My Interior Design Trend Predictions For 2021

Well 2021 is well and truly here and with it comes hope. But also I think a new way of looking at the world around us. And how we interact with it. Not only with other people but on a multi sensory level too. We’ve changed our eating habits. How we exercise. Where we work and who we see amongst a myriad of other things. But what’s in store for us interior design junkies? What does 2021 hold for us? Well with manufacturing down and global movement problematic not to mention Brexit I think this year may finally be the anti trend year. Not that I don’t think there will be any at all, more that for this year ‘Movements’ may be a more apt description. No rigid must haves, more a veering to a natural conclusion in our own ways. And whilst I say my interior design trend predictions for 2021 it’s more a where I feel interiors may diversify to meet our needs. So although these interior design trend predictions for 2021 are my own thoughts, let’s see if I get them right shall we.

The Vintage Movement

Upcycled Bureau and Chair from relovedmcr

 

Just because we are stuck at home doesn’t mean that we want to stop working on them. But if last year is anything to go by then we know stocks are low. We can’t see things in the flesh. And choice is limited. This year (post Lockdown #27) more and more of us will be looking towards Vintage pieces. Not only do they add balance to interiors but they potentially give us a creative project to do too. A way to while away the hours during the colder months. And when I say balance what I really mean is just that. My perfect recipe for an interior scheme has always been:

 

K.N.O.B

(well it has to be memorable so why not be funny too)

K – Killer or Knockout

N – New

O – Old

B – Bling

 

The perfect recipe for getting an interior just right is to have at least one Killer or Knockout piece. That could be art, an ornament or even a cushion. But when someone looks at it they have to say WOW. That piece has to really speak to you as a person, forget what anyone else thinks. And is often a conversation starter.  Next up is new, unless you of course embrace the full on all antique style. Then we sprinkle in a dash of Old, a chair, a desk, it can be what ever you want it to be. And finally add some bling! And I don’t mean sprinkle it in fairy dust. By this I mean add in a metallic of your choice. With all these in place a house starts feeling like a home. So head on over to Facebook Marketplace. Or good old Ebay and make your abode unique to you.

 

The earth Movement

Layered.home bringing the outside in

 

No, I promise I’m not going all ‘peace man’ on you. I’m talking about bringing the outside in. Biophillic design (brought to us by the amazing Oliver Heath) is not a new concept but I think more and more people will be looking to nature this year. I’m not talking about just plants here either. This is a way to feel connected with the world around you whilst remaining comfortably at your desk or snuggling on the sofa. It’s about incorporating natural elements into your rooms.

 

Bring the outside in

 

neutral earthy hues in the home of designsixtynine

 

So up your wood, pile in the marble and embrace stone as well as adding the odd plant or three. And if like me you are a serial plant killer it is OK to go faux. But don’t stop there. Think to nature with your colour choices too. If you love green go with a shade found in nature. A green that makes you feel like you’re wandering through a deep dark forest. Or the colour of grass that brings with it memories of its aroma when freshly mown. How about a dark charcoal grey that reminds you of Summer evening skies. Or a deep ocean blue that reminds you of that time you went snorkelling over a reef.

 

Sensory design is crucial

 

Shades of moss green in the home of hardcastletowers

 

In truth this is sensory design at its best. Combining nature with our senses and how we interpret colours that are so personal to us. Colours that represent joy and happy memories. Get the colours right and the rest will follow. In fact look around your home right now and I bet there are a fair few colours already surrounding you that evoke an inner smile even if you’re not sure why. So next time you are pouring over the paint charts think earth, sky and sea and then narrow it down to your happy place.

 

The Garden Room Movement

 

Amazing Garden make over from design_at_nineteen

 

No I don’t mean we all have to suddenly have the funds available for a garden studio, much as I suspect most of us would love one. Ah, the thrill of walking out the back door to escape to another space. And to be alone, with just the sound of your own breathing. Or banging out your own tunes for a change. A girl can dream. No, much in the same way as we are bringing the outside in, we are also taking the inside out. The garden is no longer the realms of the green fingered with numerous potting sheds and greenhouses. The garden is now more than ever an extension of our inside space. It is in fact another room. And we are treating it as such too. I think gardens are set to become one of our homes biggest selling points for the forseeable.

 

Give areas purpose

 

separate dining and seating areas at the home of littleedwardian

 

We are zoning them to fit our lives. Just as we zone a room and give areas purpose we are doing this outside too. Long gone are the days of a couple of loungers, a patio/deck and a distinctly iffy outdoor dining set. Now we are expressing our design choices outside too. We are putting our stamp on the space. And boy are we getting creative about it too. With outdoor kitchens, seating areas to rival our sitting rooms, pergolas and so much more. Last year saw many Instagrammers transform their outdoor spaces to work with the new norm. This year I foresee many more of us doing the same including me.

 

The Multi Functional Room Movement

 

Micro Home Office By Pati Robins

 

This is something that we’ve heard a lot about the last few months. I think even the BBC News has covered it. With us all working from home ‘if we can’ and schooling from home too, many, like me do not have an office or a classroom for that matter. And so our rooms are doubling up, hunkering down and working harder for us. We now need multifunctional spaces far more than we ever have before. At first we worked at the sofa or the dining room table. Some even took their laptop to bed with them and worked from under their duvets. But over time we have all come to appreciate that this might not be working quite as well as we had hoped.

 

In truth many of us will never return to the office

 

The perfect school space away from school in the home of vintagecuratorinteriors

 

In truth, many of us may never go back to the office. This will be our new norm. And because of this we need to think about zoning? But why is this so important? Well think about it, if we work all over the house, moving from space to space with our laptops then the lines between work and home will blur. There is no leaving the front door to go to work and a return home at the end of the day. The front door being our switch on and switch off point. Home will no longer be home if every part of it has also become a work space.

 

Utilise zoning and creative thinking

The smallest bedroom in my house zoned for sleeping, chilling and working

 

This is where zoning and creative thinking come in. Rooms no longer have just 1 job to do or even 2, sometimes they now have 3 or 4. What we thought was a temporary solution of a cluttered coffee table needs to become a permanent fixture. So if like me you don’t have a dedicated study think outside the box. How can we create a space within an existing room that we can call work. And at the same time be able to close the virtual door on it when the working day is over? It’s time to reinvent our spaces. Use a screen perhaps, convert a built in wardrobe or utilise that space under the stairs. The possibilities are endless once we put our minds to it.

 

 

My Interior Design Trend Predictions for 2021, A Conclusion

 

And there we have it, my interior design trend predictions for 2021. Though as I said initially, they are more movements, than trends. In fact I hope that trends will finally die out but I suspect they won’t. Trends are driven by designers with the sole purpose of increasing sales to make a profit. They are dictated to us by a need to keep the economy ticking over. But they are also often throw away and wasteful. Not only in interiors but in fashion too. Which is normally where interior trends originate from tbh. That said, without trends what would designers replace it with? How would they encourage us to buy?

 

The issue is collections

 

I think the issue for me is around ‘Collections’. Browse the new season ‘must have’ collection! It infers it all has to match to be coherent. And that if you don’t have it you’re not in with the in crowd. But because of this it also dictates one specific aesthetic and with this a trend is born. Design seems to be lacking in diversity. It’s become a one size fits all approach. The big ticket designers create a collection which in turn filters down to every brand on the High Street. Where ever you go you see the same thing just at a different price point. But you only have to look at Instagram homes (here’s mine)  to see that more and more of us do not fit the ‘Norm’ that is dictated to us by a brands buyer. And somehow the current methodology behind selling to us  has to change.

 

I’d love to hear your thoughts

 

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this too. Is it just me that sees that the High Street giants are not only failing because of a global pandemic? We lost so many brands before this like BHS and Laura Ashley too. Yet this time it was blamed on falling footfall both physical and virtual. No one seems to have stopped in their tracks when sales started to fall and ask why is this happening? OK so maybe Laura Ashley was niche and niche normally equates to good. But what neither of these companies did was respond to their own customers changing needs. They stuck to what they knew. And a business that does not evolve and look to what their customers need rather than what the business tells them they need is one that ultimately will run out of steam. Believe me I know, I ran one.

 

What do you think?

 

So are you like me? Fed up of seeing the same thing over and over again? What do you think is the answer? And although these interior design trend predictions for 2021 are my own thoughts, what are yours? And did I miss any out? Do leave me a comment below x