Active engagement in homes has outpaced consumption as consumers crave mindful and cheerier surroundings. People want to surround themselves with uplifting and heartwarming moments around their homes, inviting joy and jubilation into their daily lives.
We want our homes to do the same kind of thing as powerful social commerce tool and one-stop shopping and entertainment app, TikTok which is a solid source of joy – with lighthearted moments around our interiors and gardens that make us feel more positive after we spend time in them.
Moments of joy are keeping spirits high for our living spaces in 2022.
On the cards for next coming years, pros forecast we’ll see more clever design solutions integrated into unused or void areas, given purpose to accommodate contemporary living comforts and amenities. Design, Lauren Piscione of LP Creative. Photography by Michael Clifford via Armadillo & Co.
Themes of unity, love and joy are consistent with our homes for 2022. After years of being stuck at home with all-white walls, we are craving spaces with strong personalities.
Homeowners seeking to escape pandemic stress at home want to give spaces personalised experiences and luxury outdoor spaces. Top predictions for the year ahead, reveal we’ll be seeking dedicated peace zones, entangled design, impressive bathrooms and joyful colours. Here are the trends set to take centre stage this year. Read more, ‘The Top Interior Design Trends for 2022.’
People want to surround themselves with uplifting and heartwarming moments around their homes, inviting joy and jubilation into their daily lives. Photo from: @zarahome
Peace and Mindful Zones
Making waves in homes is the rise of dedicated zones that centre moments of mindfulness and pause with pockets of privacy. We’ll see homeowners prioritising quality over quantity with homes optimised with mindfulness taking form in dedicated pause zones and interior features will continue to breathe into organic shapes. Recent Houzz emerging search trends ‘fireplaces’ (up by 298%), ‘bay windows’ (up by 296%) and ‘sunrooms’ (up by 138%) surged in popularity over the last year, which tells us homeowners in 2022 will be looking to create appealing spots to provide joy and relief throughout the day. Read more, ‘9 Design Trends We Will Be Seeing In The Very Near Future.’
Top tip: Turn unused walls or corners into reading nooks for quiet moments. The trick to creating a great nook is the scale. Deep down, most people still love the concept of tucking themselves away into a cosy corner, as they did as a child.
Relaxed spaces work to make us feel calm and at ease, they are spaces where we can switch off and put our feet up.
Fireplace designs have surged in popularity over the last year, which tells us homeowners in 2022 will be looking to create appealing spots to provide joy and relief throughout the day. Design: Lauren Piscione of LP Creative. Photo: Michael Clifford via Armadillo & Co.
Reclaimed Wood
Using reclaimed wood is another way to take vintage and sustainability to the next level. Using wood that is already in circulation, which doesn’t require cutting down trees— a momentous effort in responsible design. What is most attractive and is drawing people to explore this timeless trend are the warm and inviting sensibilities inherent in the material, all of which is unique in character to each piece. Read more, ‘The Big Picture Home Designs Taking Off Right Now.’
You’ll be seeing more unique applications of reclaimed wood in 2022 in the form of subtle detailing that adds beautiful character to spaces.
Making waves in homes is the rise of dedicated zones that centre moments of mindfulness and pause with pockets of privacy. Photo @zarahome
Entangled Design
As it has become increasingly important for our homes to take on multiple roles, we’ll see a shift of spaces entangling over. Entangled design focuses on the quality of spaces, that are adaptable to different activities, such as business and pleasure. Working from home practices have already inspired the entanglement of office workspaces in bedrooms, kitchens and living areas, rooms that otherwise had a single function. On the cards for next coming years, pros forecast we’ll see more clever design solutions integrated into unused or void areas, given purpose to accommodate contemporary living comforts and amenities.
Adaptable living spaces are three times more important than before the pandemic.
Entangled design focuses on the quality of spaces. Credit: Banda; Photo: Ben Anders.
Decorating
Major renovations steal a lot of home design attention. But updates to furniture and decor are booming. In 2021, searches on Houzz for home accents increased 2,417% compared with the prior year, while searches for decorative accents rose 799%. For accent cushions, searches skyrocketed 5,050%.
Forgotten Spaces
COVID has forced us to shine a light into the deep, dark long forgotten spaces in our abodes. The long-forgotten spare bedroom is no longer treated like the dumping ground for all things unwanted and has now become the hero and work horse of our homes.
Homeowners have been focusing more on bringing their own personality to interiors. Photo: Architectural Digest
Luxury Bathrooms
With bathrooms one of the most renovated rooms in the last year, it seems people were desperate to add a touch of luxury to their home to escape complexities of everyday life. And with homeowners needing to relax more than ever, it’s no surprise that a hotel-worthy, luxe look is expected to become popular this year. The phrase ‘hotel bathroom’ rose by 435% in searches on Houzz between January and September 2021, compared to the previous year.
Bathrooms are taking a step away from the classic, functional space with more homeowners opting for luxury, spa-like spaces – with searches for ‘sauna showers’ up by 1065% in 2021 compared to 2020. The upcoming year is predicted to see homeowners and designers opting for tactile natural materials, with wood and natural stone more prominent in bathrooms.
Baths are also taking centre stage, with ‘freestanding bath’ and ‘slipper bath’ up by 154% and 152% in searches respectively.
Bathrooms are taking a step away from the classic, functional space with more homeowners opting for luxury, spa-like spaces. Credit: Banda; Photo: Ben Anders.
Build for Inheritability
The sustainability part of “going green” relates to choosing high-quality materials that won’t have to be replaced for decades, even for generations. We’re pleased to see a growing emphasis on environmental awareness in product selection motivating designers and people, and it’s a motive that squares with one of our core philosophies: build well, with the right materials, the first time. Build for inheritability. This also means eschewing trendy looks for more timeless design concepts. Projects that use natural stone and glass products with timeless designs have staying power. There is a growing awareness that the impact of constant renovation to keep apace the latest trends is unsustainable and poor environmental stewardship. Read more, ‘The 6 Luxury Bathroom Trends Taking Off Right Now.’
By choosing what they love the first time, they are also participating in a reformed economy — one in which we no longer embrace the fast-casual, disposable approach.
We’re pleased to see a growing emphasis on environmental awareness in product selection motivating designers and people. Credit: Banda; Photo: Ben Anders.
Sensorial Strategy
Consumers are paying much more attention to the sensory experiences of their homes – they want their interiors to feel as good as they look. Scent has taken centre stage during the pandemic, and people are scenting specific areas of their home with different scents as a way of inhabiting space with all their senses. Perhaps the home office is scented with sage to promote mental acuity, while the bedroom is scented with orange blossom to promote calm and sleep, and the living areas with something cosy and
Ramos, CEO of the cultural forecasting agency The Ideatelier, says that tactility, composition, and sensory stimulation are influencing people’s choices for interior products. “The sensorial experience is dynamic and individually unique, yet desirous on many levels, he says in a recent Architectural Digest article, “ This include visually stimulating vibrant colour combinations, high-tech performance designs such as voice-activated kitchen faucets, and bamboo as the most important fibre to emerge in furniture and lighting design, which in natural, sustainable, and organic.
Joyful Interiors
With many people spending so much time at home during the past two years, homeowners have been focusing more on bringing their own personality to interiors and backyards. With this, has come an increased colour confidence, which was evident at 2021’s design shows and is being seen in many of the new projects being uploaded to social media platforms. Searches by Houzz users for ‘sage green’, ‘duck egg blue’, ‘mustard yellow’ have all increased in popularity, and we expect to see more of these shades in interiors this year. People are layering their beloved collections – using a lot of wicker trays, potted cyclamen, glass hurricane lamps, and cabbage-ware plates.
People are far happier when their home is unique to them and expresses their own style.
In the home, find ways to add luxury touches to spaces that don’t break the bank, such as textured wallpaper or tapestries. Photography: Architectural Digest
Comforting Curves
Maybe we’re all just feeling a little fragile, but many of us are still not ready for sharp edges in our interiors. Femininity will have an impact on interiors in 2022, conveyed through rounded details ranging from circular structural elements to gentler curves. Think: radiused corners or curved backs on sofas and bumpers on sectionals. Designers and stylists are starting to steer away from straight lines and right angles are opting for soft curves. The number of products that now sport feminine curves will be seen everywhere and will probably be around for some time. From furniture to bathroom tiling and light fittings, the curve is soft on the eyes and evokes feelings of a gentler time.
Limitless Luxe
It’s time to bring luxury to the least-expected corners of your home, from the laundry room to a luxury garage or basement. In 2022, people will give luxurious makeovers to their home’s nooks and crannies. For millennials and Gen X, forgotten spaces will become conversation starters when you have guests over, Pinterest predicts. In the home, find ways to add luxury touches to spaces that don’t break the bank, such as light dimmers, textured wallpaper, and scented soaps.
It’s all about organisation. And plants. Lots of plants.
In 2022, people will give luxurious makeovers to their home’s nooks and crannies. Credit: Banda; Photo: Ben Anders.
Contemporary Conservatories
Our collective yen for biophilia is here to stay, but in 2022 it’s likely to become more sophisticated. People have wanted to bring their living rooms and spaces outdoors and they will increasingly want to bring the outdoors in. We will see the rise of the indoor tree – especially the lemon tree and olive tree taking centre stage in large pots. Whether creating an all-over garden inspired room with patterned wallpaper and wicker furniture or simply styling a conservatory corner in a sunny locating in the home, or encouraging different plant species to flourish indoors like miniature greenhouse modeled on classical designs.
The contemporary conservatory trend is gaining popularity.
Homeowners seeking to escape pandemic stress at home want to give spaces personalised experiences and luxury outdoor spaces. Photo from tinkhome.com
Alternative and Adaptable Doors
In the coming years, say hello to alternative and adaptable doors moving away from their swinging predecessor. We’ll see more inventive ways to open up and close off rooms, such as sliding ‘modern barn doors’, which recorded a huge leap on Houzz this year, up by 529%. Talking about an entrance with style topped up on Houzz, with searches for ‘front door’ inspiration experiencing a 666% year-on-year upswing.
For 2022, this trend is all about claiming street appeal envy.
This year we’ll see more inventive ways to open up and close off rooms. Photo by co-labdesignoffice.com
Humanising Our Technology
As we embrace the increased presence of technology in a post-pandemic everyday and with a long-term look to the future, we’ll safeguard our well-being only by remembering the power that spaces — physical, digital and hybrid — have on us. That starts with humanizing our technology at home.
Lavish Kitchen Worktops
When it comes to the kitchen, statement worktops are set to be among the biggest interior design trends this year. Thicker worktops in bold colours and eye-catching patterns will take centre stage this year – with searches for chunkier quartz surging by 417% over last year. Flowing waterfall designs, where the worktop wraps over the edge of the island to the floor will also become favoured this year, with searches surging by 250% in popularity. Read more, ‘Kitchen Design Ideas: Inspiration For The Heart of the House.’
Continuing the worktop material up onto the splashback as a slab is also popular with renovators to add a sense of luxury to the kitchen.
Thicker worktops in bold colours and eye-catching patterns will take centre stage this year. Credit: Banda; Photo: Ben Anders.
Books are the New Status Symbol
It’s time to get lit…Not only are more people curating books for decoration (and their personal libraries) but the hardcore bibliophile and designer Sophie Collé reminds us that books are great tools to use as visual references. “People have done the work of curating all of this information for us, so why not use it? Some book covers from the ’80s are art pieces, so I like having them out even just for that.”
You heard it here first: Books are the new status symbol.
Hello Sunlit Spaces, Bye-Bye Home Theatres
Natural light never goes out of style. But in 2022, sunlight will become even more important, as we will trade once-cosy spaces (like home theatres and game rooms) for light-filled rooms that do it all. The traditional game room and media room as we know it is disappearing. We are seeing both of these rooms become one, moving from a dark unlit space upstairs to a bright and sunlit space downstairs.
In 2022, sunlight will become even more important, as we will trade once-cosy spaces (like home theatres and game rooms) for light-filled rooms that do it all. Photo from tinkhome.com
Forgiving Finishes
Many of us are now keenly aware of the discomforts of our homes, and we’re searching for ways to make them even more convenient. One on-trend upgrade? Forgiving kitchen finishes. Marble and soapstone benchtops patina over time.
That means staining isn’t just alright —it’s welcome.
One on-trend upgrade? Forgiving kitchen finishes. Credit: Banda; Photo: Ben Anders.
More Vintage Furniture
There is no greener choice than going with vintage. Embracing vintage furniture pieces has so many benefits. It is sustainably responsible since you aren’t using resources to build a new piece of furniture, and from an aesthetic perspective, it is such a wonderful way to make your space feel timeless. When you include pieces that are from all different eras it’s impossible to date your space and the design feels unexpected and fresh. Another way to incorporate vintage pieces into your home is to scour places like Facebook Marketplace, Next Door, or Offer Up. Many individuals also sell new or gently used furniture from mid-tier and high-end retailers.
While these may not necessarily be vintage or antique, buying secondhand is always easier on the environment and the wallet.
When you include pieces that are from all different eras it’s impossible to date your space and the design feels unexpected and fresh. Photography: Architectural Digest
