As is our custom, we kicked off 2017 by making some predictions about the future of the blogging world. We have a pretty good track record here and are definitely known for having our finger on the pulse of what is fashionable with kids adults decorating their homes, throwing elaborate parties, and writing about it on the internet, so we were feeling pretty confident.
We know you rely on our advice on these critical subjects, so it’s important that we be held accountable — thus we wanted to report back on how we did in 2017.
Long story short: we’re pretty awesome.
What we got right about 2017
Our biggest win in 2017 predictions was the victorious resurgence of balloons as a major force in decor. We even predicted that balloons would be the new donut, which any blogger knows is an incredibly bold statement. But that boldness paid off. Balloons were everywhere in 2017, from parties to tables to on the floor in random rooms. (And not just our own parties/tables/floors!) There were balloon cacti, balloon christmas trees, and balloon cupcakes. We nailed it.
(Sugar and Cloth // A Joyful Riot // A Kalio Chic Life // Dnilva // House that Lars Built // Love Decorations // Lovely Indeed // Sugar and Cloth // House that Lars Built)
Our prediction that lips would be the new eyes wasn’t quite as successful. Eyes are still clearly the new eyes. Those things are everywhere! However, we’re still counting this one as a win because lips are doing pretty well, popularity-wise. There was definitely a healthy increase in lip-related projects in 2017. We’ve even found them combined with balloons, for incredibly bloggery results:
But even beyond that, putting lips on things was definitely a cool thing to do in 2017.
(Let’s Mingle Blog // White House Crafts // Plaster & Disaster (yes, we cited ourselves) // Val Event Gal)
We also predicted the popularity of giant cacti as a follow on to the epoch of the succulent. Specifically huge saguaro cacti planted in everyone’s front yard, but also the prominence of large synthetic cacti of all kinds and in all locations.
It’s a little too soon to know whether we were right on the saguaro cacti thing (they take some 80 years go grow, so even if the trend did start this year, we won’t know for a little while). But giant cacti in general were… huge… this year. Bloggers and decor stores made them out of just about everything they could get their hands on.
(Pottery Barn // Kaylee Eyelander // Aleen’s Original // Planted Design on Etsy // A Beautiful Mess // AllModern // West Elm // Suburban Bees // We’re Going to Make It // Urban Outfitters)
Instead, bloggers compensated as we predicted by filling their homes with real greenery (and fake greenery in the form of giant synthetic cacti, see above).
We don’t really need a collage to prove to you guys that bloggers liked plants in 2017, right? That’s like trying to prove that bloggers liked bokeh and overly elaborate dinner parties in 2017. Also these collages take a lot of time to put together, and we are busy and important people.
Finally, our pick for metal of the year was gold, and we were so right. Gold eclipsed copper, brass, and even 2016’s rose gold as the faucet color of choice this year, and, as every blogger knows, where the faucet goes, so too go the light fixtures, cutlery, and table legs. Plus, given the easy accessibility of gold paint and spray paint (at least 500% easier to get your hands on than rose gold spray paint), bloggers went all in to this trend by putting gold just about everywhere.
(Jaquellyn Clark // Pillar Box Blue // A Beautiful Mess // Lily Ardor // The House That Lars Built // Just a Little Creativity // Dans le Lakehouse // Delicious and DIY // Jojotastic // Sugar and Cloth)
You know a metal has really made it when you see it aligned with powerhouse blogging trends like cans, soap, hairpin legs, eyes, and pineapples. We even put it ON Emily Henderson, a feat achieved by few other metals in 2017 that we know about.
What we got wrong about 2017
Alas, we are not perfect, and not all of our 2017 predictions came true. (Actually, we wish a few more of them didn’t, but we’re not omnipotent, either.)
Chief among our failures was the prediction that the deer would be the “it” animal of 2017. We felt pretty good about that one, given that woodland creatures as a bloc have been dominant for quite some time, and the leading stars (the fox and the owl) have had their time in the spotlight. Why not give the sweet deer a chance?
Here is a peek at what could have been:
So why didn’t this happen? Well, we ran the numbers, and while deer did increase their popularity among the woodland creatures bloc, what we didn’t predict was that woodland creatures would fall in popularity by a whopping 10% in 2017, losing ground primarily to creatures like llamas, camels, and buffalo.
Woodland creatures are still the dominant force here, but it appears their edge is slipping. What will 2018 bring? A market upset could be on the horizon.
Also, the apocalypse that we predicted for 2017 didn’t come true… although it came really, really, really close. We’re pretty confident this one will come in 2018.
2018 Trends
So what about the 2018 trends? We have some ideas, but we aren’t ready to put a stake in the ground yet. (Other than the apocalypse thing. That’s going to happen.) You’ll have to check back on Monday, January 15, for our Blog Anniversary which will address this important issue. It’s going to be MADNESS!
As an ex-Jehovah’s Witness and a child of the Cold War (hide under the second-grade desk when the Commies bomb us), I’m real big on apocalypses.
It helps to laugh, and that “put a deer on it” gave me a real good guffaw.
I’m predicting the color of the year will be blue, especially in early November.
Your predictions were so right so often, do you really review that many blogs?