Trends – both interior design and fashion – have a life cycle. The more you see a trend multiply and show up EVERYWHERE, the more you want to control your impulses on it because an over availability everywhere often actually indicates that there is an end in sight.
I was at the Philadelphia Design Center working on a project yesterday and took some time to chat with the head of one of the fabric showrooms. I commented about my concern with the proliferation of the wonderful trellis patterns, saying that in another 1-2 years, they will be out. Without blinking, my colleague responded, “Oh my gosh, Donna, they are everywhere. It’s too much already!”
Why should you care about this conversation? Because it evidences that industry watchers are noticing a trend balloon getting ready to burst. The takeaway? Be careful about over committing to any pattern you see everywhere (like the trellis patterns of today) on anything other than the most transient and low cost items right now…pillows. Chances are good when you see every catalog featuring a pattern, we are heading toward the end of the trend – it will either morph into something else or die out completely. Like mauve paint.