Colored appliances? Open floor plans? If you’ve been considering a design upgrade and could use a second (designer) opinion, you’re in luck! We’re back with our latest installment of Love It or Hate It, the tell-all game in which top designers weigh in on today’s hottest design trends. Held at this year’s LCDQ LEGENDS and hosted by the Chairish’s own Anna Brockway, this year’s killer panel included Bobby Berk, Nate Berkus, Jeremiah Brent, Leanne Ford, Mary McDonald, Robert Rufino, and Nathan Turner. Ahead, discover the trends these A-list designers loved, hated, and occasionally felt just “meh” about.
Most Designers Loved:
Mismatched Dining Chairs: 6 Love, 1 Hate
“I don’t mind when the head chairs are different.” —Nate Berkus
Monogramming: 6 Love, 1 Hate
“I used to hate monogramming until Nate and the babies. It’s cute with the kids’ initials on it.” —Jeremiah Brent
“Now we aspire to be like nice southern ladies. I’m like, ‘Make it bigger! Make it more scrolly!'” —Nate Berkus
Tufted Headboards: 6 Love, 1 Hate
“It feels like a coffin.” —Robert Rufino
“Maybe that’s what’s so comforting to me about them.” —Nathan Turner
Tassels & Fringe: 6 Love, 1 Hate
“Not in my home, but as earrings it’s great.” —Bobby Berk
Designers Were Divided On:
Ceiling Fans: 5 Love, 2 Hate
“Well, I’ve never not taken the ceiling fan down, even in rentals. Because you can buy a fan on a stand that you bring that out for a couple of days.” —Leanne Ford
Colored Appliances: 5 Love, 2 Hate
“I would stick with the colored blender.” —Jeremiah Brent
“I think they are pretty if it’s a pretty blue. I’m going to get sick of it, but it’s pretty.” —Mary McDonald
Pleated Lampshades: 5 Love, 2 Hate
“I love them. I like pattern-on-pattern and bringing in a pattern on the pleated lampshade and putting a little trim around it or a tassel.” —Nathan Turner
Open Floor Plans: 5 Love, 2 Hate
“People think they have to do it when they buy a house, and I don’t think that’s true at all. It depends on your lifestyle. I mean, I like proper rooms and I think that’s great to move through rooms— (to Jeremiah) we both like that a lot — but for some people it’s not practical at all with young kids running around. But that instinct right now of blowing out the entire first floor just so you can have an open floor plan—and everyone’s putting in a beam—I don’t think that’s forever.” —Nate Berkus
Terrazzo: 5 Love, 2 Hate
“It’s so annoying to install. It takes so long to do it correctly and it looks like an airport.” —Nate Berkus
“It does look like an airport, and I was just in Dallas and there was a series of light blue, dark blue, medium blue and white. Who’s from Dallas? Don’t you like your airport with the terrazzo blue floors?” —Mary McDonald
Scenic Wallpaper: 5 Love, 2 Hate
“I think it’s so classic and timeless. I think of homes that I’ve been to where it’s original and it’s been on the walls for a hundred something years and it looks even better.” —Nathan Turner
“I think that it gets dated real fast.” —Leanne Ford
Most Designers Hated:
Taxidermy: 3 Love, 4 Hate
“I don’t like having all of Snow White’s friends on the wall.” – Bobby Berk
Balloon Shades: 3 Love, 4 Hate
“We would have done it in our daughter’s room if Jer would have let us. I think that there’s something charming about it with the D. Porthault sheets and all that business, but he always talks me off a ledge and I’m like, oh, yeah, that’s much nicer looking.” – Nate Berkus
“Well there’s all different styles. There’s really weird saloon-looking ones. And I like them!” —Mary McDonald
Acrylic Furniture: 3 Love, 4 Hate
“I hate it so much. It’s always dirty and it scratches. I don’t like it in furniture and I don’t like it in a heel.” —Jeremiah Brent
“I love it in the right situation.” —Bobby Berk
All photos by Marisa Vitale