Blog Madness 2018: Round Two – Sweet Sixteen

We’re back with Day #2 of our blog anniversary week! In case you missed it, yesterday we explained that this week we’re celebrating three years of Plaster & Disaster awesomeness by making you figure out what the hottest design trends of 2018 will be. (We really know how to party.) We gave you 32 contenders to consider, but we’re making you do the actual hard work of picking which ones will win out.

To those who voted yesterday, thank you! We’re excited to be sharing which trends have advanced to this next round, and to present you with a new set of match-ups (which will start to get increasingly apples-to-oranges) for your review. So without further ado, here’s where things stand!

With the first round concluded, it’s time to vote again!

Decor Division

Match-up 1: Buffalo vs. Animal Figurines

It was no surprise to us that the powerful, edgy, and somehow both bohemian and rustic buffalo won the “putting animals on things” match up.  This upstart trend is a powerful contender for the national championship this year.  It looks great in photos, and has a recognizable silhouette that makes it ideal for things like stamps and wood burning – a well rounded and flawless competitor.  More surprising was the victory of animal figurines over animal busts, which have been everywhere lately.  Was this a sage prediction or just wishful thinking on your part given how creepy taxidermy is?

Either way, we’re with you and excited to see how this animal vs. animal match-up goes from here.  Which will win out in 2018?

Match-up 2: Peruvian Everything vs. Colorful Appliances

And our second remaining match-up in decor leaves you choosing between Peruvian textiles, patterns, and animals vs. colorful appliances in kitchens.  Is this a match-up of stars, or what?  We wouldn’t have been surprised if it were the two of these trends vying for the top spot overall, but the bracket has thrown them together and only one can win.

On the one hand, you have a fresh take on tribal patterns, with the lure of awesome tassels and the adorable llama (both of which we almost considered a trend contender on their own merits) for a powerhouse team.  What could possibly go up against the culture of an entire country?  Try the ability to make a kitchen look both custom, colorful, expensive, and filled with personality all in one go.  What could beat that?

Choose wisely on this one folks, because the winner could go all the way.

Future of Blogging Division

Match-up 1: Vacation Homes vs. Home Automation

In our first future of blogging category we saw bloggers buying vacation homes win out over the trend of even more sponsored content everywhere.  Boy, we hope you’re right!  Neither say great things about the blogging world, but at least one yields great projects that we want to read about.  A more surprising outcome came as home automation utterly trounced what we thought was a pretty strong contender in a revival of minimalism.  But we’re (or at least Naomi) is with you: more is more!  Specifically, more robots to rule our lives.

But which will be the biggest trend that bloggers turn to for quick, easy, and sustainable content creation in 2018?  Will we all go buy homes to renovate, or just make the ones we have smarter?

Match-up 2: GÄSTFRIHET vs. Instablogs

You guys are definitely nicer than your average blogger since you chose the wonderful trend of embracing gästfrihet (just hospitality made cooler by translating it into Swedish via google translate) to win out over throwing fake parties to brag about on the internet.  We like that about you!  It is an upstart trend but one that has all the makings of a major contender: the ability to generate endless content, write holier-than-thou posts about welcoming guests, include tons of pretty photos, and be aligned with something Scandinavian.

But this upstart team trend faces a tough match-up against the movement of bloggers sharing less content on their blogs and more via instagram… which may come to the ultimate tipping point in 2018 where instagram stories are the main form of blogging.  Think that’s crazy?  Ask all the millionaires whose job it is to be in pretty photos on that social media platform.

So which will dominate in 2018?

Surfaces Division

Match-up 1: Mixing Metals vs. Caliente AF

It was hard to see “Pink is Everything” lose out because we just saw a pink sink on instagram this very morning. But it does seem like mixing metals is a more achievable and realistic reaction to the “metal of the year” craziness that has proliferated the last few years. We won’t deny that we’re likely to keep seeing pink popping up, but maybe not on everything. We were also relieved to to see Caliente beat out Ultra Violet in an upset victory that seems understandable in hindsight.  The coaching staff behind Ultra Violet has really gone downhill: how long can Pantone keep picking terrible colors before we revoke their color-of-the-year naming privileges?

Now we have these two winners going head-to-head. What say you?  Can Caliente stand up against a well substantiated trend?

Match-up 2: Watercolor vs. Natural textures

We weren’t surprised to see watercolor beat out buffalo check as the pattern most likely to dominate in 2018 — it’s a truly versatile pattern that can swing from bright and colorful to earthy and sophisticated…put it on your walls, your textiles, your #party invitations…buy it or DIY it with the ladies or kiddos…seriously, what can’t watercolor do?

On the other hand, we weren’t expecting natural textures to win out over lux quite so significantly, given how hot velvet is these days.  I guess one star player can’t carry the whole team.  Still, the masses have spoken, and it’s clear that natural wood and fibers are making a comeback from the days when Annie Sloan ruled the furniture world and “chalk paint” was on everyone’s lips. We can’t deny that we enjoy seeing more natural wood tones make their way back into the national (design) consciousness, if only because throwing down a jute rug and layering in some raw wood pieces is a heckuva lot more affordable than a statement velvet sofa.

Now, you must choose which of these trends is more likely to dominate the blogosphere: watercolor patterns, or natural textures?

Embellishments Division

Match-up 1: Disco Balls vs. Pom Poms

It’s a bold move predicting the end of the balloon’s reign as the large round adornment of 2018, but we’re totally with you: it’s unquestionably the year of the disco ball. They. Are. Everywhere. (Except, they don’t appear to be hanging from ceilings, we assume because that’s a little too predictable and less whimsical than styling them in vignettes, making them into planters, making cupcakes in their likeness, etc…and yes, these are all real things, and yes we will show them to you if you keep advancing disco balls to the next rounds).

By far the closest vote in Round 1 was between pom poms and pearls as 2018’s small round embellishment of choice. Ultimately, pom poms won the day by just a few percentages points.  A close one for a trend that has been in the Final Four since the league (i.e., blogs) were formed!  It really is hard to imagine a time when we won’t be sewing pom poms onto things to make them more colorful, fun, and also because blogging is hard and it’s so convenient to just sew pom poms onto anything and call it a DIY project.

So now you must make the difficult choice: in 2018, will the upstart disco ball rule the blogosphere, or will pom poms stay the course?

Match-up 2: Faces vs. Bone Inlay

In a surprising upset, you all have declared the end to the Era of the Eye and the dawn of a new age (or at least year) in which we will put entire faces on things. It’s an exciting time to be alive, or at least to shop at Urban Outfitters.

You also declared bone inlay the strong winner over mirrored furniture. We’ve said it once and we’ll say it a dozen times more: the 70s are coming back. Stop trying to deny it. But we hope you’re right that it doesn’t mean a return of mirrored furniture, if only because trying to style a mirrored dresser with disco ball accessories feels like just a bit much. Not that insetting tiny little pieces of bone into our furniture is exactly a restrained embellishment, but it does feel a little more sophisticated (and it’s priced accordingly!)

But which of these totally-unrelated trends would win in a match-up? It’s time to find out!

We hope you’re enjoying this, we can’t wait to see your votes from today’s match-ups, and we’ll be back tomorrow to reveal your Elite Eight!