From New England Leaves To 2026 Home Trends

Ever notice how a crowded city can make you crave a quieter home? After a loop through New England—from Boston’s buzz to Vermont’s hush—we realized our travel preferences mirror the spaces we design and sell. That shift toward small-town calm sets the tone for a full tour of 2026 home trends: cozy over minimal, texture over gloss, and lighting that flatters your life instead of washing it out.

We dig into color drenching with nuance: when it sings, when it caves in, and how undertone, floor depth, and fabric texture decide the outcome. The stark black-and-white look gives way to warm neutrals, sage-leaning greens, tobacco browns, and metals that age with character. Brushed brass and warm nickel step back to let wood grain, stone movement, and woven textiles lead. We debate painted brick and land on a principle that applies everywhere: respect the material, elevate the mood, and plan for maintenance.

Lighting becomes the quiet hero. Rather than blasting recessed cans, we layer lamps, sconces, and dimmable warmth to create rooms you never want to leave. We also challenge the “wall of windows” obsession—beautiful on tours, punishing on bills and privacy—offering practical ways to get light without glare. On architecture, we cheer the return of sunken living rooms and the potential hiding inside 70s and 80s floor plans. In kitchens, two-tone cabinets are fading while natural woods and honest hardware rise; waterfall edges feel cold, but a thoughtful backlit stone can glow like art.

If you want spaces that photograph well and live even better, this conversation is your field guide. We share hands-on listing strategies—including AI paint mockups—that turned stale homes into fast contracts, and we keep it real about what trends hold value and which ones simply shout. Subscribe, share with a design-loving friend, and drop a review with the trend you’re ready to retire.

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Transcript

Catching Up And Travel Stories

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the House Next Door with Barbara Gillio and Anthony Harris. Where real estate meets reality.

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Yes! It's been such a long time.

SPEAKER_01 0:09

It has, it has. So uh we record in batches, and so we did a recording earlier this year, and then I went on vacation, had some fun, and now we're back to podcasting. So it's it's been a minute since we've sat down to do this.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

You've told me a little about your vacation. What did you like? What did you not like? Where did you go?

SPEAKER_01 0:32

So I went to it was a bucketless vacation going to New England. We spent about two and a half weeks doing all the fall colors. So we started in Boston, went to Stockbridge, Western Massachusetts, and like the Berkshires, and then we went to Woodstock, Vermont, then we went to New Hampshire, then we went to Kennebunkport, Maine, then we went to Rhode Island, Newport, then we went to Boston and ended in Boston.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

So what was your favorite part?

SPEAKER_01 0:59

Okay, so my favorite is Stockbridge.

SPEAKER_00 1:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Which I didn't think, but it so what we learned about each other when we were traveling, it's like And how long have you been married? I could shoot. Like, you know, enough years. We got married in 2012. So how many years is that? I can't do math.

SPEAKER_00 1:16

13?

SPEAKER_01 1:17

Okay, yeah. 14.

SPEAKER_00 1:18

That sounds right. So you learned a lot about each other each other.

SPEAKER_01 1:23

So so yeah, because if we travel, we didn't do a lot of traveling because the kids were we had four kids between the two of us. So we couldn't leave, you know, we're always doing sports and all this stuff. And so we haven't done a whole lot of traveling together. And so now we're traveling more later in life that we're empty nesters, but we don't have like the same energy level. And so we always thought, oh, we want to go to these big cities and we want to see all these great things.

SPEAKER_00 1:48

And then you get exhausted just thinking about it.

Small Towns Over Big Cities

SPEAKER_01 1:50

And we hate people, you know. That's what we figure out. We we don't like crowds, we don't like noise. Um, hence why we moved out to Smithville. And so all these little small quiet towns we love. Uh-huh. You know, that we could just go into a little restaurant, find it. We loved going off the beaten path and finding these tiny little towns, or going to the garden club, yes, or going to the Smithville Garden Club. But we when we were in Boston, we were just completely overwhelmed. It was the driving. I mean, they drive they drive crazy and worse than Austin. Oh, a thousand times worse than Austin. A thousand times worse. Like they're honking, they have these traffic circles. It's crazy. And it's just we were just so sensory overload. We were so ready to come home. And so I said to Craig, I said, when we travel now, let's just do small towns, you know, like medium-sized towns. I do, I do not want to go to New York City. I know that sounds like very pedestrian of me, like a country pumpkin. But I don't, I don't like all that noise. I don't like all the people.

SPEAKER_00 2:54

Have you ever been?

SPEAKER_01 2:55

No. I know that sounds pedestrian of me too.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

But it's a lot. It is a lot. But it's also it's different because it's the hustle and bustle.

SPEAKER_02 3:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

But you're also in your own world. Nobody it's like in New York City, you have blinders on. And when you're walking through the s streets, people just don't there's millions of them that but they just don't care. So we feel like And it's just different.

SPEAKER_01 3:18

It's like white noise. Yeah. Maybe.

SPEAKER_00 3:21

But it's it's a different there's so much to do. Yeah. And there's a lot of history there.

SPEAKER_01 3:27

Um yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:28

I get I get I just And it's so easy to get around, but it is Am I getting on a subway? Well, you don't have to.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

Okay, I can't. I like I don't know what the deal is with me in cities anymore, but it just makes me want to take his annex. Like, and I get it. And that makes me sound so like I said, like country bumpkin or something, but I just can't with people anymore. And it's like I love people, but not when they're all around me.

SPEAKER_00 3:52

And New York is that way too.

SPEAKER_01 3:54

And I have to wait in line, and then the people are honking and there's noise.

SPEAKER_00 3:58

Stress.

SPEAKER_01 3:58

There's stress, public bathrooms. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

Well, the good thing is in New York, they don't allow you to use public bathrooms, so good luck.

SPEAKER_01 4:05

So you just pee in your pants?

Hiking Misadventures And Comfort Zones

SPEAKER_00 4:06

Pretty much. But okay, so anywho, so your vacation.

SPEAKER_01 4:12

I love Stockbridge. We wandered around, we went to the Norman Rockwell Museum, which was actually really cool. Edith Wharton's house, we wandered around in her gardens. And New Hampshire was amazing. It was the most beautiful state out of all of them, in my opinion. There wasn't a whole lot to do. That's more of a hiking place, and it's got to be serious hiking.

SPEAKER_00 4:32

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 4:32

Um, Craig and I got lost on a well-mapped loop. It was a loop, it was very clearly marked, and we managed to get lost on that. Now, to be fair, we had a couple cocktails before we wandered into the forest.

SPEAKER_00 4:47

I don't think that's an excuse.

SPEAKER_01 4:49

We had no water, but yeah, cocktails. We had cocktails, and then we got lost on a loop. We started yelling at each other.

SPEAKER_00 5:00

How long were y'all on the loop?

SPEAKER_01 5:01

Like two and a half hours. And we saw people who were like lapping us on the I know they weren't lost, they were just working out, and we were lost. It I mean, it's it's tough that there's a lot of dense trees, you know. Like we couldn't see.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

I'm sure, but it's well mapped, you said.

SPEAKER_01 5:18

It was, you know, the trees were marked. But then then it got to this point where it's like, is it does Luke go that way? Or I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 5:25

So it's funny because I don't go I don't go on hikes anymore by myself because in Sam Marcus there's one called Purgatory Creek.

SPEAKER_01 5:34

Purgatory Creek? Okay.

SPEAKER_00 5:36

So you have upper and lower, and it's a pretty good it's two parts.

SPEAKER_01 5:39

Upper Purgatory, lower purgatory. This is like Dante's Inferno, the levels of hell. I love it.

SPEAKER_00 5:45

So I started in upper and then I walked my way down to lower. Well, it started getting dark. I didn't know where I was. I started at two in the afternoon, and so I ended at lower, but lower is a good amount of ways from upper, and my car was a upper. So I had to walk on the side of the highway where the speed limit was 65 miles an hour up to upper. No, and I ended up downtown at a bar.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

Well, see, that's good kind of hiking right there.

SPEAKER_00 6:17

So I don't go by myself anymore.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

No, no, you shouldn't. It's dangerous.

SPEAKER_00 6:22

Well, I thought in San Marcus name like Purgatory Creek, what do you expect?

SPEAKER_01 6:26

What do you expect? And we were in the Berkshire, so we figured, oh, it said an easy hike, we'll be fine. And it just we're just unfamiliar with the terrain. And we're used to hiking with my brother. Uh-huh. And he lives up in Yosemite and he's this extreme, you know, hiker, he's mountain guide. He goes into the mountains for like five days by himself. So he we just, you know, follow him. And then I halfway through, I said, Greg, we don't have my brother. We don't know what we're doing. What made us think we could do this? We can only do this when we have my brother.

SPEAKER_00 6:55

Or cocktails.

SPEAKER_01 6:56

Yeah. And he's like, didn't you want to be on one of those reality shows where you have to get lost? And I said, No, I wanted to be on the homesteading one. I don't want to be in the wilderness. But anyway, we had we had a really good time in uh Maine was amazing. Everything was amazing. It's a once of a lifetime trip. Yeah. And Boston's history was great, but yeah, I was just over it. And I think that's just a place that I am in my life where I'm over over stimulation. So um good to know because now we can plan our trips accordingly. Because Craig felt the same. It's good we're on the same page. Like that would suck if we weren't.

Pivot To Design Trends

SPEAKER_00 7:33

Um and that brings us into interior design.

SPEAKER_01 7:36

What's coming and what's going on how did that segue into interior design? But I like how we made that point. So yeah, let's because we're coming into the new year, we got to talk about design trends. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

And I'm not the best at design whatsoever.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

Well, this may this highly qualifies us to talk about it.

SPEAKER_00 7:55

We have a podcast about it, so that yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

Yeah, we're very well, we see all kinds of things when we're showing homes, uh, from beautiful homes that make us go home and want to be inspired to oh my gosh, oh dear, lots of DYI, you know. Night bears. Yeah. What are they thinking? In particular, the white tile, subway tile with the black grout. Oh, I've not seen nobody.

SPEAKER_00 8:20

You don't see it often.

SPEAKER_01 8:21

I don't see it anymore. That was way, that was like several years ago. But when I I was seeing it everywhere and the grout was so messy and disgusting. So that that wasn't something that we were gonna talk about, but but it needs to be talked about. That needs to go.

SPEAKER_00 8:35

I I haven't seen it lately, so I think it's I think it's I think that ship sailed. I think that ship sailed, but um so as we get ready for 2026, let's talk about so we talked a little like when we were planning this, but I don't like color drenching. Is that what it's called?

SPEAKER_01 8:50

Yes, it's color drenching when the ceiling I've only seen it well done once. Once.

SPEAKER_00 8:56

And I feel like I don't I don't know what it is. Maybe it's the color, I don't know.

Color Drenching: Love It Or Leave It

SPEAKER_01 9:00

Maybe you don't like the color that they're color drenching. So color drenching is painting the ceiling, the trim, and the walls, all the same color. And oftentimes like the drapes and the window fixture or window treatments are also the same color. And I think it's so gorgeous. I think it's I think it's decadent, velvety, just like in it's totally immersing yourself in color. But you have to do the right color.

SPEAKER_00 9:25

Yeah, I think that's because I've seen it on a few houses. There's one in particular that was done well that I was like, this looks really good. But I know whenever I was painting my house, my contractor wanted to do color drenching. I was like, absolutely not. We're not doing it. It scares you. We're not doing it. Huh. Because I I've seen it not well done so many times that I'm and not well done.

SPEAKER_01 9:46

Do you mean like the color?

SPEAKER_00 9:47

I think so, because it's and you see it in the houses and you just don't love it.

SPEAKER_01 9:51

Yeah, it doesn't Oh, so yummy to me.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

And the other thing too, and maybe floors have something to do with it because my floors are really dark, and I feel like if I did the ceiling as well, it would just be dark.

SPEAKER_01 10:02

That's true. You could create like a cave experience. Yeah, you have to have the right hiking cave. I'm creating a cave moment with my color trip should be like to walk into the cave.

SPEAKER_00 10:14

I mean living room.

SPEAKER_01 10:15

Yeah. Well, that's true. You have to have the right floor to do it, and rugs, and furniture, and it it's not just the moment on the walls. So you gotta bring everything in.

SPEAKER_00 10:26

So maybe it's too complex for me.

SPEAKER_01 10:28

Maybe it's advanced interior design.

SPEAKER_00 10:31

I did not take that class. I did not.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

And I want to color drench my bedroom, but I've never done it, and I'm a little terrified, so I might lean on some of my Try the closet first. And then I can come out of the closet with my color drenching. Oh my gosh. So I might lean on my interior designer friends just for a little help there. Yeah. But I think color drenching is here to stay. You think so? I don't think it's going anywhere.

SPEAKER_00 10:55

I think it's a fraud, uh.

SPEAKER_01 10:59

A fraud. It's a fraud.

SPEAKER_00 11:01

I think it's a fab, but we'll see.

SPEAKER_01 11:03

Well, and what they so we listened to some different interior designers' ideas on what's going and what's coming, and on top of just our own personal experience as realtors and um black and white, stark interiors, those are those are going. And I think we've all felt that that's kind of going.

SPEAKER_00 11:23

And uh maybe it repl I guess it replaced the beige from like the early 2000s, and so everything is beige, and then gray. So we did beige, and then gray was here way too long.

SPEAKER_01 11:32

Gray was here too long, and then greyige, yeah, which my house is actually grayige right now.

SPEAKER_00 11:39

Um but it's on trend, it's the neutral, like like warmer.

SPEAKER_01 11:44

It's gonna, it's gonna change.

SPEAKER_00 11:46

It's gonna color drench. All of it.

SPEAKER_01 11:48

All of it. But um, yeah, so white, black.

SPEAKER_00 11:51

How about shiplap? What do we do think about that?

SPEAKER_01 11:53

Okay, shiplap is fine if you have a farmhouse.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

Yeah, like you.

SPEAKER_01 11:56

Or if you have an older style, you know, like a Victor. I don't know if they had Shiplap and Victorian's buttons.

SPEAKER_00 12:02

They don't, but you can pull it off.

SPEAKER_01 12:03

You can pull, yeah, you can pull it off. And I've been in some older houses that they're not Victorian.

Beyond Black And White

SPEAKER_00 12:08

Shiplap was their old walls. They weren't white, but they were so yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:12

I've been in some older homes that are like built in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and they have shiplap elements, but it's not like the farmhouse shiplap. So in those instances, yes, it works. But when you have a modern suburban home, I think it's done. Can for the love of magnolia, it's done.

SPEAKER_00 12:33

I'm going to go on another rant, and this is not scripted.

SPEAKER_01 12:36

But we're never scripted, but it's not like loud.

SPEAKER_00 12:39

We have our big plans and then we don't stick to them. Yeah. Um, but the stupid modern I call them modern boxes in Austin. Yeah. They are a gray house that look looks ugly. Yeah, I know. They're all over the place and they're a million dollars, and they need to go.

SPEAKER_01 12:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:55

We like and they're designed by architects.

SPEAKER_01 12:58

Like I like how he does air quotes around architects.

SPEAKER_00 13:02

I think they're two second graders.

SPEAKER_01 13:04

Oh, I love it. He's throwing shade.

SPEAKER_00 13:07

But I think they need to go.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

Yeah, I have to say it they're not warm. You know, and they I don't like the big white box.

SPEAKER_00 13:14

They're not homie, they're not homie whatsoever. Like, I like a modern home, but they're not.

SPEAKER_01 13:19

They're not homey. I feel like architecturally, too, they're they're just not very inspiring. But that again is just my take. There are people who can find that so inspiring.

SPEAKER_00 13:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:30

But I think it's I agree with you.

SPEAKER_00 13:32

And um character.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

No. You still have to build the character. There's there's but maybe that's the style.

SPEAKER_00 13:37

Yeah. Maybe there's one that's in East Austin that is modern, mid-century modern, and the windows are circles, and they have like a lot of ovals and arches, and it looks really cool.

SPEAKER_01 13:50

I was gonna say that sounds interesting.

SPEAKER_00 13:51

It's a really cool spin on the modern box. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:56

And I think that's part of it is if you can take that modern box and make it character.

SPEAKER_00 14:00

Yeah, add some character unique features, then it's like it has a round bench that is in the round window in the kitchen where you can lay down at a curve. That's cool. We need to go, it's a compass listing. We need to go. Okay, we need to go look at them. There's two of them. So and something else is sunken living rooms. I love them. And they're coming back.

SPEAKER_01 14:19

Are they? Because I love them too.

SPEAKER_00 14:21

Yes, they're coming back.

SPEAKER_01 14:22

I love them too. And you you know, you have the couch that's built in. It's so 70s. It's so 76. Wait with the shag carpet that you don't want to put a black.

SPEAKER_00 14:33

Oh, I don't I don't know if shag carpet's gonna come back. No, no, shag.

SPEAKER_01 14:37

No, I know.

SPEAKER_00 14:38

It might, it might.

SPEAKER_01 14:39

You know, in small, small spaces, isn't that just pubic hair? Or might I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me. Not even drinking.

SPEAKER_00 14:51

But something in the living room.

SPEAKER_01 14:53

But somehow it segue to Shag pubic hair. Um, I love, I love, I was gonna say, I love Shag pubic. I love a sunken living room. I think it's so cool. It's cozy.

SPEAKER_00 15:10

Last episode you're cursing.

Shiplap And The “Modern Box” Debate

SPEAKER_01 15:12

I know. I know in this one, I'm stuck on something else. Um I don't know how to behave. A sunken living room is so cool.

SPEAKER_00 15:21

It is. It's and it's it splits up the spaces.

SPEAKER_01 15:24

It does, it defines the spaces.

SPEAKER_00 15:26

Hopefully, it's coming back.

SPEAKER_01 15:27

Okay, that was not on any of the interior design stuff that we we were looking at, which you know that's okay because they don't I've seen it. They don't know what's cool.

SPEAKER_00 15:35

Right, I've seen it in a lot of the high like the ultra high-in homes in Austin. Have you? The brand new ones.

SPEAKER_01 15:40

Um nice, so it is coming back.

SPEAKER_00 15:42

I think so. Oh, that's great.

SPEAKER_01 15:44

If it's done well, it's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

I love the 80s houses though. 70s and 80s, yes. There's so much potential you can do, like far west and northwest hills.

SPEAKER_01 15:53

Oh, like my favorite area.

SPEAKER_00 15:55

There's so much you can do with those houses.

SPEAKER_01 15:56

Yeah, um, they have weird floor plans, but yeah, and they're more compartmentalized, but there's ways you can open them up and they have interesting angles. They do tend to be dark, but you can do a lot of skylights and things and different. A lot of them have them. Yeah, a lot of them already have them.

SPEAKER_00 16:12

There's one that I showed probably a year ago, and it had planters at the built-in planters that were on the staircase. Oh, that's and it had a skylight above it so that they could.

SPEAKER_01 16:20

That they got the lights. And you know, I know that light, bright, and airy is always trendy, right?

SPEAKER_00 16:25

Nobody except that buyer that down like all your windows. Oh, that's true.

SPEAKER_01 16:28

There was one lady who did. But but for the most part, light, bright, and airy is always in. Yeah. However, I find some moody comfort in a home that isn't just totally blown out with windows. Yes, you can create this nice, cozy moment. And you know, older homes were made to you know keep you warm and keep the cold out. So, you know, keep the cold out. Yeah, well, keep the cold out and also keep the heat out.

SPEAKER_02 16:56

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 16:56

So you didn't have all these walls of windows. And these new construction homes, you have all these walls of windows, they're beautiful, but they're horrible for any kind of elements of weather. And so, and a lot of times the sun comes blaring in and you have these really high ceilings, and you you have almost like this hotel feel, and it's not a cozy space, it's not a warm space. It's it looks beautiful like a showroom, but to live in it, yeah, it's just not very practical. So I kind of hope that goes away. But I don't think it is, I don't think it is, not the way they're building.

SPEAKER_00 17:28

Like early 2000s, it wasn't that way.

SPEAKER_01 17:30

No, but now it's it's my I have some clients that are building and it's a beautiful home. And but the back of the house, they were like, look at how many windows are not my clients, but the builder. And I was like, Yeah, I get that, but that's actually in my mind, I was saying that's not really a bonus for and how about when you're living and people can just look at it. Yeah, it's you it's so expensive for window treatments, and when the sun is blaring in on those, the gas pops in those windows, so you have to replace them, they're dirty after five seconds. Let's do an educational piece. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:02

Um windows are expensive. They are, they're very expensive, and people don't realize that.

Sunken Living Rooms And Retro Charm

SPEAKER_01 18:08

And window washing is expensive. And when the main feature in your house, you wash your windows, and two two days later it looks filthy again. You kind of always feel like you have a filthy house. Yep. So these are my negatives to the you know, light, bright, and airy wall of windows. They're very cool. I've lived in many homes with them, but now I'm in a home that doesn't have it, and it's just so much easier to maintain. One, my electricity bills are way better. And two, it feels like a cozy hobbit hole. I love it. Which is going back to one of the things that is trending out for this year. Recessed lighting.

unknown 18:42

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 18:43

Which we have we have a little disagreement on that.

SPEAKER_01 18:45

Yeah, we don't agree. So the they're saying recessed lighting is cold, it's harsh, it's overbright, which I agree a thousand percent with. Lighting scapes is almost as important as art, I feel like, in a it is. And so I am all about warm, cozy lamp light. I never turn on my overhead lights, ever. And I have hue bulbs, and those are those bulbs that you can hook up to Google or Alexa, and you can dim them, change colors, and I have a lot of friends who have them. And I was in this big hue bulb phase, and now I'm not really in the Hue Bulb phase either, because sometimes it feels like when you turn on the hue bulbs that go in your recessed lighting, and you're like purple or you know, pink, or I feel like I'm in some sort of like, and I'm like, this is my house, and I feel like I'm in some I don't know, arcade or something. It's not warm.

SPEAKER_00 19:39

Or only homes.

SPEAKER_01 19:40

Yeah, or only homes.

SPEAKER_00 19:41

I just never mind.

SPEAKER_01 19:43

Yeah, well, it's just it feels weird. It's not warm and cozy.

SPEAKER_00 19:46

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 19:47

So I would always turn my hue bulb bulbs like down to like 10% lamp light.

SPEAKER_00 19:50

So it's funny that you were talking about hue bulbs. Um, one of my friends his electricity went out. Um, who was it? I don't know. Their electricity went out, and apparently when it comes back on, all the hue bulbs turn on on the brightest setting they're on.

SPEAKER_01 20:02

They do, they do, and it's uh it's horrible because like uh if you have a storm at night, all of them come on and you're like, oh my gosh, the whole house is like lit up like a you know you can see it from space. You can you can see it from space. So so designers are saying creating warm, cozy, soft spaces with interesting lamps and light fitness. See, I see that.

SPEAKER_00 20:26

I see the way it gives character. Um, but I do like having I feel like lamps don't give off lights, bright lights that you need.

SPEAKER_01 20:36

Yeah, yeah, I get that. Because sometimes when I have to like do something and I'll just flip the bright lights on, and we're all everybody in our house is like because we're in this dark light. I'm like, it's just for a second. I have to see something.

SPEAKER_00 20:50

You gotta put the bifocals on.

Light, Bright, Airy Vs Practical Living

SPEAKER_01 20:52

Yeah, and then we turn it back off. And and another designer was talking about how restaurants that have you know lamp lighting and warmth, it it's more inviting for the customers to come. And in hearkening back to historic times where there wasn't a lot of things. Yeah, the lanterns. Yeah, you didn't have recessed lighting, so you had all these beautiful lamps and created these warm, cozy spaces. And we're kind of going back to that so instead of this industrial stark look.

SPEAKER_00 21:24

And when we're talking about that, something that comes to my mind, and I tell my clients from before we go on the market to sell, light fixtures can make a huge difference and are very affordable.

SPEAKER_01 21:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:34

And you can make a place look like a million-dollar mansion, yeah, or you can make it look like Home Depot. Your choice. Yeah, your choice, absolutely, and like my parents, they have these beautiful chandeliers from um Lamps Plus, which it's not the cheapest place, but in their kitchen, they put these two big things, they had the do you remember in the 2000s how they had the recessed like kitchen fluorescent bulbs? Yes. So my dad was gonna drywall it in where it made it flat, and I told him that they should get some long chandeliers and hang them down to add depth. Oh and it looked really good.

SPEAKER_01 22:08

Very cool. Look at you, but cool in your design ideas. Sometimes and the other thing they said that's going out, which I agree, and I think you agree too, is matte, black, hardware, fixtures, gone.

SPEAKER_00 22:24

Yeah, get rid of it. It's overdone. But what's coming in is the brushed brass.

SPEAKER_01 22:29

The warm brass, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:30

And that brass used to be a thing, like in the 90s, but it wasn't brushed and it wasn't it was over.

SPEAKER_01 22:35

It wasn't warm, it was stark. And what they are saying is the the contrast again of black and white is going out, that stark look. So this, you know, the brushed uh brass and the the silver all kind of sits back and lets the other pieces and elements of the room speak, and it's all like this soft, nice palette instead of oh, there's black, oh there's white. Yeah. So it's all about softening everything. So I think that's cool. I I agree with that one. And then painted brick.

SPEAKER_00 23:09

Oh yes. So Barbara and I have differing appearan appear appearances, we do, yes. Opinions.

SPEAKER_01 23:19

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 23:20

I apparently I can just can't talk today.

SPEAKER_01 23:22

I know, we're it's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 23:25

So um, so painted bricks, I think they look good. Yep. Most times, but how about in 10 years when it's no longer the trend and you just ruined your brick? Brick is timeless.

SPEAKER_01 23:39

Yeah, but I love painted brick. I love it. Painted white.

SPEAKER_00 23:44

I love white going out timeless.

SPEAKER_01 23:47

Okay, so white can be white can be timeless, okay?

SPEAKER_00 23:52

So did you like how it got to the micro close?

Rethinking Recessed Lighting And Hue Bulbs

SPEAKER_01 23:55

You did, you did. I love painted brick. I just think it's a fun way to because I just feel like brick is ugly sometimes. In ten years, I'm still gonna lie.

SPEAKER_00 24:07

Change shutters, change doors, change landscaping.

SPEAKER_01 24:12

Yeah, but I love painting. I I saw when I was in New England and I was driving by, you know how people have these old really old houses, and one had painted the outside of the chimney, which just would kill you, black. They painted all the brick on the side of the house with the chimney black. No, it looks so cool with like because the house itself was like catch on fire. Well, they just painted it. No, I think it's probably fireproof paint or whatever. I don't know. But they the way that they had the color done, it was like kind of a like a dark chocolate with some dark blue trim, and then they had this dark, they took the red brick and painted it black, and it was so cool and gothic looking. Interesting. And I did you take a picture of it? No, because we were driving, okay, and I was like, Oh, look how cool that is. And then um I don't know, I just think it gives the paint, I it gives texture to the to the brick, you know. A different a different thing.

SPEAKER_00 25:10

That's something, and that's something that I think is coming in for the interior is texture. Yeah, um people want to feel and see texture, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:17

Different well, and that goes with feng shui, yeah, where you have warm woods, you have water elements, you have texture elements, all that good stuff, you know. The so you're not just again going away from the stark. So they also said no more white walls. White walls are gone. Thank god. I know, I remember the when they were never in, and then that's all you wanted. Okay, so certain people have to have eggshell paint. Me, because I have bears, and so I have to have paint where I can scrub it.

SPEAKER_00 25:50

But I feel like semi-gloss, but semi-gloss is very 2000s.

SPEAKER_01 25:54

It is, but if you have Newfoundlands, you cannot have matte waltz because there's they slobber and then you try to take the slob.

SPEAKER_00 26:02

I did the eggshell in my house. I had what would I had semi-gloss before and I wanted to tone it down.

SPEAKER_01 26:08

And so went to the it's it's if you have kids or you have pets, it's a really and the mat is terrible. Matt, you yeah, you have to yeah, you can't be a normal human and have matte paint on your house, but and it doesn't even look good, but it doesn't. No, and so we're going towards again, warmth, cozy, just comfortable spaces. So the top colors, according to the experts, are not us. No, we're not us, are these warm browns, yes, khaki, dare I say beige?

SPEAKER_00 26:46

It's all the neutral we're gonna call them neutral colors.

SPEAKER_01 26:48

They're they're neutral colors and you know sagey greens with a little bit of teal green in them, you know, like they are almost like a teal sagey green, if that makes any sense. But I remember these exact colors being in back in 2002.

SPEAKER_00 27:05

But you also remember wallpaper in the 1990s. Yeah. But our wallpaper looks so much better. That's coming in.

Fixtures, Finishes, And Affordable Upgrades

SPEAKER_01 27:11

Very good point. Good point. We're not using our neutrals now and our beiges are very understated, they're not in your face. Yeah. Like I painted our room brick red. Yeah, because I thought that was cool. Yeah. And I'm not a very good painter, so it was all over the ceiling too, and the baseboards. But that was a 2002 move, you know.

SPEAKER_00 27:33

So you know um my green wall that's in my kitchen.

SPEAKER_01 27:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:37

So when I was doing that, uh I got this really pretty maroon ish red. I painted a little spot on the oh yeah. And yeah, it looked like blood. Well, so that's the other thing. It does.

SPEAKER_01 27:50

Sometimes it's like, oh, that's a murder room. Yeah, it's a blood plot.

SPEAKER_00 27:53

So we went with green.

SPEAKER_01 27:55

That's a beautiful those those sagey blues are are sagey blues, sagey greens are just gorgeous. Yeah. They're very and you could color drench with those and paint brick, you can't, and it would look really good. Just say.

SPEAKER_00 28:08

But my house is not color drenched. I have one other question.

SPEAKER_01 28:12

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 28:13

So the double-toned cabinets where you have one color on the bottom and one color on top.

SPEAKER_01 28:19

Oh, you mean the two-toned cabinets? You don't like that?

SPEAKER_00 28:22

How do you well? I feel like it it was a fab. I like it. Yeah, but I feel like it's starting to go out.

SPEAKER_01 28:28

It might be. You know, and also painted cabinets are going out and natural wood cabinets are coming back in.

SPEAKER_00 28:34

From the night from 2000.

SPEAKER_01 28:35

But again, it's done differently. It's not that rosewood or that.

SPEAKER_00 28:39

And they actually put hardware on them.

SPEAKER_01 28:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:41

Imagine that.

SPEAKER_01 28:42

The other thing before we wrap we're just on a tangent at this point. I don't like waterfall count uh counters. You know how you have the island and the countertop falls down the side. I think it looks too cold and modern.

SPEAKER_00 28:56

So have you seen the backlit cabinet or countertops? Yes. Those are gorgeous.

SPEAKER_01 29:01

Yeah, they are. They are pretty.

SPEAKER_00 29:02

Yeah. Sorry, that just took me.

SPEAKER_01 29:04

Well, I mean, and I kind of was like, meh, I was kind of meh on it just because I think my style is so um anti-modern that I'm being too biased. 2026, it's all about cozy, warm, and not minimalist spaces, really, and lamp lighting.

SPEAKER_00 29:26

And black and white is out.

SPEAKER_01 29:27

Black and white is out. I say black and white in your house, not black and cheese.

SPEAKER_00 29:32

We're gonna flap some paint on it. Well, that brings us to another another thing, the education piece is paint is so cheap and can change a space. Yes, and when you're looking to sell or buy, or yeah, either or paint can make a huge difference.

Painted Brick, Texture, And Warm Neutrals

SPEAKER_01 29:49

It can make a huge difference. And it's it's it's the best thing you can do to transfer transform your living space with the least amount of money. Yeah, it really is. And and for a listing, it's You that can change everything. And it also makes the house look nice, fresh, and clean. And so buyers come in and they're less inclined to think that the home wasn't taken care of. So it's very important.

SPEAKER_00 30:11

Something that I use on my listing appointments whenever we have that problem is I'll go to AI and make it paint walls. Oh nice. And then I bring it with me and I say, This is what it could look like. And I did that for a house and bath shop with the siding, the exterior siding.

SPEAKER_01 30:24

Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_00 30:25

And they listen to me because after they got it, they're like, This is a hundred percent better. And we got it under contract within a week or two.

SPEAKER_01 30:32

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 30:33

I mean it's and it was on the market for three months before that.

SPEAKER_01 30:36

Right. It's interesting how these little things that cost a bit out of pocket, but not majorly out of pocket, can make such a difference in days on market and how much the seller shield.

SPEAKER_00 30:46

Yep.

unknown 30:46

Alright.

SPEAKER_01 30:47

Well, perfect. That wraps up.

SPEAKER_00 30:49

Um, what's our next episode?

SPEAKER_01 30:51

Our design episode will follow with We don't know. We don't know. Stay tuned. Stay tuned if I comment like.

SPEAKER_00 30:59

I don't know until you figure it out.

SPEAKER_01 31:00

Until next time. Thank you for tuning in. We'll see you next week. Yes. So please like, subscribe, comment, share, follow. Whatever it might be. Until next time.