Just as clothing trends are becoming less prescriptive each year, home design trends are becoming more individualized. In 2022, as the world picked itself up after the pandemic, there was a strong emphasis on landscape palettes, with homeowners seeking to bring the soothing influence of nature into their homes, and natural color schemes and materials featuring prominently.
Looking forward to 2023, we look at a new wave of aesthetics designed to brighten interiors and uplift our moods.
1. Modern Farmhouse
Rather than fantasizing about a country chic lifestyle that don’t suit their lifestyles, homeowners in 2023 are predicted to introduce rustic elements into their interior spaces as accents, making the aesthetic their own. Combining the charm of pastoral life with the comforts of 21st-century living, the modern farmhouse aesthetic offers the best of both worlds. Architectural details like exposed beams, pitched roofs, and use of natural materials create a mismatched charm when used in conjunction with more modern, cozy elements. Plump armchairs, padded ottomans, and deeply piled, soft rugs all help to create comfortable living spaces that put the family first.
2. Marble
With its naturally dramatic veining, marble is a decadent addition to interiors, creating the wow factor with elements from nature that date back a million years. Marble countertops are deemed too high-risk by many, in the bathroom. However, virtually all design elements can be created with marble. The material can be used as cladding for walls and showers. It can also be hollowed and turned to give life to tubs, washbasins, and vanity tops, creating an luxurious, graceful haven.
3. Bringing in the Outdoors
Continuing a theme that started during the pandemic, homeowners are keen to open their kitchens up to the outdoors. Sliding glass doors that open interior areas to outdoor spaces appear prominently in many “dream feature” lists. Other, more affordable ways of evoking the outdoors include adding large windows to maximize views and increase natural light, and focusing on natural materials, colors, and wallpaper prints that mimic nature.
4. Entertaining at Home
With life returning to normal after COVID-19, designers are reporting an increased emphasis on home entertaining. Clients are seeking to create spaces where they can host family and friends, since staying in is rapidly becoming the new going out. Sales of tables, seating, and tableware sets are all on the rise as clients update their homes, embracing sharp new modern dining aesthetics.
5. Color
Another trend that is predicted to see renewed interest is bright, bold color. Design and remodeling professionals are reporting that clients are increasingly emboldened and willing to take a chance on brighter, more exciting living spaces. Wallpaper is helping to drive this trend, with data from Houzz suggesting a 93 percent increase in searches for paintable wallpaper; a 52 percent increase in searches for floral wallpaper; and a 40 percent increase in searches for ceiling wallpaper. Although the blank slate of white has been ever-present throughout the last decade, homeowners are increasingly choosing big, bold colors for their seating, walls, tiles, and trim.
6. Nostalgia
According to Victoria Harrison, Editor of Houzz UK, homeowners are increasingly seeking to bring the comfort and familiarity of the past into their homes. Among the website’s most-saved photos are images of rich colors, warm wood, and carefully selected vintage features, along with antique rugs, tapestries, patchwork blankets, and other heirloom textiles.(9)
7. Layers of Textures
Layered texture remains a popular style element of home décor, with designers layering not just textile fabrics but wood, stone, metal, concrete, and rattan finishes to create a visual style full of tactile interest. From walls covered with grasscloth to upholstery pieces incorporating linen, leather, or soft chenille, layers add interest, character, and dimension to rooms.
8. Dark Academia
Demand for moody antique and vintage interiors is on the rise, with reports from Feathr suggesting that interest in the dark academia aesthetic has risen on social media by 190 percent. To recreate the look in your home, focus on vintage furniture in dark wood, combining it with deep, vividly colored upholstery. Meanwhile, walls painted in deeper shades of blue or green along with leather-bound books and intellectual accessories can all be used to create the look.
9. Creative Kitchen Islands
Comprising a simple row of stools on one side overlooking the cooking area, the conventional kitchen island is ripe for reinvention. Interior designers report that clients are seeking alternative setups that more adequately cater for their needs, for example models that enable them to sit at a standard dining table height, or sit face-to-face with guests. In response, designers are innovating more creative and versatile seating arrangements, such as two-tier designs with dropped-down or raised-up areas to serve multiple purposes.
10. Biodynamic Lighting
With today’s interiors inspired by nature, homeowners are seeking to replicate natural sunlight as much as possible in the home, with searches for lighting design up by 73 percent, according to Houzz. Artificial light sources that replicate the dynamic variations of sunlight through light management systems are becoming more and more popular.