The Top 5 DIY Home Decor Trends on Instagram During Quarantine

Written by

Jessica Wang
Jessica Wang
Jessica is a writer and former weekend editor at Apartment Therapy. Her work also appears in Bustle, Nylon, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, and more. She lives in Southern California with her dog.
updated Oct 12, 2020
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Along with amateur bakers and say, amateur fashion tie dyers, one particular at-home persona has emerged amid the pandemic: amateur home designers. As we all collectively spend more time at home due to quarantine guidelines, more and more people have taken it upon themselves to redecorate their apartments and homes. As such, Budget Direct, an Australia-based insurance company, teamed up with NeoMam Studios to determine the top DIY home decor trends that have taken over Instagram during the pandemic. The results? Lots of macramé, hygge, and chalk paint, among others.

The company analyzed 500,000 Instagram posts tagged with the hashtag #DIYhomedecor to determine the findings. Along with the top five trends, the brand also found the specific design styles that reigned supreme during quarantine: modern came in at No. 1, while vintage came in second, later followed by rustic, boho, and cottage. Within those particular styles, at-home DIY dwellers incorporated five major decor trends. Explore them below—and perhaps incorporate them into your homes, too.

1. Macramé

A retro look prominent in the 1970s, macramé is a form of textile produced via knotting techniques. It’s a fun way to create blankets, curtains, or decorative wall pieces with materials like yarn or hemp. Instagram users have used them with planters and polaroid holders, too.

2. Bottle Artwork

A cheap and creative way to use all those empty bottles in the kitchen, bottle artwork is having a moment under the #bottlecraft hashtag. Fabric, glass pebbles, sand, and even a kiln have been used for cute vases and also fun electric lamps. 

3. Hygge

The Danish concept of “hygge,” which translates to a feeling of coziness, has, of course, also been having a major moment as the world outside becomes a bit more chaotic. The comfort and simplicity of rustic decor, like wooden candles and other warm earth tones, has made its way into homes to create the ultimate cozy oasis.

4. Chalk Paint

A matte, water-based paint, chalk paint has been used to create the ultimate distressed, vintage farmhouse look in furniture. It’s a fun way to infuse more life into tired furniture, with users incorporating the style into dresser drawers and chairs, among other things.

5. Paper Craft

Finally, amateur designers have returned to their childhood roots with simple paper craft. From paper mobiles to good ol’ origami decorations, Instagram users have created everything from elaborate flower displays to really cool wall art

Between macramé planters, bottle artwork vases, hygge aesthetics, chalk-painted furniture, and paper craft wall art, the pandemic has truly brought out the creativity in quarantine dwellers.