I’m An Interior Designer And Here Are 4 Tacky TikTok Trends You Should Avoid Including LED Light Strips
While TikTok can be a great source of interior design inspiration, it’s important to differentiate between fads and timeless styles.
Interior designers from British furniture brand Swoon have revealed the trends to avoid and explained how to create a timeless aesthetic.
Whether these styles “cheaper” your aesthetic, create a dated display, or simply look out of place in a regular home, the wild world of TikTok interior trends can be a minefield to navigate.
The experts admitted that fads like LED bulbs are “over the top” and can often “make your home look cheap.”
They revealed the TikTok interior fads that aren’t worth investing in this summer. So, what should we avoid?
Interior designers from Swoon, the UK’s leading online furniture brand for design, have explained how to create a timeless aesthetic, including avoiding LED light strips (stock image)
LED light strips
LED light strips have become extremely popular on TikTok, with over 10 billion views on videos featuring the plastic strips.
However, these RGB lights can detract from the overall aesthetic of a room if not placed thoughtfully.
In addition, the glue used in the strips tends to peel off any paint or wallpaper it sticks to, leading to a nightmare scenario when it comes to removal.
Instead, choosing atmospheric, layered lighting in the form of floor, wall and ceiling lamps can elevate the atmosphere from childish to chic.
If you’re a fan of the color-changing feature that LED strip lighting provides, consider using colored incandescent bulbs to create a sophisticated alternative that adds depth and character to your home.
Slatted walls
It all started as a social media trend, but now slatted walls are so over the top they’ve become a cliché
The DIY trend of creating signature walls with stacked wood slats has been overblown, with over 204 million views on TikTok videos alone, and can now be seen as an interior design cliché.
While these walls can be elegantly finished, they are often placed in spaces where they don’t match their surroundings, leading to a lack of style in general.
Instead of jumping on this bandwagon, explore a more subtle approach, such as delicate paneling.
While wainscoting has been around for years, this classic alternative offers a sophisticated aesthetic that adds a touch of elegance to any room without overwhelming or contrasting the overall design.
Subtle paneling works best behind eye-catching furnishings, such as brightly colored sofas or sculptural pieces, gently enhancing the overall display.
Indoor plants
Adding greenery to your environment is fun, but be careful not to overdo it and make the space look cluttered
Houseplants have exploded in popularity on TikTok, with a whopping 2.2 billion views of houseplants on the platform, but their trend could quickly fade if not processed thoughtfully.
While green adds a refreshing touch to any space, relying solely on an abundance of indoor plants can create a cluttered and overwhelming environment.
Plus, taking over a jungle of pots without taking the time to properly care for them can lead to disaster, from fungus gnats to rotting roots. Instead, try taking a more balanced approach to houseplants, strategically placing a few eye-catching stems throughout your home.
Choose plants that thrive in indoor conditions and make sure you meet their needs for light, water and oxygen.
Pair your plants with matching accessories, such as a leafy rug under the pot legs for a captivating display.
Y2K shines
Sparkling silvery decor is much loved by reality starts on Instagram, but can be “overwhelming.”
The TikTok trend of “diamond design” or “Y2K sparkle” took the social channel by storm during its most popular phase, with nearly 1.1 billion views, inviting users to reminisce about the “glamorous” styles of the early 2000s.
While it may initially grab attention with its nostalgic sparkle, the overuse of diamond accents in any form can create an overwhelming and tacky aesthetic.
If you still love a blingy display but want to move away from outdated designs, opt for high-gloss, metallic finishes throughout your home.
By introducing reflective accessories like mirrors and using eye-catching metal furniture like dressers or bed frames, you can still create a glamorous aesthetic, without sticking gems on everything the eye can see.
So by opting for more sophisticated alternatives to TikTok’s trendy designs, gradually building your own cherished collection of furniture and accessories, and considering classic design principles, you can create a chic and timeless home aesthetic that will stand the test of time.
Briellyn Turton, from Sydney, revealed three hacks for messy girls who want to keep their house tidy
It comes after an interior designer revealed three hacks for messy girls who want to keep their homes tidy.
Briellyn Turton, from Sydney, took over her TikTok @studiobrie to give tips on how to keep your home chic.
Brie, the founder of Studio Brie, captioned the clip, “Messy Girls Guide to Interior Design!”
Starting with the clip, which has been viewed more than 61,000 times, she said, “If you like interiors, but you’re not the tidiest person, then you’re in the right place.”
She started by revealing that rule number one was the “rule of three” at the bedside.
She explained, “I swear by this, we need three different compartments for three different kinds of things that I know you left on your nightstand.
“Number one is a tray for things that should be there. So on my bedside table, that’s some room spray and a dish for my engagement ring.
“Number two is a smaller bowl for last minute things I forgot to take off, like earrings or hair ties. They go into court number two.
“Now, compartment number three is a little drawer on top of your nightstand to hold all the random things that have somehow accumulated on your nightstand.
“They get dragged in there when we go to bed. You can go to sleep in a nice, clean room and clean up that drawer later.’
The designer’s second tip was about decluttering your pantry, with the TikToker saying you don’t have to decant everything to keep it looking tidy.
Showing off some baskets in a closet, she said, “We can still have a nice pantry, it’s just going to look a little more like this.”
“This allows us to keep things in their original packaging, because I know you have good intentions to decant everything, but you’re not going to keep them up.
So instead (you should buy) big boxes (in which) you can throw things.
“It keeps things uniform, it keeps it neat and aesthetic, but we don’t have to maintain the decanting.”
The expert’s final tip was to have “an abundance of matching coat hangers” in a box in the wardrobe.
“I want you to go so far as to always keep a spare box of hangers at the bottom of your wardrobe,” she said. ‘Because then the floor robe is out again.
“Having a nice set of matching coat hangers will only make you more motivated to actually pick up your pieces and put them back in your wardrobe.
“Maybe you can even color coordinate while you’re there.”