Who decides what’s trendy and why?

Trends come and go, just like clothing.  But why?  And WHO is making these decisions?  Manufacturers create new products, we buy those products, they change the design of those products, and we buy again.  The internet, TV, Influencers, and marketing departments all over the world sell (read: manipulate) us through every media possible.  If bronze is the main finish in your local Home Depot, most people will buy bronze.  If the latest pink tone catches on, you’ll be seeing everything in pink. When our neighbors pull up with their cool new car, we start thinking about car shopping for ourselves.   It’s hard to tell what we truly like, and what we’ve been influenced to like. l recently read that having your refrigerator or stove visible in your kitchen was passé, and thought to myself “so now the kitchen can’t look like a kitchen anymore?” What’s next?  The bedroom can’t have a visible bed?

We’ve moved beyond functionality, and we make choices based on what other people have chosen for us or what our feelings tell us. Here’s the thing: there is nothing wrong with that. It’s OK to want change. It’s ok to see something we like and want it for ourselves.  And it’s business.  Businesses keep people employed.  And employed people shop. For most of us,  we want to fit in, be cool, and have a house that doesn’t include orange Formica countertops and deep pile green shag carpeting.  Although if that’s your thing, just call it retro and be on your way, you happy little 1970’s flower child you!

So short of bucking an entire system,  living off-grid, or simply just not giving a fudge, we all live with the material world influencing our life.  Things get dated, look old, and wear out.  What once made you cool back in the day, now becomes something to laugh at.  Think of all the cans of Aqua Net in the ’80s that made our bangs stick straight up a full 6 inches.  We were cool.  That was cool.  But we have to mourn that decade and move on.  Interior design is no different.  Design trends are sold by a FEELING.  So if an all-white living room invokes a feeling of serenity, and we want that…well, we get the paintbrush out and go to town. If all the cool kids on the block have gold accents, then we feel the need for gold accents.  It’s the feeling we’re buying.  Sometimes that feeling comes from a memory during a part of your life where things were really good, and you want to recapture that feeling.  Feng Shui will tell you that certain colors and materials evoke certain feelings and it’s true.  We’re feeling beings after all.

With all the constant changes to what’s hip and what’s out, what looks and feels good to us, and what’s within our budget, it’s pretty amazing that anyone can ever get any design right. But it doesn’t have to give you a headache.  I’m going to break down the basics of light fixture selection so you can make a no-brainer decision when it comes to each room of your house and end up feeling great about what you’ve chosen.