Want a home that’s unique and stands out from the crowd? I think it’s time to ditch the trends

Amanda Jones is one of Ideal Home's new Open House contributors, sharing her thoughts on sustainable living and decorating a home in way that is good for the environment. See the rest of her articles here.

This article is a follow on from my last article, about why I wish there were no interior design trends, you can read it here. I want to explore why developing your own personal style is preferable, than relying heavily on trend-based style. There are many different types of interior design, and there are many different types of personality. In theory, we should all have very different homes, but that’s not always the case. So why do so many homes, look so similar?

There are way too many different styles of interior design, to mention in one article. From an ultra-modern style, full of the latest tech, to the other end of the scale, interiors that are very ‘twee’ and cottagey, full of ‘knick-knacks’ and sentimentality.

There’s minimalist interiors, very pared back, with crisp clean lines. Then the maximalist ones, full to the brim with colour, pattern and shape, all competing for attention. You may have a home that reflects your love of mid-century furniture, or you may have been inspired by a visit to a French chateau, and so have a home full of French flair. There is an interior style, to suit everyone’s tastes and desires.

I have always preferred a personal style-based approach to interior design. I find it more interesting and inspiring, whether that’s my own home, or someone else’s. Developing your own style usually takes a little bit of time, and it’s not entirely faultless, you can still make mistakes along the way.

It takes time, it takes patience, but slowly and surely you will learn what you love, what makes you happy. Someone for example, just acquiring their own home, may find they are heavily drawn to trends. They are still trying out different ideas and discovering who they are, and what their personal style looks like.

Trend-based interiors are just that, based on what you are seeing a lot of, whether that is online, Instagram for example, or written in a magazine, like Ideal home. These trends can usually be seen in articles that start, ‘What’s Hot in 2026’, I always find these articles interesting, even if it’s just to see what we are being told we should be putting in our homes.

Trend-based interior design is a much faster paced approach to our homes. It can change rapidly. The trends can also change from season to season. This can easily leave you feeling bored, and it’s not long before you feel the need to move onto the ‘next big thing’. That could be the latest trending colour, or the fact that the bedding you have, no longer feels ‘relevant’.

And because the trends are so fast paced, there’s a need from manufacturers to churn out a lot of homewares, very quickly. Invariably this can mean you buy things that are mass-produced, and of poor-quality. Afterall, it feels much easier for us to swap out a table that ‘only’ cost £100, as opposed to one that may have cost £1000, because it has been made by traditional methods

If you aren’t confident with your own sense of style, it can be very easy to be swayed with what’s trending. When you develop your own, individual style, you will create a look you’re happy with, one that ‘feels’ like you, suits your family, rather than a ‘copy and paste’ edition of something you’ve seen online.

That’s not to say, even if you HAVE developed your own individual style, that you can’t be inspired by trends. I remember falling in love with a particular shade of chartreuse in the ‘90s by Designer’s Guild, and that colour, in some form or another, has been in my home ever since. It’s a colour that brings me real joy, whether it’s in trend or not.

There’s a real joy in creating a home that’s individual to me. I love that my home has longevity, there’s an element of permanence to it. If I want a change, then usually, that just means moving a piece of art around, or a piece of furniture. There’s no big scale redecoration or furniture buying involved. When my home gets repainted, it’s because the walls are beginning to look a little worn, not because I’ve decided that I want the latest shade of green that’s trending right now.

My home reflects me and my family, perfectly. It’s perfectly, imperfect. It reflects my love of older pieces of furniture, from different eras, my discovery of second-hand treasures, as well as my love of travel. And whilst I love colour, I also know that the colour drenching we are seeing everywhere now, is too much for me. I prefer neutral walls, with the colours being found in objects, textiles and art. That’s because I’ve established my own style.

I was so happy to see the trend for millennial grey homes fade away, it seemed to have been around for so long. Over the last few years there’s been a growth in more colourful and collected interiors, starting with the cottage core vibe that struck social media.

As someone who loves colour, I’m happy people are embracing more of it. However, the more I see of these colourful homes, with their pink walls, and the mass-produced prints, in scalloped edge frames, the more one home feels like it’s literally blending into another. Is this cottage, ‘collected’ look, the new millennial grey I wonder? What will these homes look like a few years from now? Will they have abandoned the cottagey vibes, because it’s not really ‘them’, and adopted the next ‘latest’ look?

You can make your home look different from everyone else’s, be more unique and individual. Not however, by being the first to jump on the next latest trend, but by developing your own unique style. You’ll achieve this by understanding what you truly love and being confident in those choices. If you love colour, then embrace it, but please, put your own stamp on it. Make it your own individual style, and not just a copy and paste, of the latest trend you’re seeing on Instagram. Do this, and your home really will, stand out from the crowd.