Home design fads come and go faster than you can say ‘shiplap.’ What’s trendy today often becomes tomorrow’s design nightmare, leaving homeowners with dated spaces and renovation regrets.
These 20 modern home trends have overstayed their welcome and desperately need to be shown the door for good.
1. All-White Everything
The sterile, hospital-like all-white interior trend needs to vanish immediately. Sure, it photographs well for Instagram, but living in what feels like a sanitarium isn’t practical for anyone with children, pets, or who actually eats food.
White-on-white-on-white shows every speck of dirt and lacks personality. Instead, embrace warm neutrals with pops of color that forgive real life and showcase who you actually are.
2. Barn Doors Everywhere
Hanging a massive wooden door on exposed hardware doesn’t magically transport your suburban home to rustic farm country. These impractical slabs offer zero sound privacy and constantly jump their tracks.
Barn doors scream “I watched too much HGTV in 2015!” Replace them with proper pocket doors if space is tight, or beautiful French doors that actually close properly and look timeless.
3. Word Art Signs
Nothing screams “basic” quite like giant cursive words telling you to “Live, Laugh, Love” or announcing “This is Us” in your living room. These mass-produced motivational quotes have become the design equivalent of a corporate team-building exercise.
Your guests know they’re in a kitchen—they don’t need a sign spelling it out. Replace these clichés with actual art that sparks conversation rather than eye rolls.
4. Gray Everything
The gray tsunami that flooded homes over the past decade has created a sea of dreary, lifeless spaces. Contrary to what house flippers believe, coating every surface in the same flat gray doesn’t make your home “modern”—it makes it depressing.
Gray-on-gray interiors feel cold and uninspired. Bring back actual color! Rich blues, earthy greens, and warm terracottas create spaces that feel alive rather than like concrete bunkers.
5. Open Concept Everything
The pandemic finally exposed what introverts knew all along: sometimes walls are good! Open floor plans force everyone to hear every conversation, smell every meal being cooked, and see every mess.
Not every home needs to look like a loft conversion. Consider partial walls, beautiful archways, or sliding panels that create flexible spaces. Balance openness with the practical reality that sometimes you need to hide dirty dishes from guests.
6. Chevron Patterns
The zigzag pattern that infected everything from rugs to accent walls needs to take its final bow. What started as a fresh alternative to stripes became the most overused pattern of the 2010s.
Chevron’s sharp angles create visual tension rather than calm. If you love geometric patterns, try something more subtle like a gentle herringbone floor or organic shapes that won’t make your eyes vibrate when you look at them.
7. Fake Plant Jungles
Plastic isn’t fantastic when it comes to indoor greenery. Dusty fake plants fooling absolutely no one have become the zombie apocalypse of home decor—dead things pretending to be alive.
Nothing looks more dated than sun-faded artificial foliage. Either commit to caring for a few real plants (many are surprisingly hard to kill) or skip the greenery altogether. Your home shouldn’t look like an abandoned mall food court.
8. Edison Bulb Overload
Those exposed filament bulbs that made every coffee shop and restaurant look identical during the 2010s need to dim out permanently. They provide terrible lighting, consume excessive energy, and have become the handlebar mustache of interior design.
Most give off an unflattering orange glow while showing every dust particle. Replace them with properly shaded fixtures that provide functional light without making your home look like an unfinished construction site.
9. TV Above Fireplace
Your neck called—it wants you to stop mounting televisions at ridiculous heights. Placing TVs above fireplaces forces everyone to crane their necks like they’re in the front row of a movie theater.
The heat from the fireplace can also damage your expensive electronics. Create a comfortable viewing arrangement at eye level when seated, or consider a projector setup if you’re truly limited on wall space.
10. Accent Walls
The lonely painted wall in a different color doesn’t make your space look designer—it makes it look like you ran out of paint. These half-committed color statements often feel like an afterthought rather than intentional design.
Either embrace color throughout your space in a cohesive way or use texture and artwork to create visual interest. Single accent walls have become the design equivalent of wearing one colorful sock with an otherwise monochrome outfit.
11. Farmhouse Everything
Unless you actually live on a working farm, the distressed wood, mason jars, and “Farmers Market” signs need to go. This Joanna Gaines-inspired trend has reached peak saturation, turning suburban homes into theatrical farm sets.
Real farmhouses evolved from necessity, not décor catalogs. If you appreciate rustic elements, incorporate a few quality pieces with history rather than mass-produced “rustic” items that were artificially distressed in a factory last week.
12. Giant Kitchen Islands
The massive kitchen island that requires GPS coordinates to navigate around has gone too far. These oversized behemoths often create awkward traffic flow and waste valuable space in the heart of the home.
Nobody needs an island the size of an actual island. Scale it appropriately to your kitchen dimensions and daily needs. Consider a mobile island option if flexibility matters more than making a statement with an immovable concrete slab.
13. Rose Gold Everything
The metallic pink trend that dominated everything from faucets to furniture hardware has finally lost its luster. Rose gold quickly dates a space to the mid-2010s faster than you can say “millennial pink.”
Hardware should have staying power since it’s expensive to replace. Stick with timeless finishes like brushed nickel or matte black that won’t make your home look like a teenager’s Instagram feed from 2016.
14. Vessel Sinks
Those bowl-shaped sinks that sit on top of counters should circle the drain for good. They splash water everywhere, are difficult to clean around, and create awkward height issues for anyone shorter than 6 feet tall.
The novelty wears off after the first time you try to wash your face. Under-mount sinks are easier to keep clean and won’t date your bathroom the moment trends shift. Function should never be sacrificed for questionable form.
15. Tiny House Obsession
The romanticized notion of cramming your entire life into 200 square feet needs a reality check. Those charming tiny house shows never show the reality: no privacy, nowhere to store winter clothes, and composting toilets that require more maintenance than a vintage car.
Small living can be wonderful, but the extreme minimalism of tiny homes ignores basic human needs for personal space. There’s a happy medium between McMansion and glorified garden shed.
16. Pallet Furniture
Shipping pallets were designed to transport goods, not to become your couch. These rough-hewn monstrosities often harbor chemicals, splinters, and occasionally unwanted pests from their previous industrial lives.
DIY is wonderful, but not everything needs to be upcycled. Invest in properly constructed furniture that won’t give you tetanus. If you love the look, many companies now make pallet-inspired pieces that are actually comfortable and safe.
17. Terrazzo Overload
The confetti-like surface that was once confined to mid-century public buildings has exploded across homes in everything from countertops to wallpaper. What works in a 1960s airport doesn’t necessarily translate to residential spaces.
The busy pattern fights with everything else in the room. If you love terrazzo, limit it to small accessories that can be easily changed when the trend inevitably fades, rather than committing to it on permanent surfaces.
18. Industrial Chic Overkill
Not everyone lives in a converted factory loft, so why do so many homes feature exposed pipes, concrete floors, and metal everything? The cold, unfinished industrial look has become a parody of itself.
Homes should feel like homes, not like you’re sleeping in an unfinished construction site. Balance any industrial elements with warmth and softness. Your living room shouldn’t feel like you’re waiting for a table at a trendy downtown restaurant.
19. Sliding Bathroom Doors
The bathroom is the one room where privacy isn’t optional, yet sliding barn-style or pocket doors with gaps continue to be installed. These doors rarely seal properly, letting sounds and smells travel freely.
Bathroom activities are private for a reason. Invest in a solid door with a proper latch that actually creates a sound barrier. Your relationship will thank you for not making every bathroom visit a shared experience.
20. Open Shelving Kitchens
Unless you’re a minimalist with a dishware collection worthy of a museum display, open shelving is just a dust-collecting exhibition of your mismatched mugs. These shelves quickly become visual clutter rather than the serene displays seen in magazines.
Most of us don’t style our everyday items between uses. Embrace the practicality of cabinets with doors that hide the chaos and protect your dishes from grease and dust. Not everything needs to be on display.