The era of plaster moldings has come to an end, and the home renovation market is ushering in a new era of change.

“Are plaster moldings going to disappear?”—Last week, while browsing the building materials market, the shopkeeper casually tossed a dusty Roman column mold into a corner and uttered this question. Within ten seconds, an image flashed through my mind of my parents decorating their house ten years ago, squatting in the living room choosing patterns until midnight. My heart skipped a beat: It seems the obsolescence really does happen quietly. Cheap, varied, and quick to install, plaster moldings were once the “Pinduoduo” of the decoration world. At 8 yuan per meter, workers could lay dozens of meters a day, creating European, American, and country styles—any design you wanted. But once you moved in, you’d find that in the humid, rainy season of southern China, the plaster moldings looked like soaked wood ear mushrooms—the edges curled up, yellow stains spread, and they crumbled at the slightest touch. Environmental testing reports are even more disheartening: cutting inferior plaster moldings can cause indoor PM2.5 levels to spike by 30%, leaving you with nothing but “retro dust.” Not to mention, young people today prefer a minimalist style with “nothing to see,” making the intricate details of plaster moldings look like wearing a lace dress to the gym—completely out of place. Thus, the “double-lidded ceiling” quietly took its place. Two layers of plasterboard offset by three to five centimeters don’t reduce ceiling height; instead, they make a 2.7-meter bare ceiling appear ten centimeters taller. The price is reasonable, just over a hundred yuan per meter, significantly cheaper than traditional ceilings. Most importantly, it’s versatile, seamlessly blending with Nordic, Japanese, and minimalist luxury styles. As the guy selling building materials aptly put it, “Customers now want ‘invisible flaunting of wealth.’ It looks simple, but every inch is a money pit.” The decline of plaster moldings isn’t just due to their own shortcomings; it reflects the fact that the entire renovation process has accelerated threefold. In the past, a material could last five or six years; now, if it’s not upgraded within two years, nobody recognizes it. PU moldings are moisture-proof, aluminum strips have a 20-year lifespan, and 3D printing allows for any desired length. Technological iterations are like scrolling through short videos—a new wave appears after just a few swipes. Consumers have also become more sophisticated: they want it to look good, be durable, and ideally, be able to take a picture and post it on social media without any negative reactions. The aesthetic economy and practicality are both at stake, and plaster moldings can’t satisfy either. The worst off are the workers who rely on plaster moldings for their livelihood. Last year, Master Li could train three apprentices, but this year he’s all alone, squatting by the door waiting for work every day, his cigarette ash scattered on the ground. He sighed, “It’s not that I’m not working hard, it’s just that nobody wants to add decorative trim to the ceilings anymore.” But then he added, “I heard that learning aluminum strip installation can earn you an extra two hundred yuan a day, I’m thinking about giving it a try.” He’s weeding out the old ways and pointing to new avenues, but the fear is that people won’t move on. Home renovation, in the end, is like changing clothes; once it’s out of season, it’s off the shelf. Plaster moldings have completed their historical mission, bringing ceilings from the bare-bones era to the era of decoration; now they’re stepping down, simply making way for the next batch of lighter, more ruthless, and more youth-savvy competitors. The market doesn’t care about sentimentality, it only recognizes “who understands how to live a good life.” Next time you visit a construction site, if you see half a white plaster molding left in the corner, don’t despise it for being rustic; it once covered up our ugliness. Don’t linger on it either; remove it when it’s time, living comfortably is the most important thing.