February 16, 2025

understand

22 Home Design Trends That Are Mega-Popular For Reasons Many People Will Never Understand

Decorating a home is a double-edged sword; on one hand, you can furnish and customize exactly as you please, but on the other hand, aesthetics vary from person to person — and sooner or later, you're bound to invite someone in who just doesn't vibe with your personal tastes. Recently, we shared people's least favorite home design trends that are just about everywhere these days, and even more of you chimed in with your hot takes on how people decorate their spaces. These were the best ones.

1."Doorless bathrooms. Why would anyone build a doorless bathroom, much less in a bedroom? 'Why do I always have pink eye?' That's because poop and mold are on your pillows, Brittany. And don't forget, if you're a private pooper, you're gonna have to go somewhere else or ask your partner to leave the room. Who thinks of this stuff?!"

A cozy bedroom with a large ornate mirror, a bed with a floral comforter, a window, a towel rack, and a doorway leading to a sink areaA cozy bedroom with a large ornate mirror, a bed with a floral comforter, a window, a towel rack, and a doorway leading to a sink area
John Keeble / Getty Images

2."Exposed beams are beautiful and have been around for centuries — but you're not fooling me when you slap up some heinous, faux wood 'beam' on your ceiling for that rustic, modern farmhouse look. I recently saw a TikToker put up a faux wood beam made of foam, and I swear I nearly threw up."

—Anonymous, 36, Indiana

3."Built-in appliances are definitely dumb. Unless there's an easy way to remove the appliance for repairs or replacement, building around it is asinine."

Modern kitchen with white cabinets, wood countertops, electric stovetop, built-in oven, and large corner windows showing a city viewModern kitchen with white cabinets, wood countertops, electric stovetop, built-in oven, and large corner windows showing a city view
Anatoliy_gleb / Getty Images

4."'Agreeable gray' everything. When we repainted our living room, we read about how agreeable grey is perfect, so we got a tester pot and painted a wall that was out of direct sunlight. It looked like wet cardboard. It also took four or five coats of primer to cover up. We now call all that class of colors 'grievous griege.'"

LastMangoInParis

5."One trend I cannot stand is putting gigantic houses on itty bitty-sized lots. There will be little yard to speak of, but a 4,000-square-foot house that is fighting against their neighbors to the extent that you can look into your neighbor's windows — but have nowhere to be outside or throw a ball for your dog."

Modern suburban street lined with large, two-story houses featuring brick exteriors and well-maintained lawns. No people are visibleModern suburban street lined with large, two-story houses featuring brick exteriors and well-maintained lawns. No people are visible
Marc Dufresne / Getty Images

6."Doorless showers. Every time you use those awful doorless showers, the entire bathroom gets soaked."

—Anonymous

7."Pillows, pillows, and more pillows! Big pillows, bright pillows, itsy-bitsy pillows. They look pretty when arranged perfectly on a bed. The problem is most of the time, they end up jumbled or thrown on a chair."

Modern bedroom with a tufted headboard, four black and white pillows, white bedding, and two nightstands with geometric lamps and small decor itemsModern bedroom with a tufted headboard, four black and white pillows, white bedding, and two nightstands with geometric lamps and small decor items
John Keeble / Getty Images

8."Huge master bedrooms and bathrooms that minimize the number of bedrooms (or rooms) possible. I'm not having a party in my bedroom, so yeah, it doesn't have to be so big."

ropre

9."Why do I see houses that are ALL built with the garages set as the FIRST in-your-face visual with new homes? Please, for the love of aesthetics, stop creating this atrocity!"

A modern suburban two-story house with a double garage, front lawn, and a single tree on the right sideA modern suburban two-story house with a double garage, front lawn, and a single tree on the right side
Erik Isakson / Getty Images/Tetra images RF

10."Why are they designing homes where you have to walk through the bathroom to get to the closet? What if someone is using it when I want to get dressed?"

—Anonymous

11."Two-tone kitchen cabinetry. The next owners will be thrilled to rip out that island that doesn’t match the rest of the kitchen — or even worse, the different colors on lower and upper cabinets."

A modern kitchen with wooden floors, blue and white cabinets, and stainless steel handles. A small rug is placed in front of the sink areaA modern kitchen with wooden floors, blue and white cabinets, and stainless steel handles. A small rug is placed in front of the sink area
Triggerphoto / Getty Images

12."Those huge bowl sinks set on top of vanities or counters. I call them above-ground sinks."

Michelle

13."Free-standing bathtubs. They create about 30 square feet of nearly unreachable space that needs frequent cleaning."

Modern bathroom with a free-standing bathtub in the center, a large window with a roller blind, and two vessel sinks on a wooden countertopModern bathroom with a free-standing bathtub in the center, a large window with a roller blind, and two vessel sinks on a wooden countertop
Dreamtimestudio / Getty Images

14."No mud rooms or small entryways in favor of larger living spaces. Being in the Midwest, it can get wet and muddy as seasons change. I need a place to take off my winter gear and not track dirt into my main living spaces."

—Anonymous, Minnesota, 25

15."Kitchen sinks in a center island. Not everything goes in the dishwasher. So where do all the dirty items go until they get washed? And where do they air dry? Right on display in the center island. I also saw an island stove with a pot filler sticking straight up from the counter. What an eyesore!"

Modern kitchen with white cabinets, stainless steel appliances, a large island with a sink, and tile backsplashModern kitchen with white cabinets, stainless steel appliances, a large island with a sink, and tile backsplash

—Anonymous, 75, California

Photovs / Getty Images/iStockphoto

16."Don’t get me started with the ridiculous trend of not having stair banisters at home — or anywhere else. It’s a lawsuit waiting to happen."

sofiesfair2015

17."Pot fillers. How old is the water in those pipes that you're just about to put in your cooking? It's not like it gets used every day and the water is fresh."

Modern kitchen with white cabinets, marble countertops, a stainless steel oven, and a gold faucet with a pot filler above the stove. No persons visibleModern kitchen with white cabinets, marble countertops, a stainless steel oven, and a gold faucet with a pot filler above the stove. No persons visible

—Anonymous, 75, California

Joe Hendrickson / Getty Images

18."Those kitchen cabinets that reach the ceiling are a waste of money. Nobody can reach the top shelf unless they're pro basketball players. Just enclose the space over the cabinets if you don't want an open space. It's a lot cheaper."

ymnpggx

19."I hate my fake balcony so much. Like, why?! They're just big, sliding glass doors to nowhere. I see them all over Arlington now!"

A small balcony with wooden furniture and a potted plant, flanked by a brick wall and railingA small balcony with wooden furniture and a potted plant, flanked by a brick wall and railing
Pavel Adashkevich / Getty Images

20."All the DIY paneling. Sticking wooden bits onto the wall to make it look like a period property is weird."

—Anonymous

21."Any room or place I see with barn doors becomes instantly tacky to me. You got a multi-million dollar home? Great! You have barn doors inside? Trash…"

A rustic wooden barn door with a V-pattern, mounted on a black sliding track, installed in a minimalist roomA rustic wooden barn door with a V-pattern, mounted on a black sliding track, installed in a minimalist room

22."The common trend with new builds where bathrooms are built anywhere near kitchens, or places where eating takes place (like right off the kitchen bar counter or dining table)."

minialligator19

What's a current home design trend that you just can't get behind — and why? Tell us about it in the comments below, or submit anonymously using this form.

We attempted ‘the AI inside designer.’ It has a lot to understand.

Ludwig, a new artificial intelligence instrument, needs to enhance your household. But we uncovered some of its options perplexing.

(Washington Put up illustration iStock)

No matter whether it’s Microsoft’s chatbot likely stalker-manner on unwitting tech columnists or ChatGPT accomplishing schoolwork for sneaky youngsters, artificial intelligence is out of the blue everywhere you go. So, of system there is a corporation with a instrument that claims to be “the AI interior designer.”

Fulhaus is based in Montreal, and for the final a few decades it has been establishing synthetic intelligence to help actual estate traders successfully furnish their homes. In March, that instrument, named Ludwig, turned readily available to everybody. The Fulhaus site describes it as “A new AI system that can produce buyable household furniture collections from any inspirational impression, just like an interior designer. Only a lot quicker.” Basically, you add shots of decor that appeals to you and Ludwig is intended to acquire it from there, making a procuring list of home furniture for your house that matches your design.

“The Computer system Investigation Institute of Montreal served us create the original blueprint and how we went about the blueprint, and then from there we commenced hiring the right builders and the appropriate device-understanding engineers,” claims Fulhaus CEO Andria Santos, of how Ludwig came to be.

I transpire to be decorating a new house, so I figured I’d give Ludwig a try out myself. I made use of the totally free edition, which enables you to design 1 area. To furnish an full house, you’re prompted to shell out a $99 rate. To start, I uploaded a handful of pictures from Pinterest — these types of as images from shop web sites and design weblogs — then selected which room I required to emphasis on. Ludwig gave me the alternatives of dining area, dwelling space or bedroom.

As soon as I selected a home, I was rewarded in seconds with various household furniture selections relevant to the image I uploaded. From there, I could refresh the style and design webpage for new possibilities, add one more picture, or skip correct to acquiring and contact the Fulhaus group to purchase the items for me from its sellers, which involve makes these as Four Palms and Loloi. I could also rate Ludwig’s suggestions on a scale of one to 3 smiley-experience emoji in response to a lousy rating, the instrument advised me: “Sorry, Ludwig is nevertheless discovering.”

Ludwig was rapid — but finally, I didn’t feel ready to furnish a whole place following utilizing it. I located that the parts the resource chose didn’t mirror the photographs I uploaded as specifically as I expected. For instance, I assumed a photo of a white couch with a round coffee table and a handful of chairs would end result in furnishings possibilities that mimicked people essential technical specs. Instead, Ludwig despatched back a gray sectional, rectangular coffee desk, accent chair, accent tables and a rug. I didn’t locate that the style of those people pieces was notably equivalent to the image I’d sent either, or that they went with each other all that effectively. With no a designer’s eye, I really do not feel Ludwig shipped the context or consistency in fashion I would want to prepare the items myself.

I questioned the team at Fulhaus about my encounter. They explained that due to the fact inspiration can come from so a lot of sources, they created Ludwig to interpret pictures as a normal direction, rather than a thing to copy virtually. So, when the device makes tips, it is suggesting a combination of pieces that replicate the look and feel of the inspiration picture, not a reproduction. They also assured me that as Ludwig learns additional, it will get improved at determining parts and variations that match particular inputs.

Ludwig is intended for normal householders like me, but also for experts. “It was significant for us to develop a resource that could be employed by a non-designer, but potent ample to be a useful software for a professional designer as properly,” states Santos. In distinct, Santos emphasized Ludwig’s capability to rapidly sift via alternatives from some 300 home furniture suppliers: “There’s no way a designer can get through all those 300 suppliers — particularly when your customer requires to go reside with a assets in a thirty day period.”

I questioned a few inside designers if they would give Ludwig a consider, as well. They noted very similar encounters to mine.

“I tried out to use it three unique occasions [with images from] my own portfolio to view what it spit out and it was not even measurably near,” claims Kristen Forgione, principal designer and artistic director at the Lifestyled Co. in Scottsdale, Ariz.

“All of the results I was searching at had about 20 p.c of the strategies operate with the model and aesthetic of the graphic that I copied and pasted in,” echoes designer Phoenix Gray of Orion Studios in Toronto.

Alright, but isn’t that specifically what human interior designers would say about synthetic intelligence that could theoretically threaten their livelihoods?

“I never imagined for even point-just one seconds about how AI would have an effect on style and designers till I tried out Ludwig,” says Forgione. “I do assume there is going to be a buyer for [AI design]. There’s usually going to be that human being that wants it accomplished the most inexpensive and the quickest — even if the household furniture items don’t search something like the inspiration photograph offered, they’ll get it. But there’s no human or personalized link.”

Gray took a related perspective. “When it comes to coding and accomplishing nearly anything numerical or mathematical, it is sort of frightening how accurate [AI] can be,” he claims. “But when it comes to the imaginative fields like digital promoting or interior layout, you require to have a sense of model.”

Without a doubt, even Fulhaus’s head of structure, Pierce Atkinson, acknowledged the require for a human touch in the style and design method: “We’ll constantly want that imaginative head.”

Ludwig also does not account for price range — which can suggest consumers come across them selves with a procuring list they cannot pay for. For instance, it instructed that I invest in a floor lamp that price tag $1,368. “In a person case, the full for six merchandise was $13,000, which is undoubtedly out of the grasp of the typical man or woman,” claims Gray.

Nevertheless, each he and Forgione agreed the tool could at minimum serve as a person-pleasant starting position for another person hoping to determine out their aesthetic. “It offers relieve of entry with dragging and dropping an image into it, and having it present you some true products that could relate to a equivalent type of style,” claims Gray.

Even if Ludwig didn’t nail my design and style preferences, I, as well, located the device quick — and fun — to use. And not just about every piece was a overlook — I appreciated an accent chair with rattan detail and a bleached wood espresso table. The knowledge felt like a additional entertaining and a little additional focused variation of on line browsing, if not at all like doing work with an precise inside designer. But hey, “Ludwig is still discovering.”

Jamie Killin is a author in Arizona who handles business enterprise, hospitality and life style.