Home Decorating Trends

Before you pack up your brass fixtures, terrazzo accents, and macrame, take some time to sneak a preview of what real estate experts say are the top home trends we’ll be checking off our lists in 2020.

Let's dive into each kitchen trend that Pantone's color experts brought to our attention.

'Tis the season to be snug as a bug—in a sauna bed?

Here's what the maker platform is betting will be big in January and beyond.

It's time to ditch the word art.

We think you're going to like it.

Shiplap, faux taxidermy, and millennial pink—get ready for a trip down memory lane!

Talk about fringe benefits.

Bathroom carpeting is never a good idea, people!

Thank u, next.

The announced hue “reflects a new definition of home” that revolves around flexibility and inclusivity while being “fresh” and “playful.”

The paint company just debuted twelve hues for the coming year, in case you'd like one for each month of 2020.

Traditionally, Halloween is all about orange and black, but it need not be. In fact, spooky season has gotten a softer makeover, according to Pinterest.

While millennial pink mania has died down in some respects, we're all a bit more open to exploring our softer sides.

Take your space to the next level with these design trends.

As we prepare to enter a new decade, one paint brand is looking back to a century another. Today, Sherwin-Williams announced its 2020 Color of the Year, and it's a shade that's inspired by Art Deco and the roaring '20s, as well as nature. Any guesses?

Don’t hold your breath for Glidden’s color of the year: The popular paint brand has announced its decision to opt out of choosing a 2020 hue. While many consumers look to the annual practice for design inspiration (choosing a paint color can get pretty stressful), folks shouldn’t to worry because Glidden’s decision stems from a desire to better prioritize the decorative needs of DIYers who are anxious to get going on their last home makeover projects.

As the Everything Store, Amazon sells virtually everything imaginable—including the latest trends on the cheap.

There's something about this woven furniture and accessories that makes any room feel like it's summer year-round.

Don't worry, there's life after the open-concept floor plan.

Consider this a PSA.

Ready to hit the refresh button on your bedroom? These trends will look good well into the New Year.

2020 will be all about wellness.

Flipping through the new IKEA catalog each year gives us more than a just peek into what new products the retailer is adding to shelves; it's a window into what will be big in interiors in the next 12 months. The pages are packed with inspiration, and this year we narrowed it down to eight trends we expect to see a lot more of in 2020.

They're trendy, pretty, and relatively affordable.

The term “goth plants” isn’t one you’ll see in your average box store garden department. These plants have darker leaves and flowers, deeper and richer colors, and/or other components that are more emo than your run-of-the-mill greenery. This Reddit thread on Colocasia Black Magic led me to the Plant Goths thread, and my interest was officially piqued.

Ever wonder if preferred interior design styles might vary from state to state? We sure do. Are California beach towns heavy on the surf vibes indoors? Do the North Woods of the USA prefer the minimalistic Scandinavian design leanings as a byproduct of both climate and distant heritage? Maybe glam interiors are more popular in Nevada? Luckily, Joybird has come to the rescue with some factual state-by-state design data for the rest of us.

If there’s one room you should consider refreshing regularly, it would definitely be your living room. Whether you’re Netflix and chilling with your significant other or having a bunch of friends over for wine and cheese, your living room is probably one of the most trafficked places in your home.

While it can be tempting to embrace ALL of the prints, less is more when it comes to decorating with these fun fabrics.

Is it just us or does minimalism feel so yesterday? Don’t get us wrong: We love a sleek and clean space as much as the next design enthusiast; however, we have to admit that the neutral color palette and lack of funky details feels, well, sterile.

Abandoning this style can help your space feel more modern, personal, and welcoming.

It’s no secret that streamlining is in right now. Many of us are carefully evaluating everything from our wardrobes to our kitchenware and enjoying feeling lighter as we let unneeded belongings go. And with that, it’s no surprise that we’re more and more drawn to a streamlined look when it comes to furniture and decor, too. Take bed frames and headboards, for example. Gone are the days of tufted, upholstered numbers and in are sleek, simple wooden options, like the ones below.

We pay special attention to lighting. The glitzy chandelier featured in that historic house tour. Those coastal-inspired pendants along the bar at that airport restaurant. The single Edison bulb that illuminates your favorite hotel’s bedroom. “Lighting is one of the most important parts of a design—both the physical fixtures, as well as the quality of lighting,” says Dan Mazzarini of BHDM Design.

Mid-century modern design lovers rejoice: You can find some seriously stylish MCM-inspired furnishings on Amazon. From a George Nelson-style bench to a pair of shapely shell chairs, here are seven of our favorite mid-century modern style offerings you can buy right now on Amazon. No mid-century modern furniture collection would be complete without a solid shell chair.

I’ve always felt a strange kinship with Abraham Lincoln, probably because we were born on the same day—February 12th. So when I first moved to New York City, now 10 years ago, I remember shopping at Urban Outfitters and spotting my favorite president in the form of a bust bank in the sale section. For $9.99, I had to buy it, even though I was on an assistant’s salary and pretty much always broke. It was copper like a penny (duh), which wasn’t going to work for me.

It hasn't reached "For Like Ever" status just yet, but we wouldn't be surprised if it does soon.

Although we all can relate to feeling surrounded by metaphorical garbage, lots of people spend time in public areas that are unreasonably littered with real trash, too. This was the case for me in my former Brooklyn neighborhood. The litter on one particular block that passed over a bridge was so awful that I actually started picking it up myself once in a while. (Because I can apparently rage clean as long as it’s not in my own home.

Walk into any recently renovated home today and chances are you’ll see a lot of greige—a neutral color that’s the perfect combination of gray and beige. There’s no denying it’s the paint color du jour. It’s funny how, oftentimes, you can instantly pinpoint how modern (or not) a room is just by looking at the color of the walls. Some day our children might look back and wonder why we all plastered our walls in such a boring color!

It's taking over home design, one line at a time.

Kitchen design has kind of been the same for a few years now—subway tile backsplash, splashy pendant lights, as big of an island as possible, and maybe some open shelving for good measure. Cabinet color has started to shift a little bit from all white to a little more bold in some instances, but it hasn’t fully taken off yet.

If you asked me what bothers me most about my kitchen, I’d answer, hands-down, my kitchen sink. It’s an old brown ceramic sink with a faucet that, until very recently, sprayed you square in the face every time you turned it on. Lovely, right?! Thankfully, a kitchen reno is on the horizon, and chances are our sink is about to get a major upgrade. According to a recent report by Houzz, more than half (57 percent!) of upgraded kitchen faucets are now high-tech.

Upper cabinets are starting to disappear from kitchens, and I’m not sure how to feel about it. It all started with the open-shelving phenomenon, and now, in some cases, it has morphed into this total lack of anything structural above the countertops. On the one hand, it is visually beautiful. You can really go to town with tile—think an uninterrupted, ceiling-high wall of subways or a bold geometric backsplash. But on the other hand, where exactly are you supposed to put your stuff?

If the kitchen is the stomach of your home, the living room is definitely its heart. It’s where you can curl up with a book on a lazy Sunday, catch up with some friends over a glass of wine, or spend the entire weekend binge-watching whatever’s on Netflix (hey, we’re not judging). Your living room is such an important part of your home, it’s important to keep it looking its best at all times.

For every home trend that people are obsessed with today (patterned cement tile, industrial lighting, brass fixtures), there are hundreds that we’ve long forgotten about. But like fashion, design is cyclical, and many of the choices that people loved back in the day are bound to make a comeback. Check out some of the iconic moments of the past 90 years or so, and see if your birth decade’s “in” is on the upswing again.

The one place I’ve been seeing a lot of color lately is in bedrooms, and things are getting dark. Navy and midnight blues, charcoal grays, deep teals, and even black, which is the trickiest to pull off if you don’t get a lot of natural light in your space. But it’s doable. The word on the street is that this trend might actually be beneficial for sleep—either it helps you drift off easily and/or stay asleep longer.

When it comes to kitchen decor, some things never really go out of style. (We don’t see the modern farmhouse look going anywhere anytime soon, for example.) Other things, however, have a slightly shorter shelf life. (We’re talking about you, cacti, pineapples, and flamingos!) To find out what’s hot for 2019, we reached out to Dayna Isom Johnson, Etsy’s trend expert.

In terms of recent trends, it doesn’t get much bigger than ceramic pottery. Inspired by the 1970s, sculptural clay vases, planters, and decor are everywhere these days—either adding subtle texture or bringing a full blown color explosion to our homes. Handmade ceramic pieces from the pros can be quite expensive (understandably, given the skill and work required to make them), but don’t let that sway you from loving and getting the look.

Remember when we all lost our minds over The Wing’s decor when founders Audrey Gelman and Lauren Kassan opened their first outpost in NYC’s Flatiron district back in 2016? With every subsequent club location, things have just gotten better and better. And it’s not just the broad strokes with furnishings and finishes—the details are on point, too. I mean, I even wrote a story about how pretty (and budget-friendly!) the blush dinnerware they use in their cafes is.

Like all the best trends—velvet furnishings, pastel kitchen appliances, even low-carb diets—animal prints have cycled in and out of style over the years (and centuries). At times they’ve been perceived as luxurious and expensive, at other times tacky, outdated, and even a little scandalous, but they never truly leave the cultural lexicon (most recently, Tom Ford’s 2018 Fall Ready to Wear Collection relied heavily on those wild patterns).

Waterbeds: should they stay or should they go?

Here's what you should know, before you pick up that paint roller.

One of the best things about tile is its sheer variety: You can find an option to suit any taste, including the taste that doesn’t like tile much at all (in that case, go for those ceramic planks that look like wood, complete with graining). And in the past few years, tile companies have been seriously upping their game, expanding beyond the rectangles we know and love to unexpected shapes, colors, and finishes.

With a new year comes new goals and fresh motivation to pursue all things health and wellness. Whether you’re trying a new home workout (cycling bikes, anyone?) or kissing that mid-day slump goodbye by focusing on a new form of nutrition, now is an opportune time to renew your focus on what it means to be and feel well. But with no shortage of (sometimes schticky and expensive) wellness trends inundating us from all angles, it can be difficult to determine what might be worth trying.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that the rustic chic vibe is seriously taking over. It’s Joanna Gaines’s signature style and even Prince Harry and Meghan Markle seem to be jumping on the bandwagon. Given those two things alone, it’s no surprise the farmhouse style is all the rage right now. According to a recent survey by Houzz, farmhouse-style kitchens are on the rise.

Move over, shelfies; there’s a new trend in town. At Apartment Therapy, we spend a lot of our time talking about how to make your kitchen a more beautiful place. How to make a statement with your backsplash. How to spruce up your kitchen floors with a runner. But how to beautify your pantry? Not so much. When it comes to design, the pantry is really a forgotten spot. Sure, there are plenty of pantries organized to perfection, but a beautiful design has never been a huge priority.

I thought it would be fun to poll a few designers and study a few lookbooks to see what vintage trends might make their way to the forefront again in 2019.

When you picture a bathroom, what do you see? I envision a fairly standard space—lots of white tile and a vanity with a few drawers and a cabinet. If it’s clean, modern, and functional, I’m largely satisfied. But according to the pros, the bathrooms of the future have much more to offer. Here, the biggest, most surprising bathroom trends you’ll see in 2019. “Color, color, color,” says Nancy Epstein, founder and CEO of Artistic Tile.

As we move into 2019, let the stars be your decorating guide.

I love color and really think any shades can work year-round in your home if you’re a big enough fan of them. And sure, colors are seasonal—white feels like summer, pastels read as springy, and darker shades are always going to be more autumnal or appropriate for winter. But the magic is really in the mix. Most shades can go either way, depending on what you pair them with.

Well, the end of the year is upon us, and it’s time to look forward to what 2019 has to offer in terms of style and design. But I also think it’s fun to reflect on the past and think about what trends might be running their course. What I’m about to say might be a little polarizing, especially if you live in a rental and can’t really do much about your surroundings. But the one trend I hope stays in 2018 is: Bright white painted walls.

There is nothing quite as luxurious as a stylish bathroom, but sometimes it’s hard to design the small space in a way that makes your eyes pop while simultaneously leaving a lasting impression. There are an infinite number of light fixtures and shower curtains you can choose from, but one way to take your bathroom up a design level is to match your wall tiles to your floor tiles. Does it sound intense? Sure, but have faith and hear me out.

It may not be for everyone, but it looks like this trend is here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future.

I love picking all of my designer friends’ brains on holiday trends. I mean, I know enough about the market to have a sense of where things are going, but they’re the ones that are going to be buying up all the decorations and executing ideas—I’ve officially given up on going HAM on holiday decor until I have a house.

The diamond solitaire is trusted and true, but bold and unique ring styles and stones are on the rise, according to Pinterest’s latest engagement insights. Brides are eschewing tradition for something a little more personal and special. Think classic designs with a twist—diamond solitaires with atypical cuts and rings showcasing special stones. Brides also are interested in fun styles ranging from vintage-inspired Edwardian sparklers to sleek minimalist wedding bands.

But this new take isn't really new at all.

These are the bedroom trends that are seriously past their prime.

This is a very welcome twist.

This year, daring decorators are flipping the holiday decorating script and dreaming of a goth Christmas. Home decor site Wayfair is reporting a 70 percent increase in searches for black Christmas trees this year, and according to the artificial tree retailer Treetopia, black is the second most popular color (after classic green) in six locations: Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Delaware, and Washington D.C.

We’ve discussed other body parts as decorative motifs on home decor products before, from breasts to butts. But I think the latest incarnation of this trend has got to be hands. It’s kind of unclear when and where this all started. Classic antiquity? I kid, I kid. Seriously though, palm-shaped chairs have been something you could stumble upon at flea markets for a while, if you were lucky.

These aren't going anywhere.

When Prince George and Princess Charlotte head over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house, they hang out in some very fun digs. That’s because Carole Middleton, the mother of Kate Middleton, recently revealed some festive fun she likes to bright out for her grandkids during the holidays. Carole, a professional party planner, told The Telegraph that each grandkid gets their own Christmas tree in their bedrooms “so that they can decorate it themselves.

Make no mistake about it: Hygge is an international design movement that's here to stay.