'It's not my motivation to always do something timeless,' Kristina Crestin told me in our interview this week.
In a design landscape where we're constantly discussing how to make interiors more 'timeless' or 'anti-trend,' it seems like a shocking revelation. The statement is especially surprising, coming from Crestin, a champion of the 'classic' modern farmhouse style in her HGTV series Farmhouse Fixer. Actually, her reasoning is quite freeing.
'I get a lot of feedback from homeowners that have gone safer and more timeless with some things, but they just don't love it as much as the places they took risks,' Crestin explained on the home decor idea. Rather than guiding your interior design based on arbitrary ideas of what's 'outdated,' Kristina recommends choosing an interior scheme based on personal taste.
Kristina Crestin with her co-host Jonathan Knight, former member of the boyband New Kids on the Block
When one is guided by personal taste, it's easy to be drawn to current interior design trends. Crestin doesn't necessarily think this is a bad thing. Instead, choosing where to integrate interior design trends you love requires reconfiguring where and how to spend budget. She used the analogy of buying a new wardrobe.
Crestin stated: 'How often are we all buying trendy colors, but we're buying it at Target because we're like, OK, I might hate this color next year.' She continued, 'So I'm spending money on my pants that are great, but I'm just going to keep changing the trendier items because of course I want to change. Of course I want to try the new thing.' In interiors, this might look like spending money on more classic millwork or tiling that you love, while going more 'fun' and trendy with the furniture.
She recommended, 'thinking about things that are trendy that could be easily replaceable' like furniture. She continued, 'Yes, furniture is an investment for some people but it's certainly less costly [to replace] than tiling a whole bathroom.'
The interior designer's entire philosophy works to take the pressure off of creating a timeless interior design and focusing on the joy of the process. Crestin told Homes & Gardens: 'I think people get trapped with the idea that they're doing this once, they're spending the money once and then they're not going to change it for 15 years. Well, you wouldn't address your wardrobe that way. Knowing that over time you might need to supplement some things takes the pressure off of feeling like it's one and done. It's more of a psychological thing.'
Shop the Modern Farmhouse Edit
The modern farmhouse style, often seen on Farmhouse Fixer, perfectly strikes the balance of incorporating trendy elements, but also remaining true to timeless materials and high-quality design.
Whether you prefer following interior design trends or opting for more classic interior design, Crestin's ideas are helpful reminder that it's always okay to decorate to the tune of your own drummer. If you hate it, you can always change it later.
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