We all want our homes to be inviting and enjoyable to live in. After a long day, returning to a space that feels cozy, functional, and pleasing can be a real comfort.
However, not everyone has a background in interior design or home decor. Sometimes, efforts to follow trends can miss the mark, and other times, the trends themselves might not be the best fit. TikTok creators Ethan Gaskill and Robert Gigliotti have highlighted some of the home decor trends they find problematic. This has sparked others to share their own design critiques as well. Check out their insights below!
1.
This got really popular with the Kanye and Kim house, everything was concrete or plain metal. It feels so cold and detached, it’s not comfortable.
2.
I love a beach house, but people get too literal. You don’t need a ‘beach’ sign to prove that you like the beach.
3.
Following home decor trends can sometimes lead to mixed results. For instance, while social media might criticize white kitchens, many people still find them elegant and timeless. Similarly, shiplap is charming in a beach cottage or lake house but might not suit every setting, like high-rise apartments in urban areas. It’s important to ask yourself, “Is this trend right for my space?” and “Do I genuinely like it, or am I just following the trend?”
Ethan and Robert have created a series of videos where they share their opinions on various home decor trends. The first part is on Ethan’s account, and the second part is on Robert’s channel. They include a disclaimer in their videos, clarifying that their comments are meant to be light-hearted and not directed at anyone personally. As one caption reads, “We all did these things at one point.”
Robert emphasized in the second part, “Don’t take us too seriously; we’re just having fun and joking around. Many people found our previous video helpful.” Their “Home icks” series gained significant attention, with the most popular video reaching 2.5 million views. One enthusiastic commenter even suggested, “This series should be picked up by Netflix—I’d watch this for hours.”
4.
I in general don’t like clear furniture or clear surfaces. Lucite is better suited in your bathroom drawers, to help organize your products, not to be used to dine on or as a coffee table.
5.
That powder coated black steel silhouette or any furniture that looks too concrete or bulky. They look like they’re meant to be on someone’s back patio with a fire pit between them.
6.
Anything that is printed in marble. I don’t know why this became such a thing. I fell like marble is the new galaxy print.
Ethan and Robert are not professional interior designers, but both have a very keen eye when it comes to home decor aesthetics. Robert told Business Insider that his mother flipped houses when he was growing up in Connecticut, so he’s seen his fair share of interiors. He started helping her pick out tiles and other finishes when he saw that many houses were what he calls “builder gray.”
Both of Ethan’s parents were in the house business, too. His mom was a real estate agent, and his father built custom houses. “My mom was always around the house and really ingrained in my brain the idea of keeping a tidy space and making sure your space is a kind of reflection of who you are, in the way that it sort of impacts your mind,” he told the publication.
7.
Toiletries, nail polish, makeup if you’re over 14 years old. I don’t need to see your Essie nail polish collection stacked like it’s a spice rack.
8.
Furniture that has technology built into it (charging ports, recliners, ect.).
It has never sat right with me. In theory it seems like such a good idea, having a charging port that close to you is great, but what happens a year later when the fuse burns out on that? Or the plug type changes?
9.
The pair says they’re not trying to be the authority on what people should or should not do. They’re simply pointing out what decor mistakes they or their friends and family made throughout the years. “This is a lot of stuff we’ve done ourselves, or we grew up with siblings that have done this, or parents, it’s all things that people kind of agree on or relate to in a way, that they can kind of laugh about,” Ethan told Business Insider.
10.
A home needs character, needs charm, mix-match looks good, don’t do smallest to largest, just put them in order of weather you’ve read them or not.