As 2022 comes to a close, it’s time to reflect on what has and hasn’t been working in our lives and what we’d like to change. By integrating some of these fresh interior design tips in your residence, you can welcome the new year with a fresh and inspired mindset.
Dark Color Palettes
The turn to spaces with more character has led to a shift away from light, modern tones and is now venturing towards darker ones. A more edgy and dramatic style is starting to pop up in spaces like kitchens, offices, and foyers. The most powerful way to create the look is by painting or using wallpaper in the same rich tone on all four walls.
If you’d like the gothic-inspired look without painting the walls a deep gray, blue, or even black, you can invest in curtains, large artworks, light fixtures, or textiles that evoke the same feel. For kitchens, you can switch out light stained countertops with deep black stone for even more visual impact.
When looking to create a room that really pops, moodier color palettes are a quick way to change it up. Not only do darker hued spaces instantly evoke a certain emotional experience, but they tend to be more memorable and powerful visually.
Gathering Spaces
After the past few years, where many were confined to their indoor spaces, gathering places in the home became even more important.
Designating certain areas to everyday activities like exercise, entertainment, or even general wellness, can all help build deeper bonds to each other. In 2023, multifunctional spaces for individuals and loved ones to get together like at-home gyms, saunas, art studios, game rooms, theaters, and meditation rooms will likely become even more commonplace.
If you want to be on top of the trend, incorporate more spaces that support well-being and togetherness in the home. Houses are no longer just for sleeping, eating, or daily routines, but have become much more focused on connection and presence as social isolation is coming to an end.
Shift Toward Classic
Minimalism has been the focus for many years, but now we are seeing a shift to more modern classic style interior design. Instead of items with a clean silhouette and little backstory, more vintage-inspired pieces are becoming popular.
Items like the Cesca chair, designed in the early 1900s, or the Saarinen Tulip Table from the 1950s, are perfect for bringing this aesthetic into your home.
You can also scour your local vintage shops for items that suit the look. Search for classic pieces like oversized lamps, mid century art, white leather lounging chairs, or retro side tables. More homes are being filled with one-of-a-kind pieces that display more personality and share a story than ever before.
Nature-Inspired Spaces
Largely affected by social isolation, more homes are now turning into small oases by bringing nature-inspired elements into their interiors. This is commonly seen in prints, art work, textile patterns, and color choices.
To integrate this style into your home, try painting an accent wall a calming shade of blue or green. Find chairs, pillows, or statement furniture pieces with biophilic prints and keep your eye out for large herbal or ocean print artwork that evokes the sense of peace you’d only find in nature.
Details like wooden tables, shelves, and baskets are also rising in popularity, as well as including a lot more plants inside the home to really mix and match both the real and imaginative beauty of the natural world.
More consumers and brands are also becoming more aware of their impact on the planet. Opting for more natural fabrics like wool blankets or organic cotton will likely become even more common. You may even see more upcycling not just from thrift shops, but from nature. Why not turn an old tree stump into a foot rest, or a set of branches into an eco-friendly frame?
Curved and Wavy Motifs
Circles have been revered for their beauty and mystery for centuries. You often see them in ancient artwork, depicting the cyclical phases of life, death, and rebirth. There is something inherently calming and inviting about rounded forms that has finally been recognized and reinvented in today’s interior design.
This coming year, organic shapes will be largely taking the places of more rigid ones. Arches, round tables, egg chairs, circular wall motifs, smooth mirrors, and wavy art are all taking the lime light. While everything square, defined, and precise was associated with strength, now softer tones and edges and the tranquil feeling rounded furniture brings are becoming the next top style.
Eco-Friendliness
The importance of protecting the environment will only continue to grow coming into 2023. Whether it’s revamping what you already own, upcycling vintage pieces, or simply buying from more eco-friendly brands, planet-focused design is here to stay.
Staying aware as a consumer of what materials are used in each product and their manner of production can be a great way to get started. When shopping around, make sure the company uses business practices that are inspired by climate protective efforts.
You can also find ways to revamp your current items before buying new ones. By seeking out an upholsterer in your area, learning to make simple shelves in your garage, or even creating your next artistic centerpieces, there are many ways to get started and even make it a fun activity for the whole family.
Creative Organizational Solutions
The organization craze is increasing as shows, books, podcasts, and online creators are sharing more tips and tricks about how to stay neat and tidy at home. Clutter, chaos, and endless piles of unused items can cause mental disarray, so for a generation who wants to improve their wellness, better organization is a must.
In interior design, this means more investments into closed shelves to conceal any non-essential items that don’t spark intrigue. You may also see a rise in organizational tools like cabinets, dressers, and trays for flatware, makeup, writing utensils, and other daily used goods.
For an ultra-clean look you can also purchase under-the-bed pull-out shelves to store off-season garments, or you can look into adding an extra armoire to your space to ensure messes don’t end up on the floor or bed. Anything designed to make daily life even a little more tidy will add a much needed elegant and peaceful atmosphere.
Accent Lighting
Lighting has the power to change the entire mood of a room. Playing with both natural and artificial lighting is an easy way to update any space.
In 2023, try switching smaller light fixtures for more modern and larger statement pieces. Bold lights like hanging baubles, futuristic chandeliers, and geometric designs instantly catch the eye and can even diffuse light in a unique way, unlike traditional chandeliers.
Also consider the feeling you want to kindle in each room. In the bedroom you may prefer a soft light, while in the office you may like something more energizing.
Carefully choose pieces not just for their look, but for their lighting quality. If necessary, buy two or more pieces to really change the room’s ambiance, or consider changing the lightbulbs of your current pieces if you’re already in love with the current fixtures you own.