4 min read
The algorithm giveth, and the algorithm taketh away. While TikTok has democratized design inspiration, it has also flooded our feeds with fleeting micro-trends that promise instant transformation but usually deliver long-term regret. “Trends are fleeting, often gimmicky, and can quickly make a space feel dated,” interior designer Darci Hether says. “They’re fantastic if you’re designing for likes on social media, but far less fabulous if you’re designing for real life.”
A 2026 analysis by AweDeco found that Americans collectively spend an estimated $8.7 billion a year on trend-driven home decor purchases that most will abandon within six to twelve months. The average American now spends $1,598 annually on home decor, and more than 61% admit to regretting impulse buys influenced by social media. Seven in ten Gen-Z and millennial homeowners report buyer’s remorse within just six months of a trend-driven purchase—with furniture carrying the highest regret rate of any category at 75%.
“No one wants to be left hating their decor less than a year after investing the time, effort, and money to redecorate,” Danielle Castagna, interior design expert at Level Frames, says. “So it’s vital that you take the trend cycle with a grain of salt and connect with what you love in interior design.”
With such a compressed lifecycle, how can homeowners separate lasting style from fleeting fads? We asked designers to identify the trends to avoid if you want your home to outlast your For You page.
Anything “-Core”
Any trend ending in “-core” should raise some red flags, according to designers. “Creating spaces centered around anything that has a ‘-core’ naming convention should probably be avoided as it is likely to be a design that is very one-dimensional and may have less staying power over the long term,” Nicole Cole of Vestige Home says.
Cottagecore takes particular heat from designers for its saccharine excess. “Florals, lace, and ruffles can charm, but too much tips into overly sweet,” designer Lauren Saab says. Tellingly, AweDeco’s analysis lists Cottagecore as one of the most abandoned trends of the last five years, reaching peak saturation in 2020 and collapsing in under eight months.
The newest cautionary “-core” to watch? Cabbagecore—the leafy, surrealist-maximalist trend that landed on Pinterest’s official 2026 trend list, sending searches for “cabbageware” soaring 250% on the platform and TikTok’s #CabbageCore hashtag climbing 115% in just three months. It’s charming in small doses, but designers warn that turning an entire room over to any single motif, however chic, is a recipe for swift decor fatigue.
The Bouclé Burnout
It isn’t only headline-grabbing micro-trends that fall victim to overexposure. Sometimes a beautiful material simply becomes too ubiquitous to survive—and bouclé is the most recent example. The loopy, nubby fabric was everywhere from 2020 onward: chairs, sofas, ottomans, headboards, and even dog beds. The saturation has now worked decisively against it, with designers across the industry calling time on the cream bouclé silhouette. The 1stDibs Designer Trends Survey placed bouclé at or under 3% of designer material preferences. Linen, mohair, and wool blends are the fabrics designers are reaching for instead.
Food-Themed Decor
Literal interpretations of trending themes rarely have staying power. The recent “sardine girl summer” trend exemplifies how quickly novelty decor transitions from charming to kitschy. “Sardine tins, shell-shaped dishes, and coastal food accents can be playful online but rarely hold up over time,” Saab says. “Draw from a food’s color or finish instead for a subtler, longer-lasting nod. Literal food decor dates quickly.”
The issue isn’t that food can’t inspire beautiful design—it’s that TikTok’s interpretation strips away subtlety. Rather than drawing inspiration from the rich burgundy of a wine cellar or the creamy textures of fresh pasta, the algorithm rewards literal translations: actual sardine tins as planters, mushroom-shaped lamps, or walls covered in cherry motifs.
“Food trends move fast because they’re tied to cultural moments, not timeless appeal,” Saab says. “By the time you’ve redecorated around ‘tomato girl summer,’ the internet has moved on to ‘vanilla girl fall.'”
The mushroom trend, too, serves as a cautionary tale of how even long-lasting trends eventually crash. Castagna’s research shows that despite outliving the typical 10-month trend lifespan, mushroom interiors have actually suffered the steepest decline in popularity of any current trend, with a search decrease of over 33%.
How to Flirt With Trends (Without Committing)
The solution isn’t to avoid all contemporary influences entirely, but rather focus on strategic incorporation. “If you want to dabble with one of these trends, maybe don’t redecorate your entire home,” designer Benjamin Vandiver suggests. “You don’t have to marry a trend to flirt with it.”
Designer Margaret Naeve offers a practical approach: “It’s important to recognize when you’re gravitating towards a color or material that is especially popular in the current ‘design culture’, and to introduce that element you’re loving in a palatable way. Rather than committing to recovering your entire sectional in a ‘butter yellow’ or swapping all of your cabinetry for stainless steel, consider starting with a smaller investment like a pillow or side table with the qualities you’re obsessing over. This way, you won’t wind up with buyer’s remorse in three to five years.”
The key, according to designers, is developing authentic personal style over algorithmic influence. As Naeve notes about her own approach: “It’s far more meaningful to let our work speak for itself, and allow each design choice to tell a story of timelessness and our specific point of view.”
Julia Cancilla is the social media & news editor at ELLE Decor, where she oversees the brand’s socials and covers design, pop culture, and emerging trends. She also authors the monthly ELLE Decoroscope column. Her work has appeared in Inked magazine, House Beautiful, Marie Claire, and more.