It’s been a long year, and it goes without saying that 2020 has thrown everything off course – including design, so we have good reason to rejoice when thinking of the interior design trends coming up in 2021. Expect a generous dose of trends influenced by our responses to the Covid-19 pandemic, a growing importance of sustainable materials and making our house cosier and warmer. This year’s trends strongly reflect the fact we have all been spending a lot more time at home and want to feel cocooned by our spaces.
Textured Furniture
Textured surfaces on furniture is a popular trend that we have seen over the last few years; glass panels have become fluted and tiles have taken a tactile twist. Now it’s the turn of furniture to get involved. Cabinets, wardrobes, dressers, sideboards, drawers and desks are moving from flat fronts, level panels and smooth doors in favour of something a little more decorative. Thin, slat-like grooves are featuring on furniture in every room of the house.
Outdoor Entertainment
It will come as no surprise, given the restrictions in place over the summer, that there’s been huge interest in outdoor spaces. The garden was the area most of us wanted to improve this summer, proving we’re investing long-term in our gardens.
With people now working mostly from home they have rediscovered the importance of outdoor space and how it can improve modern life. An outdoor area for connecting with nature and entertaining friends is essential. The most popular requests are for outdoor eating and cooking areas, such as firepits to extend the use of the garden into the evening.
Decorative Joinery
Joinery designs are heading in a more ornate direction which proves wardrobes and shelving are the ultimate spaces for design flair. A play on materials and texture is key, such as built-in wardrobes with cut-away cane panels or with tongue and groove to bring 3D surface detail to otherwise simple MDF doors.
Home Offices
Working from home has already had a major impact on our decor and design schemes, so home offices had to get a mention in here. Never has this, usually pretty functional, room had so much attention. Home offices need to be spaces we want to spend time in and feel comfortable and productive in.
As life goes back to normal many jobs may move towards remote working. This means people will design their home workspaces differently with dedicated, private home workspaces, as opposed to makeshift desk setups.
We’re also seeing a trend in desks and workspaces incorporated into bedrooms and living rooms, especially for those households where there are multiple people needing to work from home at once. Creating multiple workspaces throughout the home means that families can work from home at the same time. This has also become relevant for kids’ desk spaces, so children can continue to be home-schooled while schools are closed.
Broken-Plan Living
Even though the trend for open plan living continues there are more people using the space at the same time, so they are looking to find other ways to ‘divide’ the various areas of an ‘open plan’ space, to allow for flexible use throughout the day.
We’ve seen how bookcases can be used to cleverly zone a room, as well as curtains, while Crittall-style partitions and room dividers are now more popular than ever.
There’s no denying that Crittall-style has been staging a comeback – and not just as windows and doors, but as walls, rear extensions, room dividers and even shower screens. Edgy and versatile, the sturdy, slim-profile frames tap into the current trend for all things industrial.
Light Filled Spaces
When you spend most of the time inside for the best part of a year, you want all the light you can get. A huge trend for 2021 will be glass doors or skylights especially if you are planning a kitchen extension.
The transition from inside your new kitchen extension to the outside needs to be as seamless as the transition from the original part of the house to the new room. This means putting exterior doors to the garden in a place that looks natural and is practical.
Creative Storage
We’ll be seeing a more creative approach to increasing storage at home from now on. With young children spending more time at home, toys regularly migrate from room to room. Considering joinery and storage will be vital for interior schemes, such as ottoman style furniture, sideboards, and cabinets.
It used to be that our homes were a place where we relaxed after work. The coronavirus pandemic has changed all that. Now, much of working, socialising, and exercising is from our homes so as we adjust the way we live, we’re also adjusting the spaces we live in.
