How many things have you jumped on board with only to grow tired of them as your taste has changed—or perhaps even matured?
Hardly anyone will be surprised to learn that I haven’t grown tired of a single classic piece at my home, writes Editor-in-Chief Kari-Otso Nevaluoma. Every home needs reliable staples.
Have you ever looked back on all the things you were drawn to and eventually got tired of because your mindset or taste changed, maybe even matured? How have interior design trends of a given time shaped your decisions and their lasting power? I took a moment to revisit the late 1990s and early 2000s.
I can’t remember the exact year, but for a while, fringe curtains seemed to be everywhere. I, too, wanted to create a boudoir vibe in the bedroom. Yet the trendy curtains never really delivered the elegance I hoped for, and their coverage was questionable at best. I only had the patience to clear out the dust bunnies from their floor-grazing fringes for a couple of years.
In the same home’s living room, I laid down a cowhide rug back when they were popping up just about everywhere. I certainly didn’t go for black and white, since I wasn’t dreaming of living on a Texas ranch, so I chose a more subdued beige. I was happy with it until it started to feel tacky, and I began longing for a thick, cozy wool rug. (Falling for a vintage leopard hide in an antique shop around the same time is another story entirely.)
Every home needs reliable performers that remain unfazed even if everything else around them changes.
I also recall how much I admired the romantic pine shelf I hung in the dining area, complete with floral-patterned teacups dangling from its hooks. That arrangement never made it to our next home. I still have the cups at our cabin, because it’s a place where there's room for all sorts of flowers to bloom.
Hardly anyone will be surprised when I “reveal” that I haven’t gotten tired of any of the classics we’ve brought into our home. Some might call the Artemide Tolomeo lamps we have here dull. Maybe so, but they do more than just light the space. They bring our eclectic assortment of items together and make the interior look more cohesive.
Every home needs reliable performers that won’t bat an eye, even if everything else around them changes.
Kari-Otso Nevaluoma is the Editor-in-Chief of Avotakka and Meidän Mökki magazines.
