Humans rather enjoy fads, and while we may, as Joel Best points out in his paper The Illusion of Diffusion, point to kids toys as examples of fads, there are plenty of fads that appear in more adult, permanent, or institutional areas as much as it does kids toys.

That can be seen, as much as anything else, in the fads that appear in interior design. While technically a fashion and a fad are two different things, they are closely related enough to be considered together for this conversation.

Our homes are the spaces and places that we often spend large percentages of our income and a huge portion of our time — and often are places that the money comes into play when it comes to updating the interior design choices in those spaces.

But just because the fads are slower moving doesn’t mean that fads don’t exist.

A survey by Samsung completed with the intent of proving that people would want TVs to disappear into their design also revealed what interior design choices were considered the worst of the last 50 years. The winners included:

Toilet rugs and furry toilet seat covers

Taxidermy

Avocado colored bathroom fixtures

Waterbeds

Carpeted bathrooms

Textured ceilings and walls

Then again, type “interior design fads” into Google and you’ll see everything from nautical themes to shabby chic. It’s a matter of taste, which is something that individuals have, only influenced by society around them.

Looking for something to listen to this weekend?

May I suggest Tides? This is an audio drama that is not just sci-fi, its science-first fiction that is very much in the vein of The Martian or Arrival — it’s got story and science in equal parts, and characters that I seriously would love to have a drink with. Seriously, you should give this great sci-fi drama a listen, today.

This script may vary from the actual episode transcript.