The darkest days of the pandemic are behind us. Our homes continue to evolve and they are no longer just for shelter. Now they support our newly formed routines of day-to-day life in 2024.
Hybrid work and video calls are now part of home life, alongside a constant stream of online deliveries, home entertaining, and visits from friends and family. As life has changed, home décor has evolved to accommodate this new reality.
What’s next in home décor?
Modern farmhouse has been the most popular style in recent years, including during the pandemic. It offers relaxed living with the warmth of wood textures. The lively mix of black furniture and accessories paired with white walls adds energy to the space.
This aesthetic has given way to a slightly less crisp look to create more forgiving spaces that demand less attention and can be easier to maintain with the busy lives we lead.
Home décor has softened overall, both in shape and material. Rounded corners, arches, monolithic smooth shapes and curved forms have moved into our buildings and furniture.
The comfort of rounded edges
Furniture with rounded edges allows for smoother movement around the room, reducing the chances of bumping into sharp corners. Consider the numerous times you’ve accidentally hit a furniture corner – especially that bed with the square footboard.
Rounded furniture fits more effortlessly into various spaces. For instance, a round coffee table can perfectly anchor your living room, serving as a focal point. Granted, curved sofas aren’t always as loungey for TV watching, but even deep squared sectionals have softened the arms and corners to present a newer, softer silhouette.
Colour palettes get soft
Colour palettes have also softened and are typically lower contrast and less visually strong than a few years ago. Instead, colour palettes are moving towards more tonal, comforting, and warmer shades.
Black is still present, but it shares the spotlight either with deep brown, taupe or charcoal – and is less dominant overall. White is also sharing the spotlight, combined now with cream, ivory, taupe, beige and pale grey.
Dominance of natural materials and colours
Natural materials and colours rule the palette with linen, weathered textures, stone washes, and woven looks. This is most obvious in bedding, pillows, blankets and textiles. Beds now intentionally have materials that look messy, so making them is easier today!
Look for wheat and flax hues in textiles, mixed with a palette of lightly washed colours, for tea towels, quilts, bed covers, duvets and comforters. Even the latest styles for baby cribs have gone in this direction! This palette is easy to add to your bed by purchasing a new quilt and matching shams… less ironing is always a positive design trend!
Textiles continue to explore natural materials to complement the established wood elements. Wicker adds extra texture and warmth to a room. Its natural, chocolate and grey tones look great on chairs, baskets, light fixtures, and rugs.
All things handmade, woven or with natural methods like woodblock printing are on the mark for 2024. Patterns from eras gone by are on the return. Look for large-scale floral, fish, and fauna but note the new colours applied to these items feel less heavy and old school overall. Tone-on-tone and natural hues update these timeless patterns.
Colourful kitchen tools and bathroom accessories
Rich pastel shades of blue, green, pink, and yellow are present everywhere in the home, including the kitchen. Here, kitchen tools such as pots and utensils pick up this trend the way countertop appliances did a few years back. This is a subtle way to add colour to your kitchen without it taking over.
Even bathroom accessories are headed in this direction, so homeowners can maintain their white spaces while adding soft colour through utilitarian essentials.
Dishware and tableware show the uptake of colour as a way to add spunk. Both pastel and strong hues, including earth tones like terra cotta, mustard and a variety of greens, will be present this season on our tables, both inside and especially outside.
Wall paint: tinted whites for character, rich colours for impact
Wall paints are still white but look for more tinted whites to round out the palette of your home, particularly for use in secondary spaces like powder rooms or dens. Look for colours like sea salt, ivory white, white down, sea glass, and dusty road to combine with white.
Deep colour in grey-saturated tones is added to the paint palette for umph such as deep terra cotta, navy, deep olive (and chartreuse for spice!), and rich versions of mauve and rose.
Adapting spaces for today’s lifestyle
2024 marks a year of significant evolution. From the early days of our lockdown interiors to a softer, gentler home environment, our living spaces have transformed. They now acknowledge the complexities of daily life, adapting to offer more forgiving, flexible decor options.
This evolution isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s about creating homes that support our well-being, enhance our comfort, and cater to our changing needs and routines.
As we continue to navigate these changes, it’s essential to adapt our homes to better suit our needs. Consider adding adaptable, comforting touches, such as a softer colour palette, natural materials, or furniture that combines style with functionality. These changes can transform even a small corner into a reflection of the new era we live in.
We invite you to embrace these trends, share your home transformations, and join a community inspired to create spaces that are both beautiful and supportive of our lifestyles today.
