Real homes: Flying ducks, anyone?

Embrace every fad and your home will date almost instantly. GWENDA JOYCE-BROPHY on how to keep it classic

Hands up all those who, 10 years ago, furnished their flat with black ash furniture? Stunning though it looked initially, it wasn't long before it started to look a little bit too Eighties. The black ash craze isn't the only eyesore to remind us of that decade. Don't forget brass door handles. Nor the country house distressed pine staircase. What is it that makes some designs last and other ones make you blush just three years after the carpenters left?

According to Ian Colquhoun, author of a new book published by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) on 20th-century British housing, the key to a house which doesn't date is learning how to treat it with respect. "What matters is that, regardless of the period, what is carried out is done with a respect for the character of the place," he says, "and that the work is done with authenticity and an attention to quality."

It's fortunate, then, that many estate agents report an increasing sophistication and a more demanding attitude among many buyers. With more home interest magazines available and the fact that good design isn't only the preserve of the wealthy, we're becoming increasingly visually literate about the way we think our homes should look. It's a shift Jonathan Vandermolen of estate agents Blenheim Bishop has noticed: "People are definitely giving more attention to the actual architecture and the overall design of the building itself."

On the other hand, there are always exceptions. Interiors specialist Jonathan Martin was recently confronted with a classic Eighties interior. "Dado rails, stripey wallpaper, gold fittings, dimmer switches, the lot," he recalls with horror. But with work it was possible to turn the house around and make it far more timeless. He looked at the space and tried to work sympathetically with the structure to come up with a complementary design. His advice is not to impose a look but to work with what you've already got. In other words, resist at all costs the desire to make your Seventies semi into an Elizabethan cottage, however much you may hanker after mock beams and flagstones.

But being willing to spend money on quality is also crucial. "As a golden rule, invest in good overall design - good design should last forever," says Martin, who is currently updating the Old Vic Theatre's dressing rooms. "One of my rules is always to go for the person who did something the best, and usually that means the person who did it first."

He stresses attention to quality: "People should not underestimate it. For example, whatever their price, most kitchens are more alike than they are different. But don't ignore or scrimp on good quality worktops. That's why a granite worktop has such cachet."

All the experts agrees that it's a mistake to be carried away by passing fads. In the same way that, if you're honest with yourself, you know A- line skirts make you look more like Ann Widdecombe than Eva Herzigova, use the same judgment when you decorate the lounge. As design consultant Michael Costley-White says: "In terms of the interior, the look should always be clean and contemporary. Look for good quality, classic materials."

At the same time this doesn't mean that you can't experiment. You can be daring without waving goodbye to taste. For example, in many of Costley- White's projects he's mixed and matched hardwood oak flooring, marble or ceramic tiles in the bathroom, and granite worktops together with stainless steel appliances in the kitchen. "Look for a real variation in textures and materials," he says.

Of course, all of us make mistakes. Few people are graced with perfect taste and an ability to predict what will last forever and what will be next year's white elephant. But it is possible to follow some broad rules and avoid some cliches.

According to Jonathan Martin the worst thing you can do is to adopt wholesale a look that you have seen on television or in a magazine. "Tailor what you do to your lifestyle and aspirations," he suggests. "That's what will prevent the dreaded standardisation that, more than anything else, rapidly dates a home."

"Materials date a look more than anything," advises Ian Colquhoun, citing the short-lived Seventies fad for hessian wallpaper. But it isn't only the Seventies that can look dated. Already Nineties fashions are looking hackneyed. Two years ago glass bricks were all the rage in chichi homes. Now they're more problematic, indelibly linked in people's minds to the yuppie loft era. "In some ways they can be thought passe," says Michael Costley-White, "usually because they have been used in the wrong setting. Yet even now, in the right place, as a curved wall in a shower room for example, they can still look stunning."

Jonathan Martin agrees. "They can be something of a cliche now," he says. "But that is because often people focus only on the most well-known, DIY- shop versions. In fact there is a very wide variety of glass bricks and they are still a viable choice. But to be honest there are also many other ways of dealing with the problem that glass bricks were used to address, namely to partition and to maximise light. It really is a matter of taking the time to look at what is around, rather than going for the most obvious options."

Finally, everyone agrees that you should avoid polystyrene tile syndrome at all costs. It is a sobering thought, but there are people who will spend this very day trying to remove the adhesive that firmly glued these little treasures two decades ago. If you feel something is going to be a fad - but you love it anyway - at least incorporate it in a way that can be reversed easily. Fans of Changing Rooms, take note.