These Are 2021’s Emerging Design Trends, According to Houzz

published Aug 22, 2021
We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
Post Image
Credit: Nick Klein/Houzz

New season, new trends. We’re more than halfway through what has been another rather turbulent year, with many of us still spending more time at home. Unsurprisingly, renovation and design activity has been a popular topic since the coronavirus pandemic took hold, so Houzz was curious to see what new design styles, features, and aesthetics have surfaced over the past year.

The home and interior design company recently gathered insights from their community of U.S. homeowners, home design enthusiasts, and home professionals to determine the top six emerging home design trends of 2021. The results? The trends reflect a need for dedicated activity spaces within the home, a desire to bring the outdoors in, a requirement to create flexible interior spaces, and a passion for luxurious colors and materials. Outside, people are getting creative with swimming pool styles.

Houzz used search data that was gathered between May and June of 2021, comparing the results with those from 2020. With quarantine fueling the desire to engage in a new hobby, the company found that Americans have been craving a dedicated activity space more and more. The biggest increase? Art studios, which was up a drastic 875% compared to last year. Home bars and wine cellars also proved extremely popular choices, with searches up 277% and 271% respectively. Other entertainment and activity avenues seeing a huge spike in searches include home theater (up 190%), home gym (up 156%), and home office (up 108%).

Credit: Caroline Sharpnack/Houzz

Unsurprisingly, openness to nature and the role of greenery in our homes is a trend that seems to be accelerating. Searches for green kitchen cabinets are up 829% compared to the previous year, while green tile bathroom and green accent chair are up 771% and 754% respectively. Other searches that have seen a major increase are artificial plants and trees (up 658%), green bedroom (up 379%), and indoor pots and planters (up 358%). Plus, with Drew Barrymore’s dreamy sage green kitchen appliances and Kendall Jenner’s

The living room has always been an important gathering space within the home. This year, a living room refresh has been one of the top priorities, with terms like accent pillow (up 5050%) and home accents (up 2417%) seeing the biggest spike in searches.

Houzz also found that flexible design and luxury fabrics, materials, and colors have also been sought after this year. The very specific search query, TV armoire with pocket door, was up a whopping 2259%, while swivel accent chair saw a 1922% rise. In terms of fabrics and colors, gold hues, velvet fabrics, and crystal detailing saw a dramatic increase. Adding a luxurious feel to any room, gold table lamps (up 1166%), velvet accent chair (up 1161%), and crystal table lamps (up 629%) were among the most favored search terms.

Want to read more of the latest trends? Check out more of Apartment Therapy’s trend pieces for 2021: