Interior Design Trends for 2021: A Fresh Look

Usually at this time of year, interior design professionals will be visiting Maison et Objet in Paris to look at the new trends for 2021. Of course, this has been cancelled so we must have a gaze into the Tobias Oliver Interiors crystal ball to see how our homes will evolve during the year ahead of us…

We have all had to take a very close look at how our lives have altered in the last twelve months in response to our ever-changing landscape. The overall focus for the majority of those seeking to keep proactive and positive into the new year is looking at hygiene, wellness and further afield at global influences.

1. Hygiene

After nearly two decades of colourful kitchen trends, many of us are looking back to the trend at the turn of the century and the return of white kitchens. The neutral light enhancing, and reflective choice creates clean looking cooking spaces. White cabinets and worktops offer a hygienic aesthetic with bare wood accents, such as pine, on cupboard/drawer handles and joinery/furniture.

2. Outdoor Entertainment

After our blog article back in June 2020, we focused on outdoor entertainment as the glorious summer lured many of us outdoors and into our gardens. This trend will continue again into 2021 as many of us are seeking escape from the confides of being cooped up indoors for the early part of this year. Our focus will begin to shift outdoors as the weather warms and we will look at investing long term in our gardens and outdoor entertainment spaces. This will include summerhouses, fire-pits, outdoor bars and kitchens and pizza ovens. I love the idea of carefully zoned areas and an outdoor cinema as shown in the example below.

3. Boosting Wellness

With gyms and studios closed, many of us have turned to home workouts to keep both our mental and physical fitness up. Garden rooms will continue to be invested in as we look to an uncertain year ahead. We have seen new outdoor offices also double up as gyms, home offcies and yoga studios with careful consideration to the design and use of material being selected so that it can be hygienic and multipurpose.

4. Colourful Bathrooms

Moving in the opposite direction to kitchens, colourful bathrooms are making a comeback! We will see much more in the way of saturated wall colours, clay tiles and coloured sanitary ware. BUT much more stylish then the 1980s avocado bathroom suite!

5. Luxury Vintage

We will notice an emphasis on sustainability in the design of furniture, fittings, homewares and electronics as will be noticed as most of us will be considering climate change and the impact we have on our planet. This will be a big theme for 2021.

An example of this is BEOCREATE by Bang and Olfsen where they are integrating their focus of iconic design with up-cycling. “In BEOCRATE we believe reusing and recycling is the future and we take the next step here, up-cycling one of our own classic products and some old laptops”.

“The chances are good that you can find a box of unused electronics without leaving your front door. We all have a box like this, unused electronics that don’t fit our needs anymore, but that seem too valuable to throw away. A high-school student from Struer has taken his box, plus a Beocreate 4-channel amplifier and a Beovox CX50 loudspeaker from his parents stash of unused electronics and made his own version of an ideal speaker. From recycled laptop batteries he has made a powerful and cost-effective rival to buying a new B&O Beolit.”

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6. Nature Inspired Palettes

I can speak for myself when I say that I have sought comfort from the great outdoors during the pandemic and I understand this perspective is echoed amongst the majority of us. Therefore, bringing nature indoors will be a natural trend for 2021 where earthy and nature inspired hues will dominate.

Warm tones of burnt ember, terracotta and clay will contrast with forest colours including sage, pine and turquoise which will have a soft and cocooning effect in our interiors.

At the Maison et Objet Digital Fair the above forecast was also revealed as a trend forecast prediction for 2021 with a spectrum of colours which would be warmer and muted. Specifically mentioning saffron, terracotta and garnet contrasting with as suggested above – sage, pine and turquoise. These will be punctuated by neutrals specifically soft chalky tones and slate greys.

7. Multi- Functional Furniture

Earlier in this blog we touched on multi-functional furniture, but this will be a trend in itself in 2021.

The vast majority of us will continue to work from home with many children spending much more time at home as well. This will see a big shift in the way our homes need to function, primarily much more flexible than ever before.

This shift has manifested in several noticeable places. There has been a large interest in “murphy beds”, these are pull down beds often fitted into joinery. This suggests a need for spare bedrooms doubling up as home offices. The example to the right is a modern take on a murphy bed, maximising the use of space in this area of a home office/studio.

One of the principal shifts in the way we use our homes in the past few decades has been the move to open plan living. However, in the last year and looking forward, we can see that this may prove more of a hinderance as we share our homes with our families and need quiet spaces to focus on work or study.

We now all have to live, work and play in one space. We therefore will see a rise in request for multi-purpose joinery to accommodate flexibility and additional requirements such as storage.

8. Interesting Bathroom Fixtures and Finishes

As we discussed in a blog in early 2020, anti-microbial tap materials will be gaining traction. Copper benefits from these properties so we can expect somewhat of a revival for copper fittings in our sanitary-ware.

Brass and matt black will continue to dominate through 2021 but trend forecasts have suggested matt white making its debut later this year as homeowners spark an increasing interest in calmer, more peaceful bathrooms.

I hope this insight into 2021 has inspired you to begin to think how you may consider a refresh this year. Please don’t hesitate to drop us a line and we would be delighted to discuss your interior aspirations with you.

Keep safe and well.

Best Wishes,