“Oh. My. Gawd. I absolutely have to go out and buy that new $5,000 Eames lounger. I must have it right now. Its the coolest chair ever.”
Stop. Breath. Exhale. Breath again. If you don’t get that Eames lounger, guess what? The sun will still come up, the rooster will still crow, and the rivers will still run. It will not be the end of the world.
Think back just a few years ago. Remember that Sticky chair that you just could not live without? Do remember how you had saved a few thousand dollars because you wanted it in your perfect arts and crafts living room? It would have been just so freaking perfect. Right? And yet, today when I mentioned it, it took you a few beats to even remember what that sticky chair even looked like.
The interior design industry along with the furniture industry wants you to blindly follow every trend we spoon-feed you like the good little sheep that you are. Stop it. You have a choice. You are the one who holds that cash. Spend your money wisely so that you only have to spend it once.
The famous designer Miles Redd once said: “Buy the best and you’ll only cry once.” What he means by this is that if you buy a bunch of trendy crap you will cry the first time you spend a butt-load of cash on it. You’ll cry again when it is no longer trendy and you hate it and you have to donate it to Goodwill because, now that that particular trend is over, nobody will be even remotely interested in spending the un-godly amount of cash you originally spent on it.
My best advice to you? Spend your hard earned cash on items that are classic and clean and neutral. Look for expensive items like sofas, tables and rugs that will never go out of style. Then buy colorful and trendy pillows, accessories and linens to put on them. That way when you tire of them you can easily and inexpensively replace them.
So what the hell is classic and how can you tell if an item is classic and not trendy? There are some very basic questions you can ask a piece to find out if it is classic or not.
Have I ever seen you before? If the answer is “Yes! You see me on every TV show you watch and in every store you go to and Wayfair has me and Target has me and Crate and Barrel has me and so does Pottery Barn.” Then that item is most likely trendy. If the answer is “Yes, I have been familiar to you your entire lifetime, I have always been a quiet addition to most every space you have ever seen.” Then the piece might be classic.
What are your lines like? If the answer is “My lines are extreme with angles and curves and asymmetry,” then it might be trendy. If the answer is “I’m simple and elegant and take advantage of very simple shapes like ninety degree angles,” then it might be classic.
What color are you? If the answer is “I’m a member the rainbow like red, orange yellow, green blue and purple,” then it might be trendy. However if the answer is “I’m a neutral like white, cream, tan, beige, gray or black,” then it might be classic.
When are you from? If the answer is “You came out of nowhere and suddenly everybody including myself loves you” then it might be trendy. If the answer is “You were popular years and years ago and have withstood the test of time and I still like you, even if not everybody else does.” Then it might be classic.
In ten years will I still like you? If the answer is “You love me so much right now that you do not care if you still love me in ten years”. Then it might be trendy. If the answer is “I don’t raise huge feelings of love or hate in you so in ten years I more than likely will not raise huge feelings of love or hate in you.” Then it might be classic.
Get out there and start talking to some furniture, I think you will find the classic pieces will quickly make themselves apparent to you.