As you rewatch your favorite shows from the '90s and 2000s, you'll likely see velvet couches everywhere, including the cozy Central Perk Cafe. friend Head to London: Tipton's Impressive Penthouse Bargain The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Having been exposed to these striking velvet pieces so many times since childhood, this couch's style has become deeply imprinted on millennials, and by the time they're old enough to spruce up a place of their own, they're sure to love this couch. There's a good chance you'll find yourself drawn to iconic styles.
And in 2022, the velvet sofa trend reached its peak. Back then, if you scrolled through Pinterest or TikTok, you wouldn't see a living room adorned with funky checkered rugs, repurposed disco balls, and DIY foam mirrors, and you'd see bright velvet. could not. A sofa sitting comfortably in the middle of everything.
People don't want to sit on velvet sofas as much as skinny jeans and side parts (yet), but the reputation is definitely on the wall and it's time to call it a day: velvet sofas are officially comfy, too. Ta.
Between the growing popularity of new styles and the speed at which TikTok is creating and breaking trends, it seems like people are finally starting to move away from the luxury-looking furniture staples. Instead, younger shoppers are drawn to Barbiecore's over-the-top kitsch, minimalist designs that scream quiet luxury, or his '70s-inspired look.
I've witnessed design exhaustion, just as my fellow New Yorkers have worn out their velvet sofas time and time again. my Problems over the past four years. In 2020, I moved into an apartment with a neglected purple velvet couch that my roommate and I later reupholstered with white linen to resemble the much-discussed Restoration Hardware Cloud Couch. When I moved into my current apartment last summer, the previous tenant happily left behind a green velvet futon, but a month later I decided to replace it with a comfortable polyester/acrylic blend sofa. I put it on the curb.
After all, green might be the cheapest color on a sofa. As you may remember, velvet sofas in various shades of green went viral on TikTok in 2022, after Emily Ratajkowski and Shay Mitchell went viral with their emerald sofas. Interior designer and art director Taika Pryde Edwards says it wasn't the smooth fabric that TikTokers embraced, but the sofa's eye-catching colors. Once in fashion, the color confines the sofa to a specific moment and solidifies its attractive status.
“If you see someone doing that, [a green velvet couch], you can guess when they bought it, maybe up to 2017,” Edwards says. “[The color] It's like putting a date on your furniture. ”
Instead, sofas made from durable, high-performance fabrics such as acrylic, nylon and polyester are now popular among customers, Edwards says. These materials can withstand continued use better than velvet, which loses its luster over time when people sit on it. Velvet is a less than ideal quality for a sofa.
Of course, TikTok doesn't always dictate what kind of home decor gets caught IRL (neon exploding furniture, Tuscan kitchen aesthetics (early 2000s?), but with algorithms that prioritize new content and suppress old content, trends tend to take effect more quickly than before.
At least that's what Reeves Connelly, a content creator with a master's degree in architecture and design, thinks. “[Going viral on TikTok] “While it can quickly increase the popularity of a particular design trend, it can also contribute to its rapid decline,” he says.
However, this trend's decline extends far beyond TikTok. One of the anonymous co-founders of the Instagram account @stoopingnyc, who shares photos of free furniture left on the streets of New York City that anyone can claim, also noticed the change. He says pictures of blue, teal and purple velvet sofas used to get “engagement from the ceiling,” but not so much anymore. Plus, he says he's seen more leads sitting on velvet couches in recent months. People are getting rid of them in droves.
Additionally, over the past year, searches for the term “velvet sofa” on Pinterest have decreased by 30%, and searches for “velvet sofa” have decreased by 50%. With Gen Z making up more than 40% of his monthly active users on Pinterest, his style was long ago relegated to the genteel land of crying-laugh emojis and chevrons that millennials are oblivious to. It may have been. The platform also predicts that by 2024, living rooms will be transformed into moody Americana sanctuaries thanks to Western Gothic aesthetics. This look doesn't involve a velvet sofa.
If you want to upgrade your velvet sofa, there are plenty of other sofa trends to keep an eye on. Design site Houzz predicts that furniture made from textured fabrics like tweed and hair-on-hide leather will be a big hit in interior design this year. A trend we're already seeing in your FYP is bouclé, which both Connelly and Edwards agree is on the rise.
Whether it's the TikTokization of the velvet sofa or its near-inevitable presence in millennial homes that led to its downfall, there's no denying that what was once an aspirational piece of furniture is now a cliché. That said, trend cycles are getting shorter and shorter, and with TikTok in control, what's popular today could be popular again tomorrow.
source:
Taika Pride EdwardsInterior designer and art director
reeves connellycontent creator and design expert
This article was first published
