In short
The episode “6 Design Trends To Ditch For 2026” argues that 2026 design should feel lived-in, personal, warmer, and more enduring—rejecting perfection, sameness, and overused materials.
Guests
No guest is featured. The episode is hosted by “Dear Alice” (two hosts speaking throughout).
Key claims
Ditch sterile “show kitchens” in favor of kitchens with a “dirty” prep/pantry area and visible everyday life. Replace neutral-only (including black-and-white) interiors with richer color, pattern, trims, and storytelling. Move away from excessive minimalism that removes “proof of life.” Avoid pale white oak/light-toned woods everywhere; choose medium/darker walnut or warmer, layered woods. Stop overusing open-concept layouts without adding vertical intimacy (paint, paneling, screens, art, rugs). Retire trendy textures/fabrics when they’re overused (boucle, ribbing/fluting, checkers, viral designer prints), especially knockoffs.
Notable examples
“Cracked ice” motif; Kelly Wearstler graffito; Pottery Barn catalog mimicry; “Kim and Kanye” all-white minimalism; Cozy Earth bedding promo; vintage boucle coat vs dry knockoff boucle.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOReflecting on Design Shifts
0:45 to 3:21
Discussion on design shifts reminiscent of the 1920s and the excitement for upcoming trends.
“And like what design wise that did as far as like shifts.”
Ditching Sterile Show Kitchens
3:21 to 6:04
Exploring the trend of moving away from perfect show kitchens to more lived-in spaces.
“and they can start dreaming about your project with you.”
The Shift from Neutral Interiors
6:04 to 12:01
Discussion on the move away from neutral-only interiors towards more colorful and personalized designs.
“And like, I think the food tastes better.”
Creating Safe Spaces Amidst Uncertainty
12:01 to 14:00
Final thoughts on the importance of creating warm and welcoming home environments in uncertain times.
“And the way things are moving, I think it's going to separate the good from the great.”
Saying Goodbye to Neutral Interiors
14:00 to 15:00
Discover why neutral-only interiors are being phased out and what this means for future design.
“And I love the second point, that neutral-only interiors were saying goodbye to that in 2025.”
The Importance of Personalization in Design
15:00 to 16:00
Learn how personalization in home design can create a sense of safety and comfort.
“you give a damn, like making a safe place for your, for your people.”
Ditching Excessive Minimalism
17:00 to 19:00
Understand why excessive minimalism is fading away and how it affects personal expression in home design.
“Refresh your routines with comfort that makes every day feel like a new year.”
Transitioning from Light to Richer Woods
19:00 to 21:10
Explore how the trend is shifting from light-toned woods to richer, warmer alternatives in interior design.
“And they're not even together anymore, which shows you maybe not a good foundation to build upon.”
The Shift Away from Open Concept Plans
21:10 to 23:00
Discover why open concept floor plans are becoming less favorable and the benefits of more defined spaces.
“So there's still options within those, but it's interesting.”
Avoiding Overused Textures and Fabrics
23:00 to 28:03
Learn about the fatigue from trendy textures and fabrics, and the importance of originality in design.
Show all 11 chapters
Ditching Boucle: Embracing Authentic Textures
28:03 to 30:24
Explore the trend of moving away from boucle to more authentic materials.
“So moving forward, I think we're all just saying, let's leave it behind for 2020 or in 2025 and let's not do it in 26.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Hello, everyone. Welcome to Dear Alice. Today, we're going to be talking about six trends to ditch for 2026. Oh, I'm so excited. Happy New Year, guys. Yeah, happy New Year. Are you ready for 26? So ready. Yeah. I'm always ready for the New Year because I feel like that's where I set all my goals and I'm like, I'm doing this. And then, yeah, we'll see how it goes. We're living in the future. Like 2026, guys. I'm like the first quarter of the century is out. Like on to. So wild. Isn't that weird? Yeah. It is so weird. Gosh. I'm going to probably die in the next 25 years. Oh, come on. Stop. Stop.
0:34Every time my mom says, I'm like, absolutely not. You will not. Thank you. Just kidding. Anyway, change the subject. 26. I know that just shot me right in between the eyes. I can't even believe. Yeah, it is starting a whole new quarter century. Yeah, we're doing it. Here we are. Think about like the 1920s. Like what a crazy time that was. And like what design wise that did as far as like shifts. Like we're feeling that. We're feeling a shift. I've been like restyling my office. And I have two different books from two different publishers, both thick, like two inches thick, gorgeous, big design books.
1:09Both are called Paris in the 1920s. I think the 1920s was such a shift for so, for not just Paris, but also America. Just style wise. And I feel this huge shift that's happening right now. And we felt it at market in 25. We've been feeling it for a while in our projects, this sort of drumbeat of greater, bigger, full on, hit you in the face design. And I'm ready for it. I wonder what's going to be on my kids' shelves in the future. If it will be like, you know, the 2020s, the 20, it will really probably be the 2025s. It'll be more remarkable to talk about in design. Yeah. You know, I'm just so excited about what's headed, what's coming our way.
1:53Me too. Yeah. I mean, if you think about the 1920s, it was like, you know, on the heels of like World War I and then, you know, before the Great Depression. But then also like a lot of innovation. And we're kind of sitting in that pocket right now with like, yeah. Industrialization. It really is. We're like, what is good? We don't even know what's going to happen. Yeah. Like, so talking about design, like, you know, before we started recording, like there's a lot of stuff happening and stuff we've been seeing for a long time. And now it's kind of like coming to pass. And it's just, yeah, super cool.
2:22Yeah. It's an exciting time to be in the design industry and feel it. And I mean, I have to say for fashion as well, we're feeling a huge paradigm shift. Yeah. But I mean, before we get into that really quick, I just want to say a quick reminder in the new year, if you guys want to work on design in your home, we do have a free consultation service. We've got designers that have the whole Alice Lane Rolodex at their fingertips. All 200 vendors, the product that we're creating, the stuff that they know is launching. They are such a great resource. They can put your house in CAD, Space Planet for you, work through with the right size rug or custom used palms.
3:00I can't even tell you the resource that this is. And it's such a cheat code. It's completely complimentary. And it's called Home Furnishing Design. So if you want help on your space, even if it's just buying a rug, maybe it's getting the sectional right, maybe it's the whole scene, go to our Design Services tab on our website, scroll down, and it's called Home Furnishing Design. Fill out the questionnaire. They're going to get back to you same day. and they can start dreaming about your project with you. Okay, we already talked about what we're looking forward to in 2026. Let's talk about the things we need to leave behind.
3:30Okay. So we have six design trends to ditch in 2026. And the first one is sterile show kitchens. Yes. Break that down for the people. Yeah. I mean, we continue to hear this from so many of the shelter magazines. What they're looking for is they want homes that look like real people live there. and we have been employed by so many very successful clients that want the beautiful show kitchen and then they have actually a kitchen behind the kitchen kind of considered a pantry or a prep kitchen or they call it the dirty kitchen where they can like maybe that's where the microwave is maybe that's where this the freezer full of hot pockets is for the kids it's you know what I mean?
4:14It's second ovens in there. It's a lot of storage for food, but there really has become this sort of dirty kitchen behind the show kitchen. And I don't even know how often the show kitchens get used, maybe for holidays or whatnot. Fascinating that now they're saying that is out. They don't want this perfect kitchen. What the editors are looking for, it's almost like they're looking for smaller spaces, cozy spaces, stories that tell a story. Show us your weird, show us your really personal unique take on the kitchen nobody wants this anymore like if you have these spaces nobody's going to publish them for you nobody it's not part of the conversation anymore well it's it's too perfect and for like a couple years now like i don't know how many like they've been saying like we don't want glam yes glam is like i think it's just like image of perfection you know where like the imperfect you know the like the messy undone hair you know and just like natural beauty you know is kind of taking key and that also is like I think coming into our kitchens yeah you know yep and the stylists that are styling for photo shoots are making it look undone look lived in um look believable so say goodbye to that untouched unlivable show kitchen I will say homes and gardens has like taken over my like algorithm on my instagram and it is I see home tours like every other post of just like these incredible just like lived in hundreds of year old these homes and like I can't not get enough oh they're so I can't I feel I feel like I'm watching the cottage in the holiday every second reel like it's so good and I'm and I'm just I'm here for it I'm here and I think it just like allows us to bring out our collections and to celebrate them and just like bring out mom's old cookbook and like have a picture up and like frame frame that recipe and I think that there's like a lot a lot of love and storytelling in this undoneness or just, you know, just this lived in.
6:07And like, I think the food tastes better. I think, you know, the lights dimmer. I think the smells are gooier and yummier. I think there's a real, a real mood to it. And so even, even if clients are asking for, they want a kitchen that isn't going to be as, you know, as messy or as industrial as the accessory kitchen or the scullery, we're still making it feel lived in and still making like the layers feel believable and authentic. And so that's important. So if you still want to subscribe to a show kitchen or one that's just like not, doesn't have a chaos of like what you live with day to day and you have room to do that accessory kitchen, that's cool.
6:43We're just going to want to make sure that that main kitchen still feels loved and lived in. So, yeah. And I think that the belief or the person, the watcher of these stories on Home and Garden UK or wherever else you're seeing, I feel like as we look at them, we're like, I could live like that. Or, oh, wouldn't that be so great to just be there and have the conversation with the cook or to be the sous chef with them. It's like you have this, it's like a magnet. You have this pull to want to be with them. You can feel their warmth. You can feel their authenticity and the believableness of it. You hear the soundtrack in your mind and it's awesome.
7:17Yeah, exactly. I'm on board for that. I am on board for it. I would say sterile anything. like I feel like you know this past Christmas season watching movies like Home Alone and The Family Stone like these like warm homes that just feel lived in and like people gathering there and stuff I'm just like that's what life is about like that's what I'm so drawn to that right now and I feel like everybody is and so that's what I was saying at the beginning of the episode that turn towards that is what I'm super excited about. I think there's a real safety I think there's a real safety and security in that and so like you were talking about with like fashion can't remember if he said it out loud yet or just before we started recording yeah with uncertainty of some things like in the world and the economy and those things like you you want to be at your mom's house you do you want that feeling and you want those smells and so I really do think there's that nostalgia that that is what we're craving like that's why you know in not only in like publications like shelter magazines but in just in our own homes I'm like even my mom's just like I noticed the other day I was looking at a picture of like my house from 20 years ago not much has changed.
8:22And I'm like, I don't, I, I don't like touching my mom's house. Is that funny? Cause I'm like, it's perfect. Like, don't, don't move that thing. Cause that's always been there. And I don't want to, I want my kids to know that that's always there in grandma's house, you know? So I do think that there's like a real safety, especially in times of uncertainty, certainty, um, that we're responsible to create for our clients and for ourselves, you know, just like to make it a safe place. So, yeah. The second thing to ditch is neutral-only interiors, including black and white homes. Yeah. Amen. This overuse of beige, cream, black and white palettes tied to quiet luxury, homes that feel flat, cold, hotel-like rather than personal.
9:06This goes along with what we were saying about the show kitchen, and this includes broader sameness that lacks contrast or story. I think there's been this certain look that everybody is easily adopted. I remember when I first got married in 1996, the Pottery Barn was like all the rage. You would live for that Pottery Barn catalog. And I remember a girlfriend would literally mimic the catalog in her house. She would find out the color of paint and then they started carrying their paint. She'd have that exact shade of red. She would copy the catalog exactly to be able to get this look so that she felt like she was successful, you know, because that was like all the rage.
9:41and now we're going the opposite of that where the sameness isn't what everybody wants they want their unique story told we want to be able to do that in in your home as a job as a designer that is the great work of interior design is getting to know the client getting to know their story know where they hail from know where their ancestors come from we just barely are doing work right now for a girl she's from the czech republic and we were able to take motifs from the check and use it in the ceiling. And it brought tears to her eyes in her design pitch because we were able to tap into her history and use that in her custom new home.
10:18Nothing's going to say home like that to people, you know, when you can tap into things that mean something to them and have that come to life in their home. So yeah, I'm excited to have those neutrals only interiors be done away with. Right now in the world where we're kind of in this uncertain time economically, right? It's been really strange. We've had so many talks of tariffs all through 2025. We've seen, you know, wars, rumors of wars. There's, there's, I don't know, you could name all of the things that are happening in the world. Natural disasters everywhere. Exactly. Yeah. So things that make us feel insecure.
10:52And a response to this, I was listening to fashion folks talk about it, is that people want to feel the opposite of that. They want to feel successful. They want to feel like the world isn't so uncertain. And so we are turning to these trends that make us feel successful. We're starting to see brush fringes put on sofas and pillows again. We're using trims on draperies, like real old school decorating is coming back in. It makes us feel full and like everything is great in the world. Comforted. Comforted. Yeah. Color. We're seeing a lot of pattern again, not just in wallpaper. Like we're doing this in every way.
11:28custom lamp shades. We saw when we went to visual comfort that you can COM any Schumacher. Yes, in Schumacher fabrics, any of the shades and the chandeliers and real big decorating is what's coming back. And it's a free game for y 'all that are doing design. This is employing new tricks that maybe you haven't gotten to try before because we've been living in these neutral only interiors. I think people can do that for themselves. I think if you're hiring a designer today, it's going to be to really design like you give a damn. Yeah. And the way things are moving, I think it's going to separate the good from the great.
12:05Exactly. Yeah. Because it's, I mean, I've, the whole neutral only is interior, that looking at it feels easy to accomplish. I think that's why a lot of people probably gravitated towards it. Like I could do that same exact thing. Like you were talking about your friend with the water garden, you know, not so much now, like just using pattern on pattern and color drenching. There's a lot of thought and a lot of education that needs to go into making decisions. Every single thing has to be considered. I mean, right down to the colors of the trims that you're using on those lampshades, you know, like every little detail.
12:37It's a game of color theory. It's a game of knowing how to contrast it, what's going to play well together. Temperature. Temperatures, undertones. Yeah. Knowing the best fabric makers to be able to pull these tricks off. And even the upholsterers to be able to flow match those patterns onto, from the top of the seat cushion onto the boxed cushion, down onto the deck. And then I'm sure nail heads are going to come right back behind it. Like all of these, all of these tailoring tools, you've got to be good at it if you're going to play the game. It's going to push quality up too, which is great.
13:14Because it's going to be a huge learning curve. Can't screw it up. like uncertainty in the world, the other end of that, like the balance in the scale is that this is what, this is how we're responding to it. It feels and looks so successful. I think same thing, like we were talking about with the early 1920s, think about what was going on. We had influence, the Spanish influenza was going on. Like into COVID. Yeah. Yeah. 50 to a hundred million people died. You had the great world. It was called the great war at the time. They didn't know there was going to be another war. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
13:44The Great War was going on, just millions and millions of people dying. And the response to this was all of this great, big, beautiful, booming fashion. And architecture. And architecture, yeah, was the response to this. So there's this real cause and effect going on. And we're in the middle of feeling that drumbeat coming as designers, and we get to respond. And I love the second point, that neutral-only interiors were saying goodbye to that in 2025. People are going to look back on the 2020s, you know, and like you said, probably the latter of them. The gray interiors. They were so sad. All the white houses with black windows.
14:20All the white interiors, the white on white with beige and go, what happened? Yeah, they were so sad. They were so sad. And then they'll see the like, the division. Yeah. Yeah. Which is what we're, that pocket we're sitting in right now, which almost feels a little bit uncertain, but like way exciting. I know. But the industrialization of the 1920s to like the AI capabilities of now, like anyways, into the great unknown right now. And so that is why we just like need a little bit of safety at home, which is, I think it's such a privilege to do what we do is to make people feel safe in an uncertain world.
14:56Because this is what we can control. And you can do that for your own families at home by paying attention, designing like you give a damn, like making a safe place for your, for your people. Yep. That's what all interior design is all about. Tell your story. Exactly. Yeah, buy the original art. It's a renaissance. Quit buying the condo art. Yeah. And I will say even like, you know, separating like the good from the great or just like those that like know how to do, employ these tricks. Like even when we go to market, there are people that do whatever trend is coming up. They know how to do it great and they consistently do it great because they're good at design.
15:29but like when the pendulum shifts and when like now we're seeing pattern on pattern there are some that you're like oh they're trying oh they're trying it's not it's not being completed correctly you know and you're just like oh i hope they get a new stylist because they're not looking very good yeah you know so even professionals like if you're a professional designer like get some books if you don't know how to do this like study this out like this is this is not for the faint of heart Like this takes some like real thought and study. Jess, when the holidays wind down, what's the one thing you crave most?
16:01I kind of crave a reset. I feel sad when I take holiday down and everything kind of feels empty. And so I always look forward to getting new sheets and new towels. And this year I'm getting Cozy Earth's Baja Bedding Set. It's the one set they have where you can have the complete matching set. Actually, the sheets, the duvet cover, the quilt, the coverlet. They have this really beautiful kind of brownish rust hue in a stripe. They also have a greenish one, which would be beautiful in Florida or Texas or anywhere. I just love, love the way this looks. And of course, the hand. We all love the premium fabric on Cozy Earth's bedding set.
16:35And then every purchase from Cozy Earth is risk-free. They have a 100-night sleep trial, so try them out. If you don't love them, return them hassle-free. But trust me, you won't want to. Start the new year off right and give your home the luxury it deserves and make home the best part of life. Head to CozyEarth.com and use our code DEARALICE for up to 20 % off. That's CozyEarth.com, code DEARALICE. And if you get a post-purchase survey, be sure to mention you heard about Cozy Earth right here. Refresh your routines with comfort that makes every day feel like a new year. Trend number three to ditch is excessive minimalism, which I'm super excited for.
17:13Yes. I've never felt happy about this one, but. Yeah, the stark empty spaces with no personality or lived in feeling. Minimalism that removes warmth, character and narrative from home. The backlash against homes that look like no one actually lives there. That's the thing I'm excited about most because it feels like there's just too much pressure to do that and to live like that. And like I see, you know, like the movies I was just barely talking about or Nancy Myer, like those homes feel lived in and relatable, I guess. They feel loved. Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. And it's just like that permission to just not have to be minimal and everything, you know, in its, everything in a place and in its place and just feels freeing a little bit to me.
17:58I feel very apocalyptic about minimalism. Yeah. Like I'm just like, okay, humanity's been wiped out. Robots have taken over. We no longer have it. We don't have anything and they've burned everything. And so we're going to make sure that this is the trend. They've taken our souls. They vacuumed our souls into their containers. We're living in the abyss while they're doing what they ever need to do on planet Earth. That's how I feel about minimalism. Also, I feel very, okay, not that there wasn't some chicness, but like Kim and Kanye. Yeah. That's what I think of. That home. Yes, totally. And I know that it was some, it wasn't Axel Revoort, was it, that did the interiors?
18:33I know he employed some really amazing architect designer for it. Super disciplined. And at the time, I think that would have been thought of as chic, but the home was completely white. I think there was plastered walls at least. Yeah, some movement. But everything is white. Even the Christmas trees I think she would bring in would be white. Like every single thing about it, all of the furnishings and nothing on countertops. Just an absolute removal of any proof of life. Yeah, it's gone, you guys. We can leave it behind in 2026. And they're not even together anymore, which shows you maybe not a good foundation to build upon.
19:07Yeah, exactly. Anyway. Life coach, Seuss Hall. Yeah. That's amazing. Okay, the next one is light-toned woods, especially pale white oak everywhere. Yeah. Yeah. This is floors, millwork that skew overly blonde or washed out. part of the larger neutral fatigue conversation being replaced by richer warmer woods that add depth and grounding or a greater i'm gonna say or a greater sheen because if you think if you look at like burl that's kind of in the blonde still down with that but it has a good sheen on top of it like a bird's eye maple or something like that that's still lighter but has like interest in something exotic about it yeah it's still light and honestly like in these curated homes that we're talking about that we're loving it has a little bit of everything yeah like even say say your home had like white oak floors you know you're just gonna like the layers are gonna be that much more important or when you do get a chance to refinish those you're gonna put a medium stain on that and it'll take up beautifully because oak is a really great species to adapt to whatever very classic it's super classic and like the green on whether it's you know figured or rift or whatever has a lot of enduring quality so i don't want you to think that you did that whole thing and now it's off or not you're gonna have to start completely over you can refinish an oak floor and it's beautiful and you can layer on top of an oak floor and it can be beautiful and it's just it's all about the layers get those pulling depth and other runners exactly yeah get interesting rugs i think you can still work with it and i think as you're buying making furniture decisions today you're going to be buying those probably more medium toned you know woods and that sort of thing i know when we have we have the brooklyn bleached walnut dresser and nightstand that's been number one in our collection forever.
20:51We came out with the medium, we call it the dark walnut, but it's more of a medium stain. Yeah. And we're starting to see that climb the charts. So you have options. You can still be more of a paled out version, still a walnut, still a beautiful, perfect undertone, a little bit more casual, or you can get into what Suze is doing in her bedroom with this, what we're calling dark walnut. It's going to really bring this sort of historical, handsome feeling to those scenes. So there's still options within those, but it's interesting. if you are going to be building a home today, you're going to want to think really carefully about what you're going to put down as your wood floor.
21:25Because that decision, you probably don't want to change at least for a decade or ever. I mean, changing wood floors is painful. Yeah, definitely. And I will say historically, like the one that has been classic all throughout time, Russ has been walnut, that medium walnut, like not too dark, not too light, but just stays right in the middle of the road and like again what you layer on top of that um that's where you're gonna like show what you're into but like medium is just like where you want to stay i think yeah yeah i agree the next one is open concept floor plans please praise yes so happy isn't this so interesting floor plans i think there are come and go yeah i think there are some people they're gonna be like no way but i i feel it yeah i was talking to someone about it this morning and yeah i think just division, kind of like creating spaces, kind of gives you like more ability to create moments in the home too, right?
22:20Like so. And scenes, you get to create a scene. And a feeling of safety and security in smaller spaces. Gosh, man, we're talking about economics too here. It's crazy. Crazy. So interesting. The open floor plan does kind of give you minimalist vibes as well, because you generally end up with a really high ceiling and all the furniture is happening down here lower on this plane and they don't always address all the space because who knows how to design for that if they're not using a designer right there's a lot that you have to do to try and make that feel warm and cozy because what we really want at the end of the day is to feel cozy right so not I guess surprising the open concept floor plan is on the clotting edge instead of the cutting edge what do you think about like obviously people who have open concept homes yeah you're not gonna like start building walls in in the interior of home you could you know uh but what about like leaning into space planning and creating like moments in the space planning inside of an open concept yeah i'll say space planning that if we're just talking just even before we get to the furniture um finish work i think if you have big big spanning vertical walls and there isn't finish work or just like it feels like immense and again just apocalyptic by adding finished work by adding adding paneling and some division of space to kind of pull some lines down and have abilities to like start doing you know either art galleries or hanging rugs or something just to try and like hush the space a little bit more I think I'm like that's where I would start first if I had an open concept floor yeah I would like look at my walls and be like what could I do there where could I take those window lines and start drawing some lines around the space architecturally to add interest and to make it more intimate that's where i said and then i would like also consider the paint the paint color of that yeah because if it is white now that's something immediate if you can afford finish work say but you're like why i just don't want to feel so vacant i would i would definitely throw paint at it and i think that that will like and and paint the ceiling the same color as the wall and just try and cozy or do something up there to just kind of like hush it down um and i think that that will help with that and then space planning with your rugs with your furniture with your you know you can like come up vertically like screens i was just gonna say screens plants you know indoor trees that sort of thing art honestly art can help pull it down yeah the hanging the rug trick on the wall is a great one but anything three-dimensional objects you're going to become a great curator to make that space feel interesting and cozy and not this minimal, you know, large open vast space where only the bottom third has something going on.
25:02Yeah. You've got to address that, that vertical height. Yeah. Kind of like we were talking about earlier too, with it's going to, it's going to be a high tide that forces boats, you know, to kind of like everyone to raise. You're either going to drown or you're going to like float. Exactly. Yeah. I think it's also going to lend to uniqueness because not everyone's going to have the ability just to like redo everything they've done, but they're going to have to bring in elements of this. And it's, it's, I think it'll start telling people's stories better because it'll force them to, you know, they'll have to think of things in a different way and learn how to do things that they haven't done before.
25:36You know, if you're a designer, so it's going to be, it's an exciting time. Everyone's going to go on a walkabout right now. You've got to figure what you're all about. Yes. Okay. The last one is overused trendy textures and fabrics. Yes. I love this. Yeah. We've seen this a lot. This includes examples like boucle, ribbing and fluting fatigue, checkered patterns, viral designer fabrics. For instance, all of you designers know what we're about to say. I hate to name names, but I have to so we can all get on the same page. Visualize. Yeah. The graffito pattern that Kelly Wurster came out with. We're guilty of using it in the beginning, loving it, loving that raw, irregular you know look that came to the wall it kind of felt handscribed there was also this really weird thing that came up probably like two markets ago at high point everybody was doing a motif called cracked ice and this was more jagged and it was like in metal work on the fronts of armoires in upholstery cut into velvets I never liked this like cracked ice and every time we'd go into a new showroom they're like we got to show you something that we're coming up with it's really amazing.
26:41Cracked ice. We're like, oh my gosh. Not again. Hashtag cracked ice. It's the living worst. What happened in North Carolina that all these makers got on board with cracked ice? But I think those kind of things you get really sort of fatigued on and it does trend. It fatigues pretty quickly. So those are a few, some of the shelter mags have been saying the issue isn't the texture itself, but it's the overuse without longevity. So I think that's what we're feeling from boucle too it's just that everybody got on board and so that's what's making it just feel so fatiguing is over and it's dry yeah too it's so which is okay when it was new and there are there are better boucles than not but it's when the knockoff people start coming and they start making their dry boucles and then and then that gets used in all of the really affordable imports and you know everybody's everybody's doing it and it no longer feels expensive or special I was actually looking down just yesterday I was wearing this vintage coat we were up in Park City with my family and it has like I don't even know what kind of fur it is I don't know what decade it's from but I think it's it's got to be rabbit or something it's so soft and then the rest of the coat is boucle and the cuffs on the wrists are also fur and the boucle on it is so beautiful and it's like got a a sheen in it and I don't know what the make would be but it's just like it shouldn't even be called boucle but it's that same there's this loop through it and there are beautiful ways to do a boucle it's just the knockoff and the overuse and then everybody being able to create one and putting on everything in the world that's made us so fatigued on it so that's what we're trying we're trying to become more original and avoid using these over overused tricks we're even redressing some stuff that yeah boucle and and for sure yeah it's it it's time for that.
28:32And it's become a timestamp. Yeah. So moving forward, I think we're all just saying, let's leave it behind for 2020 or in 2025 and let's not do it in 26. Yeah. Bad boot clay reminds me of a starving cat. Oh, sure. Yeah. Yeah. Which is like, just like, as far as like they're molting, like it's shedding and you're just like, I don't know. Anyway, it's just like that's what I'm just like, that's what I'm trying to give you a visual of just like the ones that just like the book, the loop is like every inch, you know, more than like just like density. I think what your coat has is density and I was even thinking I'm like in my own house because I'm like we all have it because texturally it was interesting but yeah the overuse of it and even just like we used to have like the ball pillow yes I have the ball pillow but we have we've had it in boucle but the one that we all wanted and we all naturally felt this way was the one out of real Sherpa like from Denmark yeah and that gives that like high-end texture so I'm like that's still desirable exactly to me but it's just like it's the real thing do the real thing do the real thing yeah It's the organicness of that.
29:31I think that makes it special. And that's why the vintage coat is still so beautiful today because it's like these beautiful, real fibers that have come together and it's just expensive. It's got a great hand and a thickness. And yeah. If you follow us on Alison home on Instagram, Jess has this video of it. I can't remember what stems your teeth. I think it was like our, some of our winter stories where you were bringing in like pines and you're wearing that coat. And I was with you when you got that coat and I'm still like it's so good i was just like snap i'm like half of the comments on the thing were just like stems are cool but that coat's dope like i want that coat somewhere you got it i call her the cream puff oh it's so good she only makes her way out a few times in the winter but yeah it's her season right now she's shiny i love it so much anyway so the authentic story the vintage story that's desirable thing yeah you're bringing back textures yeah agreed okay so good that was it Yay.
30:25Well, if you guys need help with your next project, check out our free design service. It's called Home Furnishing Design. They can get you guys going with a new space for the new year, whatever it is that's troubling you. They've got, again, our whole Rolodex at their fingertips. They're great designers. They're great at solving problems and they're really good at sectional math too. So if you need any help, again, that's on our website on the design services tab, scroll down. It's home furnishing design. They're going to get back to you within the same day. Honestly, I'm so excited for you guys to get to use them.
30:56I think that's all we've got for you this time. We'll catch you next Thursday.
From the publisher
In this episode of the Dear Alice Interior Design Podcast, we’re breaking down 6 design trends to ditch for 2026—the looks that once felt fresh but are starting to feel flat, overdone, or disconnected from how people actually live.
From sterile show kitchens and neutral-only interiors to the fatigue around open-concept floor plans and overused trendy textures, we explain why these trends are losing relevance and what’s replacing them instead. This isn’t about chasing what’s “in”—it’s about designing homes that feel layered, livable, personal, and timeless.
Whether you’re building, remodeling, or refreshing your home, this episode will help you avoid costly design regrets and make smarter, more enduring choices heading into 2026.
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