28 Interior Design Trends To Avoid As They’ve Gone From Cute To Cringe According To This Designer

Decorating your space can feel like a fun little fantasy until you realize your Pinterest board might be stuck in 2016. It’s easy to fall for trends that look amazing online, only to find out they’re a total regret IRL (looking at you, barn doors and word art). That’s where interior designer Phoenix Gray comes in with a reality check we didn’t know we needed.

He’s calling out the interior design trends that have officially gone from “that’s so chic” to “why did I ever think that was a good idea?” Whether you’re redesigning a room or love judging questionable taste from the comfort of your own (hopefully trend-proof) couch, this list is the design gossip you’ve been waiting for.

1. The Square Toilets

These have been coming in lately and they are curved for a very specific reason. Your comfort is in mind when toilets have been designed for the ergonomics of sitting on them. I don’t know if you’ve ever sat on a square toilet before. I have. The corner points dig right into the back of your legs, and they’re the most uncomfortable things you have ever sat on.

2. Platform And Surround Bed Frames

Most of these designs come out way further than the actual bed themself, and that’s where you’re gonna have a problem. It’s very unlikely that the average person has a bedroom big enough to fit these. They take up an enormous amount of room, and honestly, you are going to stub your toes or hit your shins like crazy, especially if they’re unupholstered.

3. Sofas With No Middle Support

Trust me on this one, if there isn’t a middle support, the structural integrity is going to be little to none. Unless you weigh less than a hundred pounds, you’re probably not gonna have to worry about it. But sofas are usually investment pieces because you have to spend a lot of money on them and you’re using them on a daily basis. The last thing you want is to sit down in the middle with some force and it snaps in half. You’d be surprised. It happens more often than not. Always check the specs if you’re looking at line, or even if you’re in the showroom, bend over, take a look and see if they have that middle support underneath. It’s going to make a world of a difference. Trust me on this one.

4. Open Concept Bathrooms

Honestly, I’m so sorry this is actually a thing. All I can imagine is sitting in a public bathroom and the door doesn’t lock when I see this. Bathrooms require a level of privacy. Don’t take that away. The best design for any bathroom is hiding the toilet away completely. No one wants to see it. It doesn’t look nice, nor do you do nice things to it.

5. Those Overhead Pot Racks

This is a terrible idea unless you have spotless pots and pans in pristine condition. I don’t know about you, but honestly, looking at the bottom of pots and pans is the least appealing thing that I want in a kitchen. Unless you have pots and pans that are always in perfect condition. I would avoid using something like this ’cause it’s going to make your kitchen look really cluttered and way busier than you expect it to be.

6. Jetted Tubs

They’re giving me eighties honeymoon hotel suite. But in actuality, these are a bacteria hoarder and they require so much maintenance and upkeep. They are also extremely loud. If you’ve never had one of these in your space, if you live in a condo or a home, it sounds like a shuttle going off.

7. LED Strip Lighting

I mean, LED strip lighting that’s used everywhere. Listen, it can be a great look and I agree with that, but everyone seems to be installing them incorrectly. I highly recommend getting a diffuser to put on top, so at least you have a solid line of light, which it was intended to look like, not these dots everywhere in the corner of a room that make it look like it’s more cluttered. Not to mention the adhesive needed to keep them in place, especially if you’re putting them in the entirety and the surroundings of your room.

8. Colors To Avoid In Your Bathroom And Why: Black

Don’t get me wrong, I love a dark and moody bathroom, but black does nothing for your skin tone and the overall look within the space, especially if you do it all black. Black will absorb light and make it harder to accurately apply makeup even if you have proper front facing light. Black bathrooms are great if you don’t want to see your loose hair anywhere.

9. The Walk-In Closets In Your En Suite

The moisture in the bathroom is extremely high and your clothes will absorb all the steam, all the smell that your bathrooms get. You need to have these separated, and honestly, it’s going to make your bathroom look more cluttered than it needs to be.

10. All White Kitchen

The all-white kitchen looks incredible in photographs, but from an everyday lived-in experience, the amount of dirt and grease that splatters and collects everywhere, you notice everything. And the same thing on the other end of the spectrum.

11. Vessel Sinks

Another big trend that honestly are super impractical. The mounting of these sinks requires an uncomfortable low bench top height for the vanity, and you honestly don’t wanna have to bend over that far to access anything underneath the vanity if you have drawers or shelves under it. Unfortunately, these vessel sinks also accumulate a lot of dirt that builds up around the crevice of the basin, and it is a cleaning nightmare. Avoid the dirt-catching lip with an undermount sink. Honestly, it’s gonna be a way better design.

12. Distressed Cabinets

This one irks me in so many ways. It came in like a tidal wave and left just as quickly. You pay premium prices for a new kitchen, for it to look like an old one, honestly. Make that make sense.

13. The All Neutral Rooms

It’s starting to come back in. They kind of come in waves here and there. You either love them or you hate them, but I find they end up looking so sterile and so flat. So if you do like these neutral palettes, bring in some contrasting depth, some darker tones, some lighter tones to create that dimension in the space so it looks more curated instead of bland.

14. The Worst Fabrics To Choose For Your Couch Or Sofa: Microfiber

It’s extremely soft, but attracts so much dirt and looks so old so quickly. Even when it’s not dirty, it’s gonna look dirty, and it’s always gonna look discolored or stained with the slightest moisture imbalance in your room. This fabric is also extremely static prone, so not only is it giving you a good shock when you sit down, it’s going to be a magnet for hair, dust and every particle in your room.

15. Stools With No Lumbar Support

These are a nightmare for your posture, and you can only sit at one comfortably for maybe five minutes. So many bars and restaurants have them, and even in your home, they’re absolutely terrible. Save your spine and get something with even a little bit of lumbar support so you can actually sit comfortably and straight on it instead of constantly looking like a banana.

16. Wire Cage Storages

Honestly, this defeats the purpose of closed storage to keep everything away. If the style works with your aesthetic, by all means use it. But I find it impractical when it comes to decluttering your space and it just adds more. Closed storage is always gonna give you a way better look. And honestly, this reminds me of condo storage.

17. Backsplashes That I Would Avoid: Limestone

In any format for a backsplash tile. As beautiful as it is, stone is so porous and you’re never going to get it clean. There are so many micro holes everywhere in this finish of a material. It’s not a great option.

18. Extreme Minimalism

Yes, I can see the appeal of it. At the end of the day, a home should feel lived in, even if it’s slightly refined and having too much minimalism, it makes it look completely dead and hollow inside. And on the other end, extreme maximalism, if you don’t know how to do this correctly or even coordinate the colors and finishes that you’re bringing in, it is a glorified title of a hoarder. You spend days at a time cleaning, and honestly, it ends up looking like a mess when you just start bringing in more and more and more.

19. The Futon

A clever combination, yes. Beautiful, absolutely not. They always end up looking like dorm room styles. Honestly. Invest in a deeper couch if you want something you can sleep on and still lounge on.

20. The Dolce And Gabbana Smeg Appliances

This company, first of all, is known for its homophobia and racism and people are still buying it. It bothers me that such a great company like Smeg partner with them to create these atrocities. These nightmares they created are going to cost you a down payment. This isn’t something that you want to actually appreciate in your home, especially in your kitchen.

21. Armless Sofas

For everyday use, they are not a practical choice. There is no way of lounging in any of these whatsoever. Yes, they look amazing. Until you have to have a conversation with someone sitting beside you, you can’t angle yourself on them comfortably. Your back will arch to compensate and end up being more of a formal sitting style. That’s not great for every day. The ends of those couches end up being completely useless and not used at all.

22. Colors To Avoid In Your Bathroom And Why: Peach

As beautiful as the color is, I find it looks negatively, and it looks extremely uninviting and decreases your overall energy in the space. Also, the way that light reflects on any pink or peach tones looks terrible on your skin tone when you’re actually looking in your vanity mirror.

23. DIY Travertine Tables

Which have come in by storm in 2022, transitioning into this year. Travertine is stunning, don’t get me wrong, but these DIY-friendly coffee tables that people have been making are typically made from stone pavers from hardware stores, which are super porous, and liquid nails are not going to keep it together to last longer than a season if you’re moving it around, the structural integrity of these just doesn’t work out. But yes, it does look beautiful.

24. Built-In Microwaves In Your Island

I know, I hate microwaves. They are a complete eyesore and they don’t look great above your oven either. Having them in your island is a great way to hide it away, but if you have not tried using one of these, it’s at the height of a 4-year-old and it’s going to hurt your back reheating that meal.

25. Backsplashes That I Would Avoid: High Reflectivity

High reflectivity. The high reflectivity of these finishes make your base and your kitchen look extremely cluttered, and everything around it is reflected. It’s also gonna show every spot and watermark that you forgot to Windex.

26. Dining Benches

Another really impractical design choice for your home. Yes, it’s a great way to free up a lot of space and it can disappear under the dining table, which is a huge plus. But if you’ve ever been on a chair without any lumbar support, leaning is inevitable and optimal. Distance of the seat to the table is ultimately up to who you’re sitting on that bench with, and no one is built the same.

27. Those Imperfect Zia Tiles

I get it. They’re very trendy right now. They look super cool, but I want you to think about the water and the grime buildup in your shower, and you’re going to hate cleaning them. So I would avoid them at all costs.

28. Colored Appliances

Colored appliances can look great in the proper setting, but if you paint it yourself, I find it just ends up looking really cheap. Photographs look amazing, but in hindsight of living with it, it’s going to have every chip, every scratch, everything is going to be visible on it.