The Future of Timeless Style
By Beth Yarbrough
King Solomon might not have had the timeless nature of design in mind when he wrote “there is nothing new under the sun” in the Book of Ecclesiastes, but he was spot on, nonetheless.
The truth is this. What we refer to as classic and timeless in terms of how we furnish our surroundings and clothe ourselves and design our structures has all, in some form, been around for years, decades, and even centuries. We just find new ways to interpret it.
Today’s markets are offering a reframing of Mid-Century Modern design, for instance, but even in the mid-20th Century, it wasn’t new. And I love how we are pulling natural elements and finishes into the mix in the 21st-century versions. These aren’t your mama’s plastic “space-age” chairs, but the look is unmistakable.
Inevitably, though, this too will pass, and we will be on to the next “new” thing.
Just within my four decades of involvement in the industry, I have personally witnessed multiple trends come and go, and truthfully, I have wished several of them good riddance.
But there is one defining element of style that truly is timeless. If it is well-designed, it will always be current and fresh, and will work with whatever surrounds it. A great case in point is the scene in this photo. A couple of hundred years ago, Italian artisans decided to reinterpret the art of Ancient China onto hand-painted wallpaper, which made its way eventually into a 20th century New York home, and then into the hands of a collector, who has it paired here with a late 18th century American wing chair, a Jacobean table, and a fragment of a Corinthian capital - itself a reproduction from the classical designs of ancient Greece.
Each of these, when new, were considered cutting-edge for their time - a stark departure from what had just come before. None were wrong, or out of keeping. They were just a reflection of what we loved at the moment.
This is good food for thought when furnishing and designing our own homes. Our tastes are not static, and neither are we. Embrace whatever speaks to you in the moment and be sure to take good care of it, because if it is well-designed, it will represent the “timeless style” of the future.
Photo by Bronson Pinchot.
