Some home decor trends have an expiration date. While mid-century modern designs like sleek Eames furniture or Eero Saarinen–designed Womb chairs are back in fashion and selling big, for example, others can make homes pass. Not to mention, a home stuck in the past might actually lose some of its potential resale value. According to Eugene Colberg, principal of Colberg Architecture in Brooklyn, “Updates to a house can maximize value when placing the house on the market,” he says. “Homes are also more enjoyable to live in when they have been updated,” Colberg says.

The usual culprits, like popcorn ceilings