Interior design is sometimes intimidating and overwhelming when you have an empty room to work with. It can take a while to find both practical and stylish ideas to use regardless of the purpose of the room.
Luckily, interior design is a broad concept of creating a more aesthetically pleasing area. This means everything from changing the wallpapers and flooring to adding a few different throw pillows and replacing your old lamps with new ones.
Since staying at home has been a massive part of 2023, more people are focusing on making their homes healthier and more comfortable.
We’ve come up with a list of the most popular interior design trends for you to try.
1. Floral Wallpaper
Geometric prints have been trendy for a few years already, but the trend is recently replaced by floral prints and wallpapers.
Floral patterns can make a room look fresh, bright, and more comfortable regardless of the size. It breathes new life into the room as it doesn’t look as sharp and minimalistic as geometric prints.
Choose floral for your walls, or at least one wall that gets the most light. Both dark and light colours look good as long as you match the wallpaper with your furniture.
Many people like tropical wallpapers for a single wall in their dining room or home office. However, this can also be a good idea for the bathroom, giving it a breath of fresh air, especially if your bathroom is mainly white.
2. Colours
It seems that the days of grey, black, and brown are long behind us. The time has come to incorporate white, light blue, yellow, and even some gold accents.
For many years, people used taupe, beige, and grey as a safe zone. Although pale colours look good, it’s time to step out of the safe zone and include some colours.
This goes back to using large-print floral wallpapers in grey and white rooms. And, it doesn’t even have to be floral, as long as it’s colourful and not geometric.
You don’t have to go all-in with bright colours if that’s not something you like. Go for your pale colour scheme, but make sure to include some colours, even if they’re light.
Even the smallest standout detail will make a big difference in otherwise monochromatic rooms.
On the other hand, you can go for dark purple, cobalt blue, and Kelly green if you’re feeling brave and tired of taupe.
3. Real Plants
Gone are the days when we used faux plants to decorate any space. Although it might seem more manageable than trying to keep a real plant alive, it really doesn’t look as good.
A faux plant can be a quick fix until you’ve decided on a real plant that you want. Plus, not all plants are high-maintenance and challenging to keep alive.
All you need is to do a bit of research on which plants require little water from time to time. Some plants can thrive with occasional watering, given you provide the right spot in terms of light.
It will change the look of the room as it evolves, whereas a faux plant remains the same.
4. Focus on the Carpets
Wall-to-wall carpets might sound practical and easy to maintain, but they’re pretty outdated. 2023 is a great year to throw these rugs away, focusing on more modern options.
It doesn’t really matter which type of carpet you like as long as it shows the flooring underneath as well.
This might include some construction depending on the type of floors you have under the carpet. But, dark wood looks good when combined with light-coloured carpets, and the other way around.
There are many beautiful carpets on the market, all of which can make any room look more luxurious. Don’t be intimidated by shag and other similar rugs since they can be quite simple to maintain using the right vacuum, as explained by folks at CleanThatFloor.com.
5. Rounded Edges
Curvy shapes and round edges are now back in trend. It’s a design inspired by the 60s and 70s, but it now has a modern twist.
Instead of going with sharp lines that look way too minimalistic, you might want to try round furniture for some more asymmetry.
Sofas, benches, chaises, and other pieces of furniture are now curved. As such, they’re much different than what we’ve been seeing.
Keep in mind that not everything has to be round. A few details like rounded chairs or a rug can make a big difference on their own.
Curves and circles give a room a more organic look as opposed to sharp, straight lines we’ve been using for a while already.
6. Multifunctional Spaces
Multifunctional spaces are easier to use than conventional setups. This means you might want to give up a traditional dining room, using your kitchen island as a dining table instead.
Or, you can use kitchen islands to work on instead of building an at-home office. Although this largely depends on the type of work you do, it might be worth considering.
Breakfast nooks are another great way of saving some space, especially in a small house. This way, you don’t need a whole separate room to eat in. You can use the room for something else you might need more than a dining table.
7. Home Office
2023 is the year of working and studying from home. Many people found themselves working from home even if they’ve never done this before.
This is precisely why you might want to build yourself an office or a workstation. It doesn’t really have to be an entirely separate room if you don’t have one to spare. Instead, it can just be a nook in your living room.
You want to make the space inspiring, motivational, and, most importantly, comfortable. All you usually need is a desk, a floating shelf, or a bookshelf, and a comfortable chair.
Add a lamp, a few pictures, maybe a real plant, and a carpet to the area to make it more soothing and pleasant.
Going back to multi-functionality – you can also work on your kitchen counter or use a closet if it has enough space. Either way, make sure there’s enough light.
8. Sustainable Materials
The great news is that people are now thinking about the planet and the environment more than ever. We’re choosing materials that both look good and are eco-friendly.
Focus on materials that can last a long time so that you don’t have to replace them as frequently. Long-lasting things are typically more expensive, but you’re saving money in the long run. Plus, you’re eco-friendly by not throwing stuff away as often.
Choose materials that can biodegrade once thrown away. For example, use wooden spoons to mix and cook, as well as wooden salad bowls.
9. Combining Old and New
Since sustainability is quite important, you might want to rethink throwing all your furniture and replacing it with a new one.
Instead, you can probably use some of your old furniture and renew it with new fabrics, details, and colour patterns.
If you’ve followed minimalism trends and your room now feels a bit too sleek, you can soften it with some antique pieces, traditional patterns, and shades other than black, white, and grey.
Combine modern pieces with something from the 60s or even 2000s. It can make a big difference in how the entire room looks, giving it a warmer and more fun twist.
10. Metals on metals
Combining metals has been quite popular for a while, and the trend remained in 2023. However, it’s something you should be somewhat careful about, or you can easily take it too far.
Mixing gold, silver, copper, and tin can make any room more modern, giving it a more industrial design. Still, mixing too many different metals might overwhelm your room.
Choose one dominant colour and another accent one when mixing warm and cool coloured metals. Warm metals are copper, gold, and brass, while cool ones are silver, aluminium, and stainless steel.
If not, you might want to check neutral metals such as cast iron. It combines effortlessly with both warm and cool-coloured metals.
Metals are easy to take too far, so try not to mix more than three different ones. Also, don’t focus too many in a single area of your room.
11. Quality bedding
Quality bedding is more than just good looks since you’ll notice the change in comfort levels as well. This is something you should splurge on regardless of the type of bed you have.
Your bed is the centrepiece of the bedroom, so why not make it look good? It’s up to you to choose fabrics that you like the best, making sure they fit the entire design of the room.
Investing in a good bed, mattress, and sheets will probably also improve your sleeping. However, keep sustainability in mind by shopping natural fabrics that are easy to maintain and can last you a long time.
Use throw-pillows and covers to add a bit of colour to the room if you don’t feel like painting the walls or adding wallpapers.
