It’s very rare to stumble upon a design trend that lasts forever, especially regarding kitchen design. Surely, decorators in the 1950s thought that sunken living rooms would last forever, yet here we are 70 years later with perfectly even living room spaces. Another trend that’s perhaps seen better days is placing cheesy word signs around the kitchen, like the ones that say “bless this mess.” These days, any of those kitschy signs in a renovated kitchen are considered a modern faux pas, which we touched on in our article about the 17 outdated kitchen design trends you should avoid completely.
You might recall that, throughout the last two decades or so, it became increasingly popular to place signs with phrases like “bon appétit” or “the secret ingredient is love” around nooks and crannies of a kitchen, but seeing those signs now just feels outdated. Maybe you’re guilty of hanging a “don’t talk to me before I’ve had my coffee” sign above your Nespresso Essenza Mini (otherwise known as the quietest Nespresso machine), but it’s time to toss those wooden word signs in the donate pile if you’re hoping to stay on-trend with modern designs. While once thought of as quirky and unique, now word signs just scream inauthentic.
Word signs are out, personalized art is in
Those kitchen signs with single words or quotes fall in line with the farmhouse decor trend, which was also popular in the mid-2000s but has since begun to fall out of style. Farmhouse decor was all about bringing the rustic, off-grind look into city homes, and people went bananas for it. You’d often see wall art saying “farm fresh eggs” above a refrigerator clearly housing store-bought eggs, or a sign saying “freshly squeezed” above a carton of Minute Maid lemonade. The decor (and the word signs that accompany it) can make the space feel fake and cluttered, which is why both are falling out of style.
Tacky word signs have become so laughable that there’s even a trend on TikTok where people jokingly re-enact the phrases, such as “happiness is homemade.” These days, instead of hanging a sign that reads “fresh bread daily” above your breadbox (which does keep bread fresh), experts recommend filling the space with something specific to your taste, something that will start a conversation. Your walls should be filled with artwork and signs that are meaningful to you personally, not just a generic phrase from a craft store. It’s time to ditch the metallic “kitchen” word sign in favor of actual artwork or homemade signs instead.
