Design Trends for 2024
What’s new for 2024
We’re only a couple of months into 2024 but already a number of interior design trends are making themselves felt.
There is a strong pull away from ultra-modern, completely minimalist interiors we’ve seen for the past few years in favour of a more eclectic, homely aesthetic. This means all sorts of fresh ideas to update your home – we’ve picked a few trends we think are set to be the most exciting for the year to come.
Artisanal everything
Arts and crafts are back in a big way and we are here for it! According to Gemma Riberti, head of interiors at international trend forecasting agency WGSN, “searches for ‘handmade’ and ‘eclectic interior design vintage’ are growing steadily on platforms such as Etsy or Pinterest”. There has been a real shift towards handmade pieces bought slowly and over time, rather than one-sized-fits-all style that can be quickly bought in one go off the shelf.
This includes a focus on turning to local makers to furnish homes – the idea is to create a home that is full of special pieces that really mean something and have a bit of a story behind them.
Illustrated tiles
It goes without saying that this one warmed our cockles. Illustrated tiles are at the absolute heart of what we do here at Decorum.
For the past few years, design trends have focused on very pared back styles with a deliberate lack of superfluous decoration or ornamentation. Simply put, ‘less is more’. Whilst we haven’t necessarily swung completely in the other direction, there is a renewed desire to bring a little life and personality into interior design.
Illustrated tiles are a creative way to add colour, pattern and an element of the unexpected to a room. They tell a story in a way that few other interior design items or decorations can. There has been a huge increase in recent years of painting little scenes into tiles, rather than relying on plain or geometric tiles to decorate a room. It also means that the range of inspiration is virtually limitless – every artist has a story to tell and every homeowner brings their own set of ideas to a project.
Post Barbiecore-pink
Unless you’ve been stranded on a desert island for the past 12 months, you’ll have come across last summer’s Barbie bonanza and the explosion of all things bubble pink. From paints to tiles, water bottles to woolly jumpers, if it wasn’t bright pink then it wasn’t worth it.
A few months later and pink is here to stay – but we’ve moved on to Barbie pink’s more mellow cousins. Blush, blossom, baby, tea rose, lemonade, piggy, dust storm etcetera etcetra, there are a million variations of dusky, subtle tones of pink that remain welcoming and pretty but without being too loud or fussy.
Soft pinks are the perfect way to warm up a room without overwhelming everything else.
New neutrals
Another shift rather than a radical transformation, is the evolution of Scandinavian inspired neutrals from cool and minimalist to cosy and homey.
Whereas grey has been the go-to colour for Scandi-inspired designers in recent years, we’re now seeing far more use of earthy beiges and warm off whites that still say ‘understated’ but don’t get mistaken for the dentist’s waiting room. As with soft pinks, they still make a statement but allow the rest of the room to stand out.
Stripes
An absolute design classic and a trend that seems to keep going strong. According to Vogue, stripes are the “2024 Design Trend to Know”.
We’ve been working on styling stripes for a while now – tiles lend themselves perfectly to a stripe. Our main decision is what colour to use and just how bold to go. Obviously there are no hard and fast rules so we’ve had a lot of fun experimenting with different tones and levels of impact in terms of the intensity of colour. We’re also working to pair non-traditional colours together – 9 times out of 10, we see a bold colour paired with white, which looks fabulous but there are so many other creative styles to try! Pale pink and bottle green look stunning together, for example, as do turquoise and navy blue. You can even mix up patterns within a stripe for extra creative kudos!
Stripes can also be used to play with the proportions of a room; vertical stripes make a room appear taller, whereas horizontal stripes make a room wider. When it comes to a simple but brilliant way to transform a room, there are few easier ways than opting for a stripe.
Surprising murals
Surprising murals surprised us too! Andre Hilton of Jordan Hilton Interiors says that murals in unexpected places are set to be huge for 2024-2025.
"No more boring, neglected stairwells. They deserve just as much attention as any other room in the house”. What this means in practice is beautifully decorated stairwells or corners that might otherwise be overlooked for more ‘obvious’ parts of the house - “this trend is sure to make people fall in love with every inch of their home”.
