What you should really look out for in 2024
It’s that time of year again in the world of interior design. That time when a raft of magazines and blog posts (hi!) will tell you what’s going to be hot in interiors in 2024.
I have written before about how most of these pieces are cut and paste jobs. If I had a pound for the number of times I have read about how biophilic design (creating connections to nature internally) is going to be big I’d have… well quite a few pounds.
I also just read a piece in one of the big magazines with a paragraph on how rattan will be big in 2024. Which may well be so, but it has also been big for the last five years at least and is in every single shop from high end to Asda so that’s not exactly crystal ball worthy.
So once again I’m adding to the noise but hoping to stick my head above the parapet and highlight some things that I do see shifting in interiors that I think will start to become more prominent next year.
Image: H&M
Silvers
After a good decade or so of a preference for brass and/or brushed gold finishes I’m starting to see a real move back towards silver finishes - whether that be aluminiums, stainless steel or brushed nickel as seen in the bath taps at the top of this post.
This is a direction that I’ve started to see in jewellery as well as interior finishes - where five years ago a silver necklace felt a bit old hat, it’s starting to feel more like the edgier alternative today and even more so when you see a mix of metals used together.
The recent collection by Paco Rabanne for H&M Home uses a range of highly polished stainless steel for tables, ornaments and tableware, and has a fresh, grown up luxe vibe contrary to the heavy use of softer materials like rattan that we have seen so much of.
I’m using more and more stainless steel finishes in bathrooms or brushed nickel when I’m looking for something with a more traditional feel. That said, I’m still not quite ready for the return of chrome.
Image: Lived In 365
Thoughtful Paint Schemes
One of the things that I often run up against as an interior designer are very ingrained points of view on certain elements of paint schemes. For so many of us, we paint ceilings and skirting boards white because we have always painted ceilings and skirting boards white and that is what we do.
I think that we will start to see a real shift in this traditional way of thinking over the next few years. Whilst there are, of course, instances where that might be the right thing to do, there are also lots of reasons not to follow this prescribed decorating method.
For rooms with lower ceilings, for example, highlighting the ceiling in white just makes it stand out and the ceiling feel lower. Instead take the wall colour over the ceiling and blur the lines of where it begins so the room feels a bit taller. Similarly with skirting boards, consider why you want them to stand out. If it is because they are an ornate, beautiful feature then great but if not, you are potentially just highlighting the least interesting feature in your room.
In short, step outside of the norms and think about what you want to highlight in the room. Think about painting the ceiling red, think about picking out the door and frame in a bright and interesting shade. Think about using a gloss to create a feature with shine and texture. Give the decorators of the world something more interesting to do.
Lighting (Again)
I mentioned in my last post that it wouldn’t be an interior designer’s blog post without a mention of lighting schemes. Yes, we’re just obsessed.
One of the things that I think prevents a lot of people from adding different layers of lighting into their rooms is how much disruption it can cause if you go for something that is wired in, or if you need a lamp but there’s just no socket close by. Luckily we’re starting to see so many high street answers to these problems and there are a range of options you can try if you want to add layers of lighting to your scheme.
If you want to add wall lights, there are now lots of plug in options that can give your bedroom more of that hotel vibe. If you don’t have a socket nearby you can add a rechargeable bulb to your lamp, hey presto no need for a plug. You can also add a wide range of LED lighting including options which will illuminate the interior of your kitchen units and give you the feeling of a high end bespoke pantry.
Image: Lived In 365
Irregular Rugs
This one is a little more specific but something that I have seen popping up everywhere this year and that I think we will see a lot more of in 2024.
I love a rug (as my husband will atest) and think that they make a room feel so much more pulled together. Controversially I even like a rug on carpet. It’s something about the opportunity to add more texture and pattern that wins me over. In general I go for something large enough to sit under the legs of your furniture, nothing worse than a rug that is floating in the middle of the floor making the room feel smaller than it is.
What I’m seeing a lot of currently, however, is what I’d call accent rugs. Rugs with cut out elements, irregular shaping and texture which used to be more the preserve of high end retailers but are now filtering down onto the high street with some really great options. Another way to add interest to a room, particularly where other elements have been left more stripped back.
Browns and Caramels
And finally. It wouldn’t be an interior trends report for the year ahead without something to say about colours. I find a lot of the colour commentary in these pieces to be a bit disingenuous. They will tend to tell you that [insert colour] is big for this year but in the real world, colour trends tend to move much more slowly than this and it took a long time for people to start feeling comfortable with using, for example, dark greens and blues on the walls of their rooms rather than magnolia.
That said, those blues and greens are starting to feel much less daring these days and the paint companies have been leaning towards earthier shades for some time now so expect to see this to start to translate into real life over the next few years.
Little Greene’s newest collection, Sweet Treats, is an absolute treasure trove of those earthy tones for anyone looking for somewhere to start and this is where I will be starting for my bedroom makeover which may happen sometime in 2024 (or 2025).