Swatches of paint, fabric, and wood trims are fanned out and and overlap each other on a pale desktop

Design 101

Do Interior Design Trends Matter?

June 12, 2023June 30, 2023 by Laura Grey No Comments

Trend on trend on trend: A rustic wooden barn door hangs from a beige poured-concrete beige. Strings of Edison lights hang in a zigzag pattern across the whole front of the barn door, which rolls across a mottled grey poured cemet floor. Behind the barn door is a wooden panel made with a reddish wood that clashes with the greyer wood and concrete around it. A small steel industrial cabinet sits next to the barn door. The room features an assortment of industrial design elements with no soft, colorful, or friendly touches other than the strand of lights on the door. — Many hard, trendy elements fight for attention here—a barn door, concrete surfaces, Edison lights, and an industrial cart. Each piece is interesting, but the combo is visually busy. And barn doors and floors are expensive to replace—*will we still like them as each trend goes stale?* | Dmitry Zvolskiy for Pexels

People can’t help but be intrigued by novelty. In the world of interior design, new and unusual materials, styles, and fabrications drive sales. Changes in color, pattern, or finish grab our attention, and we hunger for something new. What was out of style comes back around; colors we once found annoying pique our interest. We may say we don’t care about what colors are in fashion or what styles are current. But what’s available in stores is based on what’s popular and desirable. And the way we decorate our spaces can affect whether and for how much we can sell or rent them. So unless we’re willing to pay for special vintage pieces or custom items, we have to work with the latest interior design trends.

Happily, you don’t have to follow trends if they don’t work for you. What makes you feel good is far more important than what’s on trend right now. Using special colors, materials, and shapes in your home can make it feel fun, personal, and special, regardless of whether they’re popular at the moment.

But taking a peek at what’s considered the hot new thing can be great fun. It trains our eyes to appreciate different ways of seeing, opens us to new experiences, and makes us think of original ways to use what we have. And sometimes—such as when you’re preparing a home to rent or sell—knowing something about the latest interior design trends can put money in your pockets.

A bunch of fresh herbs sit on a tin-topped wooden counter next to large and small copper pots, with a number of other copper pots hanging behind. — Ramiro Mendes for Unsplash

Two dark green upholstered wood-framed MCM armchairs sit on an area rug with brown stripes of varying shades. The feature wall features brown, green, and white wallpaper with a palm theme. Three large curvy glass MCM-style pendant lamps hang over the area. — Ramiro Mendes for Unsplash

What’s trending now? Warm neutrals, earth tones, and natural colors like greens and true blues, layers of texture, and mixed old and new elements that look collected over time. Include some soft or rounded elements and add unusual or personal touches to makes a room feel comfortable and welcoming

Why Should You Care What’s in Style?

What anyone else thinks looks cool and of-the-moment is far less important that what you and your housemates think looks and feels great and functional. Being on the cutting edge of interior design trends doesn’t make you smarter or better. But there are times when it’s valuable to know what’s considered stylish, and what’s likely to stay popular for a while.

Stylish—but not too trendy—homes sell and rent faster

A very unusual room with shiny white marble floors with some black geometric patterns inlaid in the stone. The white ceiling has numerous can lights and two hanging fans, as well as a wide black frame around what might be a skylight. An odd iridescent purple light fixture that looks like a Jello mold hangs from the ceiling. A purple and white sectional surrounds a black and white rectangular coffee table set on a black and grey striped rug that's too small for the spac. Formal white tufted dining chairs with black trim surround a white stone pedestal table with black and grey insets. The room has many styles fighting with each other and no coherent layout. Everything here is making a statement, but none of the statements are in the same design language. — *Many people find it hard to imagine their furnishings in a room with unique and expensive-to-replace custom elements or dramatic and unusual furnishings | Pixabay for Pexels*

Potential renters and buyers want a home that’s safe, functional, and well-located. If it looks or feels dated, fewer people will view it. Those who do may be distracted by its style and pass it over. If you want to find a buyer, don’t lose a sale over something as easy to replace as peeling wallpaper or too-bold paint.

What if your place appraises well, but still doesn’t interest buyers? If it’s hopelessly out of style, people may not even view it. Or they might make lowball offers. Why? When you list a property, it’s important to take off the rose-colored glasses. It’s no longer your beloved home—it’s an investment instrument. It needs to appeal to a wide market. The things you love about it won’t get it sold or rented unless they appeal to someone else with money.

Others need to imagine themselves being happy in your space. Help them see it as their own with as little effort as possible. Your home needn’t follow all current interior design trends, but it shouldn’t fall far outside them. Avoid trendy clichés in any home you put on the market. Don’t let those elements draw too much attention—you want the space itself to be the star.

The place you want to rent or sell shouldn’t look like Trend Expo 2025. But if it looks like Vanilla Central, that blandness or coldness can work against you. If it’s seriously dated, that’s also a problem. People want a place where popular contemporary furnishings look right at home. A home that follows recent design trends (though not necessarily those on the cutting edge) is easier for people to imagine themselves in. And they’ll be willing to pay more for the privilege.

A strk white minimalist boxy kitchen with a black wall of black wall ovens. Shiny white cabinets hang from the shiny white walls over grey and black abstract floor tiles. A shiny white-topped island with has wood front and back panels, but the white countertop material continues down the sides. Black sculptural backless counter stools are placed in front of the wood cabinetry of the island. The only color in the room comes from the wood and the basket of red apples. The room looks like a cold, impersonal, hard echo chamber that would get dirty after a single meal. — Pixabay for Pexels

A dark grey, tall bathroom with thin white trim has no lighting ecept for the recessed light behind a round mirror over the white rectangular vessel sink. The sink sits on a pale wood counter, but is set back from the front of the cabinet. The sink is shallow and wide, so it would probably splash a lot of water onto the surrounding wood. The cabinet pulls are made of dark leather screwed into the cabinets. A very small window with a dark frame is to the of the large round mirror. A dark grey bedroom is visible through the doorway, with a white pillow on a dark wood beframe. No art hangs on the walls. There is no color in the room except for one rust-red towel resting on the counter. — Pixabay for Pexels

These rooms are crisp, clean, and tidy, but their angular minimalism and lack of warm colors or soft elements makes them feel cold or clinical. Trends for grey walls and all-white kitchens and baths have passed. Add cozy colors, honey-toned woods, prints, and warm lighting to make spaces feel more relaxed and inviting

Popular styles are easy to find and often cost less

An all grey, black, and white living room features white walls and a grey and white area rug with regular patterns in thin black lines. A low rectangular sofa covered in dark grey tweed sits on silver metal legs next to black wooden chunking round side tables. A think black floor lamp sits at the right. Above the sofa is a large painting with a large white rectangle at left, a smaller grey rectangle in the center, and a thinner black rectangle at right. Pillows are white and grey with various geometric patterns and textures. Before the sofa is a rectangular midtoned wooden coffee table on black wooden legs. — Designers tell us once-popular grey sofas, white rugs with linear designs, and black side tables are on the way out. But you can dress up neutral pieces like these with a few elements in trendier colors or materials to keep them looking stylish. | Trend for Unsplash

The products and colors available to us are based on trends—recent ones, and those of the past five to ten years. Trends determine what stores carry. They also determine whether products are easy to find on the second-hand market. It’s the law of supply and demand in action—products in great supply tend to cost less.

What if you want a curvy purple couch when angular grey sofas are all the rage? That fabulous plum sofa you seek will be harder to find. You may need to have one made to order. That means it’ll take longer to fabricate, and cost more money.

But if you want a boxy, minimalist grey sofa, you’re in luck. Thousands are on the market, many are discounted, and thousands are ready to ship today. You probably won’t have to wait eight to 12 weeks for a custom order if you want a standard grey, boxy sofa. The market is oversaturated with them.

What if you’re stuck with a color or style that’s past its prime?

In a recent survey of top designers, only 5% thought pale grey was still trending. Most say the shade is on the way out. Grey has been the go-to color for home sellers trying to create neutral homes for a decade. But today, people want warm neutrals. Soft colors with brown undertones top lists of current interior design trends. More saturated colors are also showing up on walls, cabinetry, and furniture, but these also tend to be earth tones.

A pale grey marble floor is topped with a dark grey rug. Above that is a low vivid orange sofa made of a series of velvet upholstered square cushions. Dark grey large square pillows top the orange sofa. Dark grey curtains flank white sheers over a window with an urban view. Thin vertical wood slats alternate with dark grey vertical stripe on a feature wall topped with a hanging black TV. Across that wall is a low black horizontal cabinet suspended from the wood slats and the white wall to the left of the TV area. A shallow built-in dark taupe wooden bookshelf is at right. — Update cold grey and white rooms with furniture in cozy earth tones like coral, rust, olive green, or honey, or add warm wood furnishings or metal light fixtures in copper, bronze, or brushed gold | Max Rahubovskiy for Pexels

Is your house loaded with cool grey walls and furnishings? It’s okay—grey’s been popular for a long time. It won’t suddenly become unfashionable. Soft grey works with many warmer, trendier colors. However, mixing it with warm tones of the same intensity (like tan, beige, and sand) can make those cool and warm undertones clash. Try mixing greys with darker, contrasting warm tones instead. Grey’s coolness sets off oranges and greens—two currently trending colors—making them pop. And grey is always chic with cooler pale pinks, lavenders, and mauves, which are expected to hit their peak in 2024.

Blues are pretty with grey, but since both are cool, add a third, warm color. Combine grey and blue with touches of goldenrod, coral, or medium-to-dark green. If your greys are pale, add warmer, darker grey for contrast. Airy Scandinavian-style rooms with all pale woods, pastels, and grey are making way for rooms with deeper, warmer colors to ground them.

When you prep a home for sale or rent, you’re safe using neutral colors and furnishings that have been popular within the last five years or so. Just add pops of color to the decor to avoid a cold look. If it’s time to paint, consider warm neutrals. The strong consensus among designers is that beiges, tans, and browns will likely be popular for years to come.

When it’s time to refresh a space for new inhabitants

A room with warm honey-colored walls and dark brown wood floors has a chair covered in fluffy white upholstery similar to a flokati rug. Against the back wall is a rustic wooden bench. An assortment of framed prints in various sizes sits on and below the bench. Also on the bench are a large clear bottle holding long branches and a fluffy green plant. — *Renew a worn-out space by adding a warm new color, green plants (or vases with cut branches), a cozy chair, and some appealing works of art | Beazy for Unsplash*

Is a family member planning to move into your home? Or is someone in your house moving from one room to another? Refreshing a space makes it feel more welcoming and more personal to the new occupant.

Maybe you’re turning an old storage, family, or guest room into a bedroom or office. If so, new occupants needn’t feel like they only rate cast-offs. Things as simple as a new coat of paint, a comfortable and attractive chair, fresh bedding, new window coverings (if needed), a few throw pillows, and a rug can make a space feel clean and renewed.

When you want furnishings to look fashionable longer

A simple bedroom of white woodpaneled walls and pale red oak floors has a rustic pale Craftsman style bed frame and bedside table and bamboo blinds over glass louvers. Palm trees are visible outside the windows. A dark brown fan hangs overhead, and a ceramic pineapple lamp sits on the bedside table. The only color other than shades of brown comes from a turquoise runner and turquoise towels piled on the bed, and in a turtle on a single throw pillow on the bed, which is otherwise dressed all in solid white. — Can’t paint your all-white or grey walls? Add warm wood furnishings, art, colorful rugs, and cheerful accent colors. Removable temporary wallpapers are also terrific options for renters | Jason Boyd for Pexels

Knowing what’s in fashion now will help you choose things that are likely to stay in style for a while. You won’t have to swap them out again soon to keep your home feeling fresh. If you know that a design element has been trendy for a long time—like, say, barn doors—you might want to know whether it’s on the way out before you invest in it yourself. Before you spend thousands of dollars for something like a barn door, its hardware, and installation, consider whether it’ll feel dated or out of style in a couple of years. Dramatic home features that show up frequently as special design elements on decorating shows, websites, magazines, or on Instagram can feel overexposed. Knowing what interior design trends are on the way up or down can help you avoid falling into decorating clichés.

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Sometimes it benefits us to know the broad design and color trends predicted and popularized by interior designers | Pixabay for Pexels

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