Episode #78: Elsie + Emma React To 2021 Trend Predictions

Elsie: You’re listening to the A Beautiful Mess podcast, while we do our best to stay neutral on trends. We do love them. Trends are super fun. I’m always so curious to hear what other bloggers and media predict for the emerging trends of the year. In this episode, Emma and I are going to read off home design trends for 2021 and react to them. Then we’ll say what we agree with and what we don’t agree with and what we think about each trend. It’s going to be kind of a game so you can play along. All right, let’s go.

Emma: I like that you said were neutral on trends. I don’t know if that’s how people think of us. (laughs)

Elsie: OK, well, do you want to know what I meant by that? What I meant was…

Emma: We’re nice about it? (laughs) That’s what I thought.

Elsie: Yeah. First of all, try not to be a snob. Like I don’t want to be a super snob. And the other thing is try not to let trends tell you what you can and can’t do. You know, that’s like if if a trend is in or out, it shouldn’t matter to you. You know? But it’s still fun.

Emma: If you love something you love it. Yeah, I agree. True. That’s true.

Elsie: I feel like I’m a little hyped this morning. So we’re going to have a hype episode and I hope you guys enjoy.

Emma: This is called: we just had coffee. (laughs)

Elsie: Yeah, it’s coffee time. (laughs) OK, so I just Googled 2021 design predictions and that was my research and I came up with ten articles — or maybe it’s eight. Yeah there’s eight. And I picked one trend from each one. So we’re going to kind of read them out, talk about them, discuss, agree, disagree, controversy. It’s going to be so exciting. And then disclaimer before we start, you know, we love a disclaimer. It’s one of our moves. So when I was prepping, it’s like every trend has someone saying it’s going in and someone else saying it’s going out. So just know that this is just for fun. These rules are made to be broken. And honestly, like none of these people know better than we do anyway. So…

Emma: Yeah, it’s just a prediction. So that means it’s made up. That’s what a prediction is. (laughs)

Elsie: Right. Like, but it’s fun and we do our own predictions at the end too. So.

Emma: Yeah. And we’re going to link the articles. So if you want to go like check them out…

Elsie: Yes.

Emma: …read them more in full, you can.

Elsie: Especially if we’re talking about a trend and you don’t quite like you can’t quite visualize it, then go to the show notes and look at the pictures that they put because they kind of give examples of each one. So it’s kind of fun.

Emma: Yep.

Elsie: All right. So the first one this one comes from Architectural Digest and it is ‘Squiggles and Wiggles’. So I will say strongly, I agree. I’m definitely seeing this trend. So we’re seeing the mirrors that are squiggly, the candles. It’s kind of like an 80s vibe.

Emma: It’s very 80s. I feel like people doing this trend, a lot of times they have like a piece of cloud furniture, like side table or one of those cloud mirrors, like the foamy looking — because that’s also a very 80s…

Elsie: Absolutely.

Emma: It’s very 80s. Yes.

Elsie: Do you like a checkered wall? You know?

Emma: Were you born in the eighties like me? (laughs)

Elsie: (laughs) I don’t know. I kind of think it’s for younger people, too.

Emma: It’s definitely for younger people. Yeah, I feel like people our age —  I feel like it’s people about five years younger than us. They’re really into it.

Elsie: Yeah.

Emma: That’s what I’m saying.

Elsie: If you’re taking a thumbtack and a string and you’re making an arch or a circle on your wall, then the squiggle trend might be for you.

Emma: And what do you think of it? Because I’ve seen a squiggle mirror in your house.

Elsie: OK, so I have I don’t know what you would call it. It’s not a dupe, but we made a DIY that’s like inspired by Jonathan Adler mirrors, and he has a squiggle mirror on his website, I’ll link to those. And then my mirror…

Emma: Not sure Jonathan Adler would call it a dupe. (laughs)

Elsie: OK, well, let me just say that one time I did like one of my first Jonathan Adler inspired DIYs, which I’ve done like probably ten. They like, Instagrammed about it and stuff and like, left us comments. So I know that they’re not like offended by it. Some brands are different with that stuff.

Emma: No I think he would call it a dupe to troll you because I think he has a good sense of humor.

Elsie: He has such a good sense of, you guys know, I’m in love with him, OK? I have a little tiny, tiny, tiny bit of it in my house. And I do think it like, because it’s an eighties thing. And I’ll say that a little bit of it goes into the seventies. But for me, I’m not going to have a cloud mirror and for me, I’m not going to have like a checkered mural on my wall because it’s too much eighties for me. What do you think?

Emma: Yeah, I really enjoy seeing it. Like, I follow a couple people on Instagram @leefromamerica — do you follow her?

Elsie: No, I don’t. But I…

Emma: Well, she’s into this trend and I think it looks really cool in her house, her apartment. I’m not sure if it’s a house or an apartment, but it’s not for me. It doesn’t really go with the age of my home. And it’s not…

Elsie: That’s true. Emma’s living in a historic bungalow. So that would be trying too hard.

Emma: So I love to see it like sincerely. I’m not even just being nice. I really do like it. It’s just not for me as far as like in my home.

Elsie: Yeah. But confirm it’s a confirmed trend. Yeah. So let’s move on to the next one and we will link is it @leefromamerica? In the shownotes.

Emma: Yeah.

Elsie: The second trend is, and this is 2020 inspired, like covid inspired…

Emma: A number of these are actually, which I think makes a lot of sense.

Elsie: It does, because it’s changed our lives dramatically.

Emma: Yep.

Elsie: So the second one is multifunctional spaces. So what the article was basically saying, this is from HGTV Canada, by the way. They’re saying that the pandemic made us all rethink our home and what we need from our home. We’re using our homes more than ever. And we want to have rooms where like, you know, a breakfast nook where you can also do a puzzle at night and you can, you know, like it’s anything that is a morning, noon, night like, multi space is a huge pro right now. And we don’t want wasted spaces.

Emma: I feel like I’m seeing where people use spaces in their homes that previously…it’s not that they didn’t use it, it just wasn’t as…they weren’t home as much, you know, and now it’s like, oh, that’s where they spend three or four hours a day because our whole world is inside our homes now so…(laughs)

Elsie: Yes, totally. Like, for example, our home has like a home theater. And I imagine that in the 25 years this home’s been built, that there were years when no one really used it because there was like TV in the bedroom or whatever. But in 2020 it’s like our little joke that it was our only babysitter and our only date night. We used it every day! (laughs) So I think yeah, homes are definitely getting the love they deserve right now. And if we see a space that we’re not using, we’re going to find a way to use it.

Emma: Yep, yep.

Elsie: I love that. All right. Trend number three is from Good Housekeeping, and it is diamond-patterned flooring.

Emma: So explain this one more like give people a picture.

Elsie: Yes. OK, so…

Emma: Is it just tile or is it just wood? Is you know what I mean? Like…

Elsie: I’d say, it’s mostly tile.

Emma: Yeah, that’s what I would say.

Elsie: And a lot I will confirm it as in my bubble — strong trend. A lot of my friends are doing the diamond-patterned tile in like a sunroom or a dining room, a kitchen even. It’s really, really fun. I think it goes…it can go in more than one decade. But anything that’s traditional or historic-inspired home for sure looks great in there. A lot of people do the black and white. But I’ve also seen the like tonal like beige and white. Right. And that’s really nice, too. So, yeah.

Emma: It’s definitely like a traditional thing, but it’s like one of the fun traditional things, you know what I mean? Like someone with a…

Elsie: It’s a statement.

Emma: Yeah, it’s not…what do you think of it?

Elsie: I love it. I think I think that they have it in the Mary Poppins house. I’d have to go back and look. Anything in that house translated in a modern way. I’m like bonkers for that. So…

Emma: That’s true. That’s a good way to look at it.

Elsie: Yeah. And I love it. And Chris loves Julia’s house.

Emma: Oh, yeah. Well, she makes anything look amazing.

Elsie: I find it annoying to call her Chris Love Julia like Julia, but you know what I’m saying? Like, if I just say Julia, there’s like more than one blogger called Julia, it’s confusing. So anyway, I love it. I think it looks beautiful. I don’t think it would fit in my home. But that doesn’t…it’s kind of like a treat for the eyes. So if you have a space in your home that’s like an isolated room that needs like a pop of pattern, I would say go for it.

Emma: Mm hmm.

Elsie: What do you think of it?

Emma: It’s not my favorite thing, but I think it looks good in this, you know. You know, it would probably work in my home like the age of my home, but…

Elsie: It probably would.

Emma: I just it’s not really my bag to me. It feels a little mature in a way that I don’t want to be, I guess? Because I am old enough to do whatever…(laughs)

Elsie: It’s too traditional for you?

Emma: Yeah it’s a little too traditional for me, I don’t know. But I like seeing it in other people’s homes. But it’s not my bag.

Elsie: I get that. Well we’re going to get more into it. But traditional stuff is making a big trend splash this year.

Emma: Yeah, traditional is in.

Elsie: And I have I’ve been feeling that like I’m into it, but I get it. The fourth one is from Vogue. I feel like that automatically is like…makes it sound more pretentious. And all it is is comfort over concepts. They’re saying that we’re not going to buy anything that’s like too precious that’s not going to last right now because we’re feeling how much we’re living in our homes. So we’re not going to buy a sofa that doesn’t have performance fabric or we’re not going to buy a table if we don’t think it can take a beating from our children and things like that. So I do think yeah — the comfort over the concept, like for me, like my greatest nightmare in all of life is a glass coffee table.

Emma: Yeah.

Elsie: I would never let a glass coffee table into my home. They’re so pretty. But no, never, never, never, never.

Emma: Yeah, I’m not into those either. But yeah, I also I think you have always had this mindset. I think people with young kids tend to…they either embrace it or they don’t.

Elsie: It’s kind of like, yeah, people without kids because of 2020 and just like you. Losing your home so much more, maybe you have a little bit more of the mindset that we have now and you’re like joining our camp, so we’re all going to be getting these, like, comfy leather sofas at the same time.

Emma: Yeah. Or if you have, like, a marble coffee table or just table generally, I think in the past I would have been a little more precious about it. And now I’m kind of like, I’m using this every day. It’s just going to be what it’s going to be. And I’m going to embrace the imperfections that my life brings to it, because that’s…I’m here all the time in my house.

Elsie: Absolutely.

Emma: So it’s just, I don’t know, letting the precious go a little bit, or embracing that like, you know, your kid adding a little bit of paint to your dining room table is part of it.

Elsie: Right.

Emma: Instead of a mistake that you need to buff out, it’s like nah, this is part of it.

Elsie: Ugh, you know, you know I love that. Oh, it makes my heart so happy! Yeah. I think that also another thing is just like buying for quality, like buying…or buying something that you think will last. I, I really feel that. I think that’s one of the good things because we all love cheap furniture. No one doesn’t love cheap furniture…

Emma: Of course.

Elsie: But you know, when you buy something and you just immediately know it’s not going to last, I find that like one of the worst feelings ever, like the shopping regret feeling.

Emma: Yeah. Because you feel like you’ve just basically created another piece of trash to go to the landfill six months or a year from then. And it’s like, that’s a bummer. I’d rather get something that’s going to last me years and years.

Elsie: Yes.

Emma: Even if it’s going to get little marks or I’m going to have to repaint it or whatever it is. You know, I agree.

Elsie: This next one is from the blog, Chris Loves Julia. Julia’s blog. (laughs) I’m saying it accurately. (laughs)

Emma: It’s Chris’s blog, too.

Elsie: It’s Chris and Julia’s blog. But mostly Julia’s. OK. No, OK.

Emma: I’m sure Chris would agree with that.

Elsie: Yeah, actually, I think it’s true. Patterns made with tile instead of patterned tile. Ok, so I will say on this one strongly agree, because I think that the cement tile craze is dying down because we all — like I’d never put cement tile in my house, but I have lots of friends who had a horrible experience with the longevity and like the care.

Emma: Oh really?

Elsie: Yeah, like especially when they put it in like a high traffic room or a bathroom. I think that if you are OK with getting that really, like, worn-in look like, then that’s OK. But for a lot of people, it’s very stressful. So anyway, I’m seeing more people taking ceramic tile which can hold up to, you know, anything and making patterns with it. And I’m loving that. And I totally agree. Like a stripe made out of tile. I’m definitely planning that for a future bathroom soon. And it feels so good to me. I’d way rather do that than buy a tile that had stripes on it. What do you think?

Emma: Yeah, I love a pattern made from tile. I have a few patterned tiles in my house, one by a fireplace and then also my porch.

Elsie: Oh yeah.

Emma: And it’s held up well. But to be fair, the fireplace tile is a very small accent area and not high traffic.

Elsie: Yeah. And the porch one is still porcelain tile, made for outdoor.

Emma: It’s still porcelain. Yes.

Elsie: It’s really cute.

Emma: So it’s held up. Because it’s meant to hold up.

Elsie: It was really hard to find, though, tile like that.

Emma: It was because where I live it definitely gets cold enough to freeze. So you have to make sure that you get tile that can work with that. So anyway, but it is holding up well. But yes, a pattern made from tile I think is very visually interesting. It makes me think of like a restaurant or like a commercial space more because I think that is almost always more high traffic than a home, or at least it used to be in the past.

Elsie: Right.

Emma: So I feel like you see it more in those spaces and people have been incorporating it into their homes. I also like just plain…like people keeping tile very simple and adding accents in different ways, which is not a design trend. Just I’m saying, you know, that’s cool, too.

Elsie: You mean like colored or do you mean white?

Emma: Either way.

Elsie: Hmm.

Emma: I’d rather have colored, but sometimes you regret that. So, you know.

Elsie: Mmhmm.

Emma: Just depends. It’s kind of one of those questions of like how long are you going to be in your home too.

Elsie: Right. Not for this episode, Emma.

Emma: (laughs)

Elsie: I, I am very into yeah like, colored tile and then yeah. The patterns made with tile, I’m feeling that so much. So I think I’m going to do it in our little breakfast nook — a whole tile room.

Emma: Where are you doing the Rainbow Tile. Rainbow Stripes?

Elsie: Where?

Emma: Yeah.

Elsie: In the guest bathroom I think.

Emma: Ahhh, okay okay.

Elsie: I know! It’s going to have a rainbow shower. I am really nervous. So…

Emma: Nah, it’ll be beautiful.

Elsie: It’s my first time to do like a room with a lot of color. And when I did the voting on Instagram, a lot of people voted against it, which I was surprised by. I was like, are you voting against it for me or for you? Like, are they say? I think they were saying, like, “I wouldn’t do it” because I’m doing it and they’re going to like it when I do it.

Emma: It’s hard to vote for someone else, though, because…

Elsie: That’s true.

Emma: You can only really voter as yourself. Because how would you…

Elsie: But if someone else wanted to do something crazy in their house, I would always vote yes because I would want to see it.

Emma: That’s true. Yeah, like, please do it. I want to see it so that I have to do it. (laughs)

Elsie: Yeah, but I don’t know. I’m loving a neutral, too. I think in our in our main bathroom I’ll probably end up doing like a neutral like pattern. So. All right, let’s take a quick sponsor break.

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Elsie: All right, moving on to number six. So this one is from Elle Decor and it is strong color mixed with neutral and in the picture showed as the example, it was like a beautiful kind of traditional neutral living room with pops of green, red, and yellow all in one shot. So it was like primary pops of color. How are you feeling about this?

Emma: I like it. I mean, it’s fun. I also think, you know, for me, I guess it depends like what is neutral and what is colored like how are you doing the accents.

Elsie: Yeah.

Emma: But also, I don’t know, I like I like monochrome and I like a contrast. It just depends what kind of vibe you want or what kind of is.

Elsie: It’s okay to love everything. Last night Emma and I watched a Wes Anderson movie. So I think in the moment — at the moment I’m in now, I’m very influenced by that. And it was a treat for the eyes. And now I’m like, I want everything to be very colorful.

Emma: It was Royal Tenenbaums.

Elsie: Yeah. It was very colorful and very vibey.

Emma: Yeah. Their house, apartment, whatever is like it’s very…yeah, it is very monochrome actually.

Elsie: Number seven is from BHG and it is nods to nostalgia. So this is one we’re going to talk about traditional and Victorian vibes coming back. It’s also sometimes called the grand millennial style and it’s also sometimes called Cottage Core, which I appreciate both of those names. So I think really, Google Linda Rodin’s or Iris Apfel’s apartments and homes and you see what it is. It’s this but for young people, like a very big, very eclectic, very thrifed, flea market finds, lots of color, lots of vintage, cool granny, like something…there’s always like a disco ball or something cool, you know, mixed in with like, you know, the fluffy coats and whatnot.

Emma: I actually for me, I view this type of style slightly different from the cottage core in that I think this one is a little more colorful and a little bit more fancy, like it’s it’s nodding towards high end, it may be thrifted…

Elsie: I see what you’re saying.

Emma: …but or like, you know, a disco ball that you got at a flea market. But it is a little more glam, whereas the Cottage Core to me is kind of like cool, shabby chic. So it’s a little more rustic and a little more neutral tones.

Elsie: Dried flowers everywhere. You’re right. I see that.

Emma: And they’re both very cool and they are both traditional and like it’s like taking traditional and making it cool, in my opinion. But I’m also probably of the age that I think this is cool. So I’m definitely in the grand millennial. I like it, but but yeah, I do view those is two kind of different. They could both be in the same house, but they are kind of different styles.

Elsie: Yes.

Emma: Because one’s a little more glam.

Elsie: I see what you’re saying. Yeah. One’s like Sex in the City and one is more like…

Emma: Sex and the City on vacation in the country.

Elsie: Drying oranges in your oven, hanging them up on a string.

Emma: Yeah. A little different.

Elsie: Yeah. Let’s talk about traditional for a minute, because I also felt like — so two years ago when we started house shopping, I was sometimes falling in love with historic homes and I really wanted a historic home. I talked about it in our earlier podcast episodes quite a bit, and then we ended up not finding one. And that’s — that was not our destiny. But, you know, we talked about like the Seven Fireplaces house, and I do have like a strong, like, draw to traditional stuff, especially wallpaper. So I feel like a lot of bloggers I love are using really, really traditional wallpaper patterns right now. And it’s really pretty. I’m really loving that because I think that for a while when wallpaper first came back into fashion, it was like you had to use it in a weird way or like a funky…

Emma: It was more like a patterned shirt. Of like a cool guy who was a bartender. Like it was more like those patterns.

Elsie: Yeah. It had to have like some kind of like little quirky nostalgic design on it. And now I think it’s more like the literal patterns used in the 20s and 30s people are using and I really like it. So it feels really different. In our home, we’re definitely going a little more in like the 70s. And I’m doing a Kelly Wearstler pattern, like not as much doing the traditional, but I just keep ordering the samples and looking at them because I’m like, maybe I could just put like one, like maybe I could just fit one here and there because they’re so appealing. Do you have anything traditional that you just like started to love recently?

Emma: Well, I do have a lot of — well, not a lot, but I do have more wallpaper than I ever thought I would have in my Holiday House because it was already there. And the two that are in there already are florals and kind of traditional looking florals. They’re not really patterns from the 20s or 30s, but they are more traditional.

Elsie: I think they could go in the cottage core category.

Emma: Yes, that’s what I would say. And then the wallpaper I’m going to put in my nursery pretty soon is more traditional. It’s not quite…it’s probably not quite cottage core because I think it has a bright white behind it. So I wouldn’t really quite put it in that category. But it does feel like a vintage field guide. So it kind of goes with the other. It’s another more traditional floral, I guess, or plant.

Elsie: Pretty.

Emma: So those are pretty traditional. And then I also really do like the kind of like scuffed-up furniture. You bought it at a flea market, vibes, and that wasn’t really a big part of my last home. And now I have some of that and I like it.

Elsie: And I like that for your home too. And yeah, I feel like I would like to bring in a little more traditional into our current home. It feels good that there’s more of a permission that traditional is cool. Again, I’m very into that trend. It’s one of the ones I’m excited for.

Emma: And I don’t know, I can’t talk about traditional without mentioning, and I feel like we’ve mentioned her before on this podcast. But my friend Julie Blanner, if you don’t follow her blog, JulieBlanner.com, you really should, because I consider her kind of the queen of traditional, because she does a very neutral palette for the most part. And to me, it is a mix of the traditional, more fancy style and cottage core because she’ll have like terracotta brick tile in her home and different things like that. She’s just so classic and chic, but it is a mature, traditional style. It’s really pretty. It’s very different from anything I’ve ever done in my home. But I love it. So…

Elsie: It’s beautiful. I agree. So we are to trend number eight now, which is the final one but actually I took, too. So Emily Henderson did a trend like 2021 trends post just for kitchens and yeah, I liked that. So that’s what I took from. So the first one is we all, we all know all about subway tile.

Emma: Right.

Elsie: But she is saying you can install it different ways and that the trend this year is floor to ceiling subway tile which. I love that I’ve always felt like the more agile, the better, I love a tiled ceiling, I’m like very, very like maximalist about tile. In the past it was kind of a thing where, like, you don’t need tile unless you’re it’s like a back splash where you cook a lot or where it could get wet or, you know what I mean. Like…

Emma: There was just for the function of it.

Elsie: Yeah. And I think that doing it just to like make your whole room glossy and beautiful is very inspiring, kind of like a New York restaurant. And I think it’s really pretty.

Emma: Yeah, that’s what I would say. It feels like a New York restaurant to me when people do that.

Elsie: Yes. And there’s all different kinds of subway style. Now, I would because I feel like when people say subway tile, they just mean like the long and skinny, right. They don’t necessarily mean it has to be white or it doesn’t have to be any certain texture. And there’s like all the more textured ones and more colorful ones and.

Emma: Yes. And you can lay them lots of ways and you can get lots of different great colors. You can even mix your own group colors.

Elsie: Yes.

Emma: So there’s really a lot of options.

Elsie: I’m feeling the ones that look kind of like a very skinny, thin, glazed brick. Like it is a brick, but it’s like a tiled…

Emma: It has a little bit of like rough texture to it…that kind of thing. It’s not perfectly smooth.

Elsie: So pretty!

Emma: Yeah. Yeah. I have to use those somewhere. I have samples of them and I just like touch them and look at them and they’re one of my, you know, samples that I’m like in love with. Yeah. OK, and then the other trend that she called out that I am feeling is range cubbies. So this is like a structure around your stove. So imagine instead of just having a hood up at the top that attaches to the ceiling, that it goes all the way down to your counters on both sides. So it’s kind of like a built in structure that covers your vent.

Emma: Yeah, it’s usually to cover the vent, but it may also kind of function in some way, like it has a shelf or if it has hooks…

Elsie: Sometimes it has shelves along the top. Sometimes people like hang like a little wreath or a little art up there. Sometimes there are built-In shelves on the inside, which I think is really cool if you like to keep like certain spices or salt or oil or something right by your oven. Yeah, I really like them.

Emma: I love them. I think it can change the feeling of your kitchen from something a little more industrial to something a little more homey and cozy.

Elsie: Yeah, I feel like it does have a cozy kind of warm feeling.

Emma: Yeah. And if you don’t like your hood, like you don’t like the look of it, but you don’t know, you maybe like the function of it, this is potentially a great option for covering it and working it into your style without having to replace it, which I think is good.

Elsie: Absolutely. Yeah. Collin did that. He built a his own little box to cover — you know, you can cover any event you want.

Emma: Yep.

Elsie: Yeah. Even if it’s like one that came built in like under a microwave, if you want to make it look like a hood.

Emma: Yep.

Elsie: You can do that.

Emma: And Mandi has one. She did a DIY or at least showed it — I’m pretty sure it’s a DIY, but she showed how she built one in her kitchen. This has been a few years, but we can link it and it’s really, really pretty. She’s always ahead of the curve on trends because she’s very cool.

Elsie: Yeah, she went to Real Design School and we’re jealous about that.

Emma: Yeah.

Elsie: OK, one more question for the range cubbies. Do you love more the plaster look or the tile look?

Emma: It depends on the house. And like, what else is going on in your kitchen?

Elsie: I think for me I’m going to do a tiled one. I, I am seeing it and I’m loving it and I think I’m going to do it.

Emma: Yeah, I think that makes more sense for your kitchen to for at least what I think you’re doing in your kitchen because you’re going to gut it and change it a lot. But…

Elsie: Like it gives me the impression that it would be easier to clean. That’s why I’m more attracted to it. But maybe the plaster’s very easy to clean. I have. I wouldn’t know.

Emma: I just think plaster’s — it’s leaning a little more towards the cottage core, whereas the tile is leaning a little more towards the kind of…glam traditional.

Elsie: It’s true. It can be a little more farmhouse almost.

Emma: Yeah.

Elsie: All right. So Emma, are there any predictions for 2021, because we don’t do predictions post on ABM, I feel like it’s like a little bit out of our wheelhouse. But just for this one time, are there any predictions that you would say that you’re seeing that didn’t get mentioned yet?

Emma: I have one, and it’s just something that I’ve been seeing that I feel like no one’s talking about enough and it’s that beige is back.

Elsie: That’s a good one.

Emma: Because I feel like for so long we were all painting our walls white. And I don’t even necessarily mean that we’re all painting our walls beige now. But I just think that we have really leaned into warm tones and like letting a lot more warmth into our houses generally. So I’m just seeing a lot more beige like walls, trim, other options, you know, furniture, whatever. And I like it. I feel like I used to think beige was just this, like, default. They weren’t thinking. They just picked something. They didn’t want it to be stark white. But now I feel like. It’s being used in such intentional, beautiful ways that I’m just like really digging it at times so — beige is back.

Elsie: I definitely agree that it’s back — in fashion, too.

Emma: Yeah.

Elsie: OK. My predictions, first of all, statement candles. So these little like molded, funny shaped candles, a lot of them are like neon colors or pastels.

Emma: It’s a little bit that 80s squiggle wiggle style.

Elsie: Yes. Also just like candlesticks that are fun colors.

Emma: Yeah.

Elsie: I just feel like candles are like a big trend right now, which I didn’t see that one coming and I haven’t personally bought one yet, so I’m late to this trend.

Emma: I have a drawer that’s full of candlesticks. (laughs) I’m into it.

Elsie: Yeah. But I’m definitely seeing it and it’s fun. The second one is painting your walls, trim and ceiling all one color. So a little bit. I think I’m willing this into existence because I just did it like three times in a row and I love it. But also I, I think that I did it because I’m being influenced by other people, like the room we’re sitting in right now, my husband’s music studio, it’s like forest green walls, shelves, ceiling doors, trim everything. Even his desk is all painted one color and it just makes rooms feel really cohesive really quickly and like this bold, like it’s bold, but it also like ties together better.

Emma: Yes.

Elsie: Like, I don’t like to see just the white ceiling anymore.

Emma: Well, very much The Royal Tenenbaums last night, their apartment was like that. And then also, I think a person who does it and I always love it and it’s beautiful and she picks such amazing colors is @witanddelight. So, if you don’t follow…

Elsie: Her new home is so fun to follow.

Emma: Mmhmm. Yes. And I just love — she’ll pick pretty bold colors and then do everything. The walls, sometimes ceilings,oftentimes trim. And it’s this look and it’s just really cool. I love it.

Elsie: Yeah. I completely agree. OK, the next one I wanted to call out is — OK for the last like three years or maybe more every year. The predictions and the articles are saying pink is like done, pink is on its way out and I feel like rude people call it millennial pink specifically because I feel like it’s like a little bit of like a put down towards just light pink, like there’s more than one shade of light pink. But OK, my prediction is pink can stay as long as it wants.

Emma: I think pink is a neutral.

Elsie: I do too!

Emma: And it’s here to stay.

Elsie: I believe it’s a neutral, I mean at least for me. And the thing is like I kind of got to the point where I was like, if it’s the most hated trend and I still like it, I’m fine with that, you know? Like it just is a feel good color. And I’ve been talking to some other bloggers lately and we kind of like formed this like funny little alliance that if your husband, like people are always like, how do you get your husband to paint something pink? And it’s like this like cliche question that we get asked all the time.

Emma: Yeah. Comes up a lot.

Elsie: But we all learned that like once you’ve done it, the husband always wants more pink. Like it’s a comfortable color to live with is the point. Like it feels good. So I just think that like if you haven’t tried it and you’re on the fence, just give it a go because it’s basically a neutral it’s not the kind of bold color that you’re going to, like, regret every day or think about. At least I don’t feel that way. I feel like it’s very easy to live with and…

Emma: Well, there’s a lot of range. So hot pink is very different than like a soft pink.

Elsie: I’m not talking about hot pink.

Emma: Yeah, no one is talking about hot pink.

Elsie: I’m talking about different versions of blush pink and light pink.

Emma: Which is basically when you really think about it, like you’re looking at a color wheel. It’s just a warm white. That’s all it is.

Elsie: It’s true.

Emma: So it’s just a white with a little bit of red in it, mixed in. That’s what pink is, which is not really all that controversial. So…(laughs)

Elsie: I know that sometime in my life I will have a moment where I don’t want anything pink anymore and that will be a problem. But at this moment, I’m not seeing an end to it. And I also feel like we’re collecting more warm colors, like making it a family, because I just did a cabinet in my kids bathroom. Kind of this like light like penny color, if that makes sense, you know, like kind of between a brown and an orange and it’s feeling really good. And then I’m seeing a lot of like the very light pastel orange type of like creamy colors coming in. And I don’t know, I feel like it can stay around a while just because you can’t paint everything green. Right?! (laughs)

Emma: I just had a fake mantel built and I titled it Pink Has Pink Tile. So I’m planning to keep that for a long time. And right now I’m out of town visiting Elsie.

Elsie: It’s beautiful!

Emma: I’m having my bedroom painted pink, a kind of mauve-y very grandma pink. So I, I love pink and I am doing more of it.

Elsie: We’re on Team Pink. We’re leaning in. All right. Let’s take a quick pause for a sponsor break.

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Ok, and then let me see. OK, a couple more things. I also think wicker and written can stay. I know it’s been like a trend for a while, but I still think that it’s new to some people and some people are still giving it a chance for the first time. And I’m just like seeing it in like really expensive, really fancy catalogs. So I don’t think it’s going away any time soon.

Emma: I think at first people only knew how to use it in a kind of boho setting.

Elsie: Right.

Emma: And now I think people are kind of seeing like, oh, it doesn’t have to be just in a sun room. It could actually be like in a glam living room if I want, or I think people are opening it up a lot more.

Elsie: My gosh, that is the— that’s perfect. I totally agree. Also, gold hardware, gold hardware can stay, I would say another good five years. And if you don’t love it, don’t use it. But like I, I just love gold. Yeah. I just, it’s just my metal, you know, and sometimes you just have one like I had a gold wedding ring before when people were so like all getting platinum. Yeah. So I think sometimes you just have something that you just it feels good to you. So anyway, I’m really making this trend prediction about my personal feelings, and that’s why I can’t write a professional article. (laughs).

Emma: We are not journalists. We only have personal opinions.

Elsie: OK, but yeah. OK, so there’s one more little segment I wanted to do, and this is from Forbes. So they did a prediction of trends that are going away in 2021. I will say they’re very broad. So it’s like you have to just like kind of let yourself go there. This is just for fun. So let’s try. How about you can do like one or two qualifying sentences afterward, but you do have to say agree or disagree.

Emma: So am I agreeing or disagreeing that it’s going away, or that I want it to go away?

Elsie: Just that it’s going away objectively. And then whether or not you want to is your — is a separate opinion, whether or not you want it to. OK, modern farmhouse.

Emma: I think it’s not going away, but I kind of wish it would.

Elsie: OK, same answer. Moving on. I actually like I think it’s fine.

Emma: If you love it that’s fine. Keep it, do it.

Elsie: It’s fine. But I’m tired of it. Right?

Emma: It’s not for me.

Elsie: Yeah. OK, white kitchens.

Emma: No I think that’s here to stay.

Elsie: Ok. I think it’s going away a little bit because I think people are going to add more wood, more warm and more color and not as much the all white kitchen.

Emma: Oh yeah. Yes. I think a lot more would agree on that.

Elsie: Yeah. Like because for a while it was like beaming white. Every single surface is white. I think that that a little bit will go away. But a white kitchen will always — I mean Nancy Meyers has a white kitchen and she’s the picture of classic.

Emma: I was thinking countertops and tile and I just feel like white.

Elsie: Mm hmm.

Emma: That’s kind of where people lean. Yes. It’s safe and it’s pretty. So.

Elsie: Yeah, it probably won’t go away. Ok, let’s go stricter on the rules. The next one. Open floor plans.

Emma: I hope that goes away, I don’t know if it is or not, I have no idea. I don’t like them.

Elsie: I say, I agree. And the reason why is I think that the trend has gone much too far. Like I personally now live in a house with a kitchen that’s away from my living areas and it has a door and I love it, doesn’t feel like I don’t need to cook in my living room. And I don’t want to.

Emma: I don’t want to smell it. Yeah. Yeah.

Elsie: But I do. I mean, I understand why they’re attractive in real estate. OK, the next one, fast furniture and that means inexpensive furniture. Basically saying, like IKEA furniture. (laughs)

Emma: Yeah, I mean, I feel like that’s here to stay for sure.

Elsie: Yeah.

Emma: In part because I think people have learned to use it for DIY and there’s just a lot there.

Elsie: Yeah, I’m going to say disagree. Because there’s always going to be a place for both. I think just because you choose to buy more vintage or buy more high quality doesn’t mean you can buy everything in your house that way. I just don’t think that’s realistic for most people.

Emma: Yeah, I agree.

Elsie: All right. Minimalism.

Emma: I think it’s less trendy than it used to be. Like, I think people are not as fascinated with it now as they used to be, but that doesn’t mean it’s going away. I just think it’s less popular.

Elsie: Right. These are too broad. We we’re acknowledging they’re too broad.

Emma: Yeah.

Elsie: I’m going to say agree just that it’s not a fresh new trend anymore.

Emma: Right.

Elsie: Yeah. All right. The next one is faux anything. And they were showing a picture of a faux plant.

Emma: Do I think faux plants are in or out? I guess out. But I still like them.

Elsie: Yeah, I’m going to say disagree because I think that there will always be a place for a fake plant in my house.

Emma: Me too.

Elsie: Obviously real plants are better

Emma: But I do feel like people are home and they can actually water their plants now. So…

Elsie: I’m not too good for a fake fiddle tree. I’ll put it that way.

Emma: Definitely not. So…

Elsie: Yeah. (laughs) The next one is so funny to me. Mid century modern.

Emma: Is mid century modern in or out? This is so broad. But I, I would kind of say less popular than it used to be like kind of out I guess.

Elsie: Yeah. I will say agree in that I think a few years ago it was like no matter what kind of house or apartment you had, you were going to do like all mid-century And I think in that way the trend is down. But if you have a mid-century house, you should decorate it mid-century. And that’s like an exception. And yeah, I will always love it. But that doesn’t mean it’s like the coolest trend of the year this year.

Emma: No, I think that used to be. And now it’s modern farmhouse.

Elsie: Yes. OK, this one is really puzzling to me. Dark colors.

Emma: I think dark colors are in.

Elsie: Yeah, I would say disagree. I think dark colors are coming in, not going out, at least in our bubble. I am I think that it was all white, everything for so long. And just in the past year or so people have started to make a move for the all deep-colored rooms and we’re all loving it. So…

Emma: Yeah, I agree.

Elsie: Cool. All right. That was super fun. I love trends and I love talking about them. So I hope that you all got to make your predictions in your minds. And then we can keep track this year and we can see what we see. But I mean, probably won’t get like a clear answer. But I still think it’s fun to just, like, make a prediction and see if it becomes like a bigger trend than you thought.

Emma: Yeah. And I think thanks to the Internet and just generally us being able to see more of each other’s homes or lives, we’re getting a much broader range of trends than like when I was growing up in like high school and college. And I really like that. I think it’s great that you get to see so many different things all the time. So I hope people don’t just stick to only the trends and only what they see on, you know, the TV shows or whatever, because I like to see it when people rock their own weird style.

Elsie: That’s how trends are made, is that someone does something you haven’t seen and then everyone else wants to do it.

Emma: Right. It’s true.

Elsie: Ok, before we go, we have a listener question from Susie. This came from Instagram and her question is, what are the best ways to make passive income?

Emma: It’s a broad question, Susie.

Elsie: I know.

Emma: Also I love the name Susie.

Elsie: Yes, Susie, we love your name.

Emma: I think it’s a great question because of, you know, 2020 and 2021. vLike, we’re all feeling like if you’re going to change your career, this is probably the time you’re going to do it, along with a lot of other big changes. It’s a time when people are really like reevaluating.

Emma: Yep.

Elsie: So I think getting a side income or passive income is. Oh do you want to say your friend’s podcast?

Emma: Smart Passive Income? Yeah. Oh yeah. Pat Flynn, if you’re not a fan, he’s been doing his thing for years, you should definitely check out his website and he has two podcasts. He has so many episodes that give you so many ideas. Emma was on his podcast once.

Emma: I met him once in real life, I’m truly a fangirl and I got to be on his podcast one time, which was for me, kind of like being on a celebrity, like meeting a celebrity. So for me, because I am a huge fan of Pat Flynn.

Elsie: So cute.

Emma: But yeah, two things I would say about passive income is, you know, so one, look, to solve a problem, don’t just think about like what’s cool and what’s fun, like, oh, I like baking cupcakes or I like making handmade pottery cool. That’s awesome. But I would think more…and that may work for you as a passive income thing, but I would think more about solving a problem. It could be a problem that you’re having or it could be a problem that all your friends are having because people will pay you to solve their problems. And I know that’s broad, but just open your mind too and think about it. And then the second thing I would say is for passive income, you’re going to want to be able to automate it at some point. So, again, that’s why, you know, baking cupcakes, making handmade pottery is — are those things you’re going to be able to automate in some way later? If not, might not be the best solution for passive income. So as you’re thinking through ideas and exploring things, think about, well, six months from now, two years from now, once I get this down, how am I going to automate it? And if there are ways, then that might be a great path. And if there’s really no way to automate it or scale it in that way, it may not be the best solution for passive income. It might still be a good income, but you’re never going to be able to divorce your time from, you know, doing the activity to make the money.

Elsie: Yeah. Well Emma and I have had lots of passive income through the years…

Emma: And lots of active income too. (laughs).

Elsie: Right, yeah, I do think it’s life-changing. Probably the biggest one for us over time has been our e courses, because in the beginning of our business, it really saved us. Like I was trying to do a retail concept and it wasn’t working. I didn’t know yet that blogs could earn money. And really the E courses were what kept us afloat for a long time. And now, you know, they’re kind of just like a stable income that we work on them a little bit like Emma just launched a new course and I wrote a course last year that’s still for sale and then I’ll update it once this year. But it’s like really I’m working on it like once a year and it’s, you know, an income every month. So I would just say, oh, and another thing I want to say about the courses, is that the only ones we like there was such a big difference between me selling something that I was just excited about and something that I’m truly, like, good at and known for. So try to find something you’re truly good at that you’re just like your unfair advantage. So our courses are mostly about like business, blogging, Instagram, things that like we’re known for being good at. And if I tried to sell a course on, like cupcakes, it wouldn’t make very much money. Because I love cupcakes, but I’m not known for it.

Emma: Right.

Elsie: It’s not my, like, special skill. You know, in life.

Emma: It’s somebody’s, but not ours.

Elsie: Right. So I think finding that thing, that is that your thing, even if it’s not your passion or your hobby, the thing that you’re just naturally good at, that you can teach other people. And then the other advice I would give is to build off what’s working. So a lot of people, especially people like me in the Enneagram seven category, you lose interest, you move on, but don’t lose interest, just like keep building. Like, if something works for you, then do it, you know, a little bit different, doing more of it, a little bit different, you know, update it, add more to your collection. Like that’s pretty much what being a blogger is. And I think it’s — I think it’s really inspiring. Yeah. After I got into the mindset that I don’t need to completely reinvent myself every few years.

Emma: Yeah.

Elsie: It’s better to just build. I think that’s really changed our career trajectory.

Emma: I agree.

Elsie: You can do it, Susie! But yes, send us your questions any time at Podcast@abeautifulmess.com or you can DM us on Instagram at @abeautifulmess.

Emma: And thanks so much for listening. We’re so grateful for you sharing our podcast with your friends. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That really is how we grow. So we truly, truly appreciate it. I know we say it at the end of every episode, but I really do mean it. And if you enjoyed our episode this week, then share it with your friends on Instagram, Facebook friends who like to listen to podcasts if they’re running out and they need more while they’re jogging or washing their dishes, recommend us because it means a lot.

Elsie: Yes. And don’t forget to visit our show notes this week. We will have links to all of these articles if you want to hear more about 2021 trends.