The best part about January is the lists; ‘top 20 love songs of 2017, Eight design trends making an EXIT in 2018, 17 must have boots for 2018.’

They are all interesting to read and for as long as I’ve been reading them I have seen everything come and go and come again then go.

It is an endless cycle and I don’t know how many times the design world has tried to bring brass back into style or has splashed the headline ‘WALLPAPER MAKING A COMEBACK’. All of a sudden it’s true! Here is what I have read for the must haves for 2018, and if you have renovated in the last seven years you will probably already have these elements.

Guess what?

White kitchens are out and dark cabinets such as black and grey are in, so very in!

This isn’t news and clients have been utilizing dark stains for years now and loving the look in their kitchens. I would say that it is an 80/20 split with the majority going for dark cabinets.

It is one of those design elements that you want to be very sure about as you won’t change this item for a very long time. The other dark which is trying to push in is navy blue with brass hardware, but I can’t see that being a big thing to catch on in our area of the world.

Oh, and by the way….wide plank hardwood is THE go to for 2018!

Really? I’ve been using wide plank hardwood, laminate and vinyl plank for years! Technically, wide plank floors have been around forever and became a woodsy or casual look for about 30 years while narrow plank floors took over a more formal residence, but they never went away.

The look and style of a wide plank floor is timeless and is the best way to feature wood in any form whether it be on the wall, floor or ceiling.

The width of the plank and the grain and pattern that it shows is classic at 8” or greater, yet the design community is talking about this like it’s a new trend.

I recently read that 2018 is the year of colour! Imagine my surprise!

Colour abounds every year and regardless of what trend setters try to say, it is always the year of colour. Every year is the year of colour, every single year, it’s comical sometimes for me to read these headlines of earth shattering and profound predictions.

While we are on the topic of profound, the same article which predicted the ‘in-ness’ of wide plank hardwood also outed reclaimed wood which makes it hard to get authentic wide plank flooring!

There was a buzz I was catching that stated that curved furniture is in for 2018 which was something I have not read before.

To specifically throw curved furniture into the mix is a dramatic statement which should cause all of us to look at our square or rectangular furniture in disgust and immediately run out and make a new purchase!

Be careful though as authenticity was also listed as a trend for 2018 so we can’t authentically get rid of things we love or we aren’t being authentically authentic, are we?

Kim Wyse is a local freelance designer. Find her on facebook at ‘Ask a Realtor/Ask a Designer’.