Beyond Trends: Timeless Design Elements That Never Go Out of Style
Every season, design blogs and social media start telling you what is “in,” the color, the tile, the cabinet style, the light fixture everyone suddenly has to have. And every time, I have the same reaction: that is nice, but will we still like it in five years?
Because here is the thing: good design is slow. Houses are slow. Lives are slow. The best interiors are not trying to win the month. They are trying to feel wonderful year after year, through kids, dogs, holidays, messy seasons, and new art obsessions.
So when I think about timelessness, I do not think about a specific style. I think about ease. I think about rooms that do not shout at you. (Unless, of course, that’s the brief! 🤪 Think about spaces where the architecture, materials, and furniture are all having the same calm conversation. I think about homes that let you keep changing without demanding that you start over.
What Timeless Actually Feels Like
For me, a timeless room is one you do not get tired of looking at. It is usually built on classic lines, good proportions, trim that belongs to the house, windows that are not fighting the architecture, lighting that actually flatters people. When a home starts from a well-proportioned, architecturally respectful place, it ages so much better than a space that is trying to be clever.
And it is almost always full of materials that age well. Real wood floors, white oak is such a good, quiet workhorse here in Portland, real stone countertops, real brass or other living metals, things that do not pretend to be perfect forever. I love when something admits that time has passed. A marble top with a few soft etches from years of dinner parties is infinitely more beautiful to me than something plastic that stayed shiny but never had a soul.
Timelessness is also personal. If you have loved blue your whole life, blue is timeless to you. If you grew up with unpainted wood and it makes you exhale, that will never be “out.” We forget that sometimes, that our long-term preferences are much better guides than trend reports.
Portland, But Make It Forever
People ask if Portland has its own version of classic. We do, but only in the sense that we have a wide range of homes, old bungalows, 1920s houses full of charm, midcentury ranches, and brand new contemporary builds. The truth is, timeless is the same everywhere; you honor the architecture and you work with it.
If you are in a 1920s Portland house, you do not need to erase that character to get a modern feeling. You soften it, you simplify where it makes sense, and then you bring in materials that could have existed then and that look right now, oak, marble, unlacquered brass, wools, linen, stone. If you are in a newer house, you can add some of those details to ground it so it does not read “built in 2017” forever.
The location does not change the core principle. Choose things that do not announce their era too loudly.
WHEN I CHOSE TO STEP AWAY FROM THE TREND
Every now and then, there is a look that shows up everywhere online. At the time we were working on the Bull Mountain pool bath and powder room project, black metal, divided light shower doors were having a very big moment. They were beautiful, but they were also very specific. You could tell instantly when that bathroom had been done.
I knew I did not want to stamp the space with something that belonged to one year. We had just finished a really lovely bar across the hall, and this bathroom needed to feel just as considered. So instead of following what was popular, I went looking for something with more story to it.
That is how I ended up in the basement at Cargo, staring at a teak Indonesian gate and thinking, this is it. It was imperfect in the best way, it had history, and it felt like travel, which I knew the clients loved. Our contractor, Paul Marto, and his team made it work beautifully. They even had the frame painted to match the patina so it looked like it had always belonged there.
To me that is what staying timeless looks like. You do not let the internet pick for you. You listen to the house, to the client, and to your own gut.
MIX YOUR TIMELINES
One of the simplest ways to make a room feel like it has been there forever is to mix things from different times in your life. I love when a client has a piece of art they bought in their 20s hanging next to a special piece they finally invested in this year. I love a vintage chair with a new lamp. I love books that have moved with you three houses later.
That is what real homes look like. That is also why catalog rooms, even very pretty ones, do not tend to age well. They were all chosen at once. Timeless design looks gathered. It looks like someone thoughtful lives there.
And you do not have to make it traditional to make it timeless. You can have color, texture, some whimsy, even a little pattern on pattern, as long as the bones and materials are solid. A clean lined sofa, a vintage side table, a painting you love, linen drapes, good lighting, suddenly you have a room that could exist in 1995, 2025, or 2045, and it would still feel right.
MATERIAL LOYALTIES
If you have worked with me, you know I will always advocate for the real version of something. Real stone over fake stone. Real wood over laminate. Natural fiber over shiny synthetics. Not because I am trying to make your life fussy, but because real materials soften, patina, and settle into a house. That is what makes older homes so beautiful, you can feel time in them.
And when the big pieces are real and restrained, you can have so much more fun with the changeable things, pillows, lamps, art, plants, bedding, paint. If we give you a strong, classic base, you can do the color of the year without committing to it for life.
GO WITH YOUR GUT
If I had to name the philosophy underneath all of this, it would really be this: go with your gut. If something gives you that little flutter, a door in the basement of a warehouse, a vintage chair, a painting in a tiny gallery, pay attention. That is the part of you that knows what will still make you happy five years from now.
I do that for myself, and I do it on behalf of my clients. If I see something and I know in my bones it is right for their house, I will make it happen. That is part of why their homes do not look stamped out or trend chasing. They look like them.
THE SHORT VERSION, BUT NOT REALLY
Honor the house. Choose real materials. Buy what you actually love. Let things age. Let your home tell the story of where you have been. Good design should make your nervous system drop two notches the minute you walk in. It should be supportive, beautiful, and kind to live with. Trends almost never do that. Timeless design does.
If that is what you want for your home, reach out, and we can talk about your project.
’Til next time,
Arlene