No matter how much cheer you throw at it, 2020 has been a rough year. But it has also been a year for resilience, mutual support and silver linings. This Christmas, amid a world-wide pandemic, we can see as never before how the joy of home looms large.
We have gathered together our most-loved, clicked-on, stories of the year. From designing a feelgood home to decorating without spending a thing, plus game-changing design trends. It’s the inspiration you need to tackle household hopes and dreams, because now feels like the perfect time.
We hope they help you through the pandemic and offer some easy updates for making your home a nicer place to find refuge, because, you deserve it, my friends!
Decorating rules designers always follow
Each room is a canvas on which to create, with the ultimate aim of being able to stand in the middle of any room, no matter how big or small and look at each wall and feel there’s an overall sense of balance, alignment, and consideration in every detail. Read more here.
Can you design a happy home? It’s easier than it looks
Home should be a place that restores, rejuvenates and replenishes – but so often it is not. Now more than ever we all need homes that support our wellbeing – so we can seize each day as it comes. Now is the time to find out what a happy home starts with; Find out how to lift your home – and you with it. After all, the spaces we live in make us who we are. Here are the thoughtful, intuitive design links that can be the quickest route to a soothed mind and boosted happiness in these unpredictable times. Read more here.
Top 10 design trends for 2021
When we look into the future, we knew the impact of coronavirus would be a factor. But some of the trends we are witnessing were already influencing design before Covid-19—the virus merely pushed them to a tipping point. Read more here.
9 design trends we’ll be seeing in the very near future
As the world rapidly shifts beneath us, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, where does design go from here? According to leading global creatives – lockdown is reordering our priorities, and we find ourselves gravitating towards the practical (less waste, more modular furniture) to the conceptual (more diverse design narratives, deeper relationships with our things). If we’re simply making beautiful things, what is our social obligation? Here is what’s trending and ending with the nine predictions we are looking forward to – including the possibility of a fourth industrial revolution where technology simplifies manufacturing. Read more here.
These are the 10 design requests people will make post-pandemic
The pandemic is in effect telescoping the future of our homes. Trends that might have taken five or 10 years to play out have unfolded in only two months, and all point in the same direction. To a world turning further inward. Read more here.
10 ways to spend without buying a thing
Perpetually inside? Design pros suggest ways to change your interiors using what you already have. Read more here.
The dream house has changed
To decipher what dream home means in a global-pandemic world, Mansion magazine recently asked the editors of three house-centric websites—Houzz, Decorilla and The Real Houses of IG—to identify their most popular images and rooms with their followers this year. They examined photos that home-décor followers are clicking, liking and scrolling through to better understand today’s trends. The verdict? It’s in the details. Read more here.
Key outdoor trends to make the most of your garden
Overnight, outdoor space has become a commodity hotter than ever before, as—thanks to widespread stay-at-home orders—gardens, terraces, and patios replace the now cancelled summer travel and getaway plans made pre-pandemic. But worry not – a little social distance—with an ample assist from Mother Nature—can be just as restorative, if not more so, as a faraway jaunt. Read more here.
Want a gorgeous garden fast. Here’s what to plant
Want a gorgeous garden fast? Use this time at home to plant your best garden that will turn your neighbour’s green with envy. Whether you’re an urban transplant new to gardening or just want instant gratification, now is the time to think about fast-growing, pleasure-giving plants, vines and hedges that will make it look like you and your garden go way back. Read more here.
The 9 top (and most stubborn) design trends
As we pass the midway mark for the year, we decided to look at the top design trends with staying power. Key looks such as subway tiles that neatly cover kitchen backsplashes everywhere. How did they become so crazily popular? Plus kitchen islands – when did they become such a thing? And why do some people like the movie director Nancy Meyers have two? Read more here.
