6 Standout Interior Design Trends for 2020
Even if you don’t live and die by trends in fashion and home decor, you’re probably somewhat influenced by them. Trends dictate what ends up on store shelves and what you see all over the media you consume, after all, so it’s hard not to be at least a little bit swayed by what everybody else is doing. And whether you want to stay au courant or avoid trends like the plague, it’s helpful to know which way the wind is blowing. Here are six incoming design crazes for 2020:
High-Quality Investment Pieces
Trends tend to produce a lot of waste. Thankfully, we’ve been seeing a lot more that are guided by sustainability lately, so they’re at least a little more likely to stick around. One of them is the decline of throwaway furniture. Even cash-strapped millennials are saving up longer (or using “pay later” services like Affirm) to purchase furniture with heirloom potential, whether they’re antiques or high-quality handcrafted pieces. Nobody wants to buy the same thing over and over again every time it falls apart.
Photo: Antique Oak Stacking Bookcase at 1stDibs
Mixed-Up Minimalism
The kind of extreme monochromatic minimalism that’s dominated interior design trends for a while is definitely on its way out, but that doesn’t necessarily mean maximalism will take its place. In the era of KonMari, people are still looking to simplify their homes and lives, and accumulate less stuff in general. But a new wave of minimalism will mix in a lot more personality, texture, patterns, and color.
Photo: Contemporary Marble-Clad Apartment in Milan
Sculptural Statements
They can be functional — or maybe just something pretty to look at — but sculptural statements are going to be bigger than ever this year. Think bold, graphic lines and shapes that rethink the standard silhouettes of items like chairs and lamps. Some sub-trends within this trend include modern interpretations of Greek statuary and rounded, curved shapes supplanting the dominant angularity of 2019.
Photo: Furniture by Ian Felton
Colors Inspired by Nature
Continuing the sustainability-adjacent movement toward natural materials and textures, another fresh 2020 trend will usher in color palettes taken directly from Mother Nature. To try this out for yourself, find a photo of a nature scene you find particularly beautiful, pick out a range of colors from it, and try to find approximate color matches while shopping. For example, Pantone’s color of the year, Classic Blue, is said to be inspired by the ocean. You could pair it with the lush green of tropical seaside greenery, the paler blue of the afternoon sky, and the gold and pastel pinky-orange shades found in a sunset.
Photo: Color Camp Salon by J Byron-H
Warm Wood Tones
What goes out will inevitably come back in some day. Warm wood tones have long been anathema to contemporary interiors, with designers and consumers alike opting for pale Scandinavian tones instead. We’re not talking about bright cherry, necessarily, but more along the lines of honey, deep blonde oaks, and darker walnuts.
Photo: Grove Dresser in Walnut at Room & Board
Lived-In Feeling
You don’t have to curate everything so carefully. If you’re the kind of recovering minimalist that put white dust jackets on all your books, banned personal items from shared spaces, and made absolutely every corner of your home into an Instagram-worthy vignette, take a deep breath. Leave out some books you actually read. Tuck some board games onto a shelf. Lean your guitar into the corner of the room. Allow visitors to see that you actually live there.
