do without a cheery “Eat” sign at eye level on the wall?

Tuscan Kitchens

Tuscan kitchens were very popular with homeowners in the aughts before the housing market crash. To give a kitchen an Olive Garden vibe, people used brown and cream earth tones, over-the-top marble, wrought iron fixtures, distressed cabinets, and topped it all off with a backsplash mural of an Italian vineyard (unlimited breadsticks not included).

Many millennials grew up in the 2000s in a home with a Tuscan kitchen, so some have developed an affinity for the trend beloved by their parents. Mamma Mia, here we go again!

Busy Wallpaper

If you have ever watched House Hunters on HGTV, you know the reaction that homebuyers give when faced with a room plastered with floral or busy wallpaper. It’s usually something like, “Why did they do this?” or “How much will it cost to remove it?”

The Chinese invented wallpaper around 200 B.C. back during the time of the Qin dynasty, but some homeowners made it their own by covering every inch of ugly bare wall not already covered in wood paneling with the adhesive horror.

Formal Dining Room

Homes with a traditional floor plan have separate rooms with designated functions as opposed to open floor plans where the kitchen flows into the dining area that flows into the living room.

The formal dining room is where many of us gathered during Thanksgiving, Christmas, and maybe Easter around a heavy wooden table, over which hung a glistening crystal chandelier that shined down on a centerpiece of oversized glass grapes. Against the walls of the room were giant, wooden, glass-faced cabinets that housed china and stemware that no occasion ever seemed “special” enough to use.

Today, square footage is expensive and precious, so having a room that only gets used a few times a year seems like a waste of money.

Wall-to-Wall Carpeting

Nothing screams outdated more than wall-to-wall carpeting, especially deep, plush carpeting that extends even into the bathroom.

Although some people of any age who live in colder parts of the country say they like carpet in at least the bedroom so their bare feet don’t touch a cold floor when they slide out of bed, most would recoil in horror at the thought of carpeting a bathroom. Carpet traps moisture and pet hair, stains easily, and creates more dust in a home.

If you are considering buying an older home with wall-to-wall carpeting, be sure to check what is underneath. You may be pleasantly surprised to find hardwood floors underneath the carpeting someone glued over it decades ago.

Grandfather Clock

A grandfather clock is a tall, pendulum clock that stands on the floor and is almost always made out of intricately carved wood. Today, when square footage is precious, there is no need for a bulky, stand-alone wooden tower to announce the passage of time. Just look at your cell phone.

Heavy Drapery

My mother is a boomer and is all about heavy drapery with many layers of fabric. There is usually an outer, light-blocking layer of colored, heavy fabric that covers inner white drapes that are sheer. Sometimes, behind the sheer drapes, there is a vinyl roller blind to make absolutely certain that not a beam of unwanted natural light enters the home without being formally invited.

Why this obsession with keeping natural light out of a room? For one thing, it helps you sleep in if you’re the type that is up with the sun. Also, my mom will tell you that some rooms are positioned to get direct sunlight during certain times of the day, which will fade the colors on upholstery, photographs, artwork, and even carpeting.

Wood Curio Cabinet With Collectible Ceramic Figurines

Your mother or grandmother probably had a wooden curio with glass doors and shelves for the display of little ceramic figurines and glass paperweights. The curio might even have had a mirrored back and a built-in light to better display the encased treasures.

Younger generations still have cabinets or display cases for collectibles, it’s just that the cases usually aren’t made of oak and the collectibles are more likely action figures and vintage toys than ceramic dogs and flamingos. If you inherited a wooden curio from a relative, one cool idea is to install a black light in the cabinet and fill it with a bunch of uranium glass dishware that will glow green under the UV light.

Brass Fixtures

Brass fixtures — including drawer pulls, doorknobs, shower frames, fireplace trims, chandeliers, and faucets — were very popular in the ’60s and ’70s. Perhaps builders thought that brass looked expensive because of its golden color, but it actually just looks dated.

In what will surely be a short-lived trend, gold-colored fixtures are currently making a comeback for people who still equate the color with bling or glam. It’s a strong design choice — just remember how long brass looked “modern” the first time around before you embrace this golden idea.

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