Hot Home Design Trends – Tips for Interior Designers and Furnishing Dealers

What’s hot in home design trends this year? Home office designs. Flexible, dedicated spaces. Going green – the color, not the practice. And… Pillows! Wait, wut?

Yes, according to the folks at Houzz.com, the latest trends in home design and renovations show spikes in interest for everything from home theaters to reimagined kitchens and bathrooms, and from home gyms to accent pillows. Again with the pillows? WLP? (We Love Pillows)!

In an article from August, author Mitchell Parker explained how the online design and renovation site performed an analysis of searches among their audience between 2020 and 2021. Their goal was “to see how home design interests are changing” over the past year. And, while searches may not always translate to actions by consumers, we can certainly perceive trends for which we should be prepared.

(Oh, and, we’ll get to the pillow thing soon. We promise.)

Dedicate Yourself to Creating Dedicated Activity Spaces

Perhaps most interesting for interior designers and furniture dealers, interest in dedicated activity spaces showed a marked increase over the 12 months examined.

Thanks in large part to the pandemic, or the steps imposed by outside forces to “curb” it, the home has increasingly become the 24/7 center of activity for many families. As Parker explains, “The local gym, bar, theater, and office turned hyper-local as people made room to accommodate these activities at home. It’s a major shift in how people think about their homes and one that probably isn’t going away anytime soon.”

Clearly, the Houzz search data on dedicated activity spaces speak for itself:

While the trend toward home offices is to be expected, there is far more going on in American homes than we might have anticipated. Seeing these numbers, the sharp interior designer will be ready for prospective clients who are part of these trends – or wish to be.

Green is The Color of The Moment

“Green is having a moment – and not just in one area of the home, but in several. Searches for green kitchen cabinets were up 829%.”

From decadent to delicious, the color green is as versatile as your imagination can, well, imagine it being. Long neglected in home décor and design, the color can provide a sense of warmth and comfort unequaled by other, more popular, hues.

“I think green is trending for a few reasons,” color consultant Jennifer Ott says. “First off, after years of whites, grays, and cool blues being popular, it seems folks are moving more toward warmer hues. Green bridges warm and cool, so it’s a good transition between the two. It works well with white and gray but also tans and creams.”

Not to be outdone, Kravet’s Lee Jofa line features the color as integral to their new Mindoro Collection.

Decorating for Comfort and Style at Multiple Levels

No longer exclusive to elites, home decorating has reached all levels of income and style.

“Renovations to kitchens and bathrooms command a lot of the home design conversation. But decorating seems to be experiencing a particular boom in interest. Searches for home accents increased a whopping 2,417%, while searches for decorative accents rose 799%.”

Still not convinced? “Searches increased significantly for velvet sofas (121%), gold wall mirrors (606%), and gold table lamps (1,166%). The search for champagne, likely in connection with champagne bronze finishes, increased 846%.”