These trendy home "upgrades" actually make your house look worse

You've seen them on Instagram and Pinterest—those gorgeous design trends that make you want to renovate immediately. But here's what those styled photos don't show: the constant maintenance, the regret, and the realization that your "upgrade" looks dated before you've even paid off the credit card. With the upgrades below, homeowners and designers consistently wish they'd never bothered.

Open shelving in your kitchen

The Pinterest promise vs. reality

Open shelving looks fantastic in professionally styled photos, but it proves highly impractical in real kitchens. Magazines make it look so effortless. Try it at home.

Open shelving collects dust and grease, requires constant upkeep, and removes essential concealed storage. Cooking grease coats everything up there. You'll be washing clean dishes before dinner because they've been sitting out. There are safety concerns, too, including items falling and exposure to temperature and humidity changes during cooking.

Mismatched wares become an eyesore rather than a design statement. Maybe you have matching dishes and love arranging them. Most of us grab whatever's clean. Open shelves end up looking cluttered fast. Plus, they get dusty. If you want to try it anyway, keep it limited. A small section by the coffee maker works. I know, slamming and creaking cabinets can be annoying, but don't replace every cabinet in your kitchen just for that reason.

All-in on a single design trend

When farmhouse goes too far

Some homeowners who went all-in on modern farmhouse now regret it because these spaces look outdated just a few years later. Shiplap or faux brick on every wall. Barn doors on the island. That butcher block needs oiling constantly, and scratches if you look at it wrong.

Overly coordinated interiors that follow one aesthetic from top to bottom lack character and feel more like set pieces than sanctuaries. Everything matching one trend makes houses feel staged instead of lived-in. Leaning too far into specific design trends can make spaces feel dated quickly. This stems from design TV shows being seen by mass audiences, with the look becoming mass-produced and suddenly dated.

A better approach is to keep the big stuff timeless. Buy a sofa you'll love in ten years. Same with your dining table. If you want to switch things up, new throw pillows cost $30 and take ten seconds to swap. It's way easier than tearing down shiplap.

High-gloss and ultra-modern finishes

The smudge-magnet problem

Flat slab cabinets with high-gloss laminate smudge, scratch, and reflect light like a fun house mirror. Every fingerprint shows up. When you try to wipe them clean, you're just moving smudges around. Hot climates make it worse—the finish can warp.

High-gloss cabinets gained popularity for their sleek, modern appeal, but they constantly show fingerprints, wear, and stains. You'll spend half your life with a microfiber cloth and learning how to clean the mirrored finish properly. Then there's concrete countertops. They sound cool and industrial until reality hits. Porous material means constant resealing. They crack randomly. Oil and wine stains are permanent. Showrooms make these finishes look great because nobody actually cooks in showrooms.

In real homes, they're nightmares. Soft satin or matte finishes hide wear far better and won't require you to constantly wipe down surfaces.

Statement pieces that don't match your home

Wrong-sized chandeliers and trendy fixtures

Grand entrance fixtures can look spectacular when done correctly, but choosing the wrong ones makes homes look tacky and ostentatious. Picture a huge modern chandelier in a cottage. Looks wrong, right? An ornate crystal thing in a mid-century ranch is just as bad. Fixtures should match the style and era of the home; cheap-looking fixtures will always appear cheap, regardless of their size. Bold, trendy fixtures might look chic now, but quickly become dated.

See that geometric brass chandelier on every design blog? Wait a couple of years. It'll date your house instantly, much like certain light fixtures that immediately reveal a room hasn't been updated since 2005.

Waterfall islands provide another example. They look sleek until you're constantly slamming your hip into the extended counter edge. All-black kitchens might work well on Instagram, but they reveal every fingerprint, crumb, and water spot. Style should never compromise function. You actually have to live in your home, not just photograph it.

Accent walls with trendy colors or patterns

The fast track to dated

Paint brands' colors of the year create pressure to update walls, but what's trendy today becomes outdated the next year and eventually tacky. That perfect shade of millennial pink, trendy sage green, or vibrant red quickly becomes a timestamp that dates your entire space.

The "everything gray" trend, which TikTok made seem modern and chic, actually made rooms dull and boring. Others painted entire rooms black, thinking it would look cool and sleek, only to make their spaces feel much smaller. Highly intricate tile borders, mosaic patterns, and mixing too many metals or finishes are surefire ways to date your space and impact resale value.

Go neutral or pick soft tonal colors. They won't look out of place five years from now. If you’re craving bold color, add throw pillows, artwork, or peel-and-stick wallpaper. Test out trends without committing to major renovations you'll regret.

Overly detailed millwork and paneling

When elegance becomes gaudy

Millwork can elevate spaces when done correctly, but overdone examples can come across as gaudy. You know what I'm talking about—excessive molding, heavy paneling, decorative trim everywhere. Architectural interest versus trying too hard is a thin line. Many homeowners discover they've crossed it only after installation is complete.

The paneling trend from design TV shows became overdone. Initially associated with good design, it was then mass-produced and quickly dated. Feature walls with excessive detail can overwhelm rooms and collect dust in every crevice. Crown molding is expensive and tends to go out of style, as it serves no functional purpose. Put the wrong style in your home and it'll clash awkwardly with everything else.

Less is usually more here. Classic wainscoting on the lower walls adds interest without going overboard. Any millwork should complement your home's original character rather than competing with it.

Avoiding the trends

The homes that look good for years aren't the ones chasing every trend. They blend classic pieces with personal style. Designers are shifting away from trends that prioritize cohesion over character, opting instead for warmth, quirk, and craft.

Put your money toward solid basics and practical upgrades. Can you maintain that finish long-term? Does that fixture actually fit your home's architecture? Will you still like that color in 2030? Those are the questions worth asking. Keep trendy choices limited to easy swaps. Your house should work for your real life, not just look good in photos.