5 Home Decor Trends to Ditch in 2025, According to Interior Designers
ELLE DECOR A-List designer Elizabeth Graziolo, of Yellow House Architects, was in a downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, hotel when she had an epiphany. Wow, its starting to feel like a lot of the same thing, she recalls thinking as she took in the spaces white oak furniture, brass finishes, and warm tones.Graziolo conceded that she and her team too were guilty of these choices in some of their projects, but that it was fine time for a literal palette cleanser. I was sitting in that lounge, waiting for my room, and thinking that I need to talk to my team. We have to be ahead of the curve and figure out like what else is coming out. What else do we want to be?Trends, as it happens, can be a designers worst nightmare, manifesting in downtown hotels, yes, but also in scarily same-same Instagram feeds. It seems that most industry professionals are skeptical of fleeting fascinations because theyre just thatfleeting. In that spirit, weve tapped interiors experts, A-List designers, and trend forecasters to predict what home decor trends, precisely, will be out in 2025. We promisethis will spare you from making design decisions that will go out of style faster than you can say white boucl armchair.Skip SectionJump toMindless MaximalismFernando Bengoechea//Getty ImagesPattern on pattern for days? Its time to ease up a bit.Were all about playful experimentation, which includes soaking spaces in color (something many of our A-Listers, like Uchronias Julien Seban and Martyn Lawrence Bullard, are known and celebrated for), but next year will be the year of cutting back on maximalism, mindfully. Per ELLE DECOR A-List designer Jessica Davis: [Clients are] tiring of granny chicpattern on pattern on pattern. I think pattern play and even Memphis modern items were a reaction to everything being neutral and greige, but now people are pulling back on that a bit.With color-happy decor, it's all too easy to go overboard. Striking a Goldilocks balance lies in making selections that are a result of your own tastes and desires, not those of your TikTok FYPs latest players. While [maximalism] might be in decline when addressed from a flamboyant, over-the-top, and more-is-more point of view...a more curated take to maximalism will remain relevant in 2025, says Gemma Riberti, head of interiors at WGSN, one of the worlds top trend forecasting agencies. This means focusing on the narrative, with a craft-driven and resourceful mix-and-match approach to pattern, material, and styling.In other words, maximalism itself wont face a total downfallrather, maximalism sans curation has no chance. Anthony Barzilay Freund, editorial director at e-commerce powerhouse 1stDibs, echoes that sentiment: We continue to be drawn to spaces that envelop us in rich narratives achieved through the artful curation of unique pieces. Emphasis on artful.Vanilla Girl Boucl Aesthetic FollowTheFlow//Getty ImagesThis just in: 2025s design ethos is going to shun the vanilla girl aesthetic in favor of color and authentic curation.The end of greige interiors or a kind of white-box-gallery vibe has been years in the making, but 2025 is when a particular subset of this stylethat of the hot-on-TikTok vanilla girl, who loves creamy neutrals, owns a boucl accent chair, and always seems to have a luxury candle litis finally getting killed off. Designers everywhere, including Seban, are sighing in relief.Im so tired of the white boucl! he tells ELLE DECOR. Clients are [also] increasingly tired of generic, cookie-cutter designeverything looking the same, especially in Instagrammable interiors. They want spaces that feel unique and authentic. They want more color in their life.While boucl as a material might have staying power, it will appear in a different, bolder form than what youre used tosomething the ELLE DECOR team spotted at this years Milan Design Week. Boucl is here to stay, though were seeing new versions of it with thicker pile and in different colorsthe skimpy cream and off-white boucls feel down-market, ELLE DECOR A-List designer Oliver Furth told us earlier, and we couldnt agree more. Home OfficesMorsa Images//Getty ImagesOne day, well all forget that nailing down the perfect Zoom background was even a thing. The year 2025 will mark five whole years since Covid usurped our normal ways of being, and people are all too eager to part with its relics. Companies everywhere are rolling back lenient WFH schedules and demanding in-person presence, so the era of home offices, it seems, is over. 1stDibss report highlights the following: Only 13 percent of designers expect that home office renovations will be their most requested projects in 2025, down from 32 percent for 2023.Real estate giant Zillow predicts the same. According to Zillows home trends expert Amanda Pendleton, Zoom rooms are falling out of favor with home buyersbased on data pulled from millions of listings on the site. As more workers return to their offices, the Zoom room is now appearing in 34 percent fewer Zillow listings, Pendleton shares. Thats not to say specialty rooms are disappearing for good. In fact, British designer Nicola Harding has direct proof of the contrary. Im seeing more craft spaces where people really feel like they can exercise their creativity, like an art studio in a house. Also music rooms...where they can listen to interesting music, she says. I think people want these different moments in their house: things that create experiences.Cottagecore Kitchens Andreas von Einsiedel//Getty ImagesRustic, cottagecore kitchens are getting a reality check come 2025.Kitchens are rooms that receive as much foot traffic as they do unsolicited opinions about how any given one must and throw it If youre like us, your immediate associations with this aesthetic feature one (or all) of the following ingredients: a spacious farmhouse sink, brass hardware, a sprinkling of wood elements, and a collection of exposed pots and pans. All this, as it turns out, is old news. In her work, Davis is witnessing the decline of brushed gold faucets, knobs, and the like. Zillows data expands this beyond just gold: The share of listings mentioning chrome and satin nickel is down 13 percent and 12 percent, respectively, shares Pendleton. And what of cabinetryone of the most essential make-or-break aspects of a culinary space? It looks like shabby chicadjacent curtain fronts or fabric skirts that sub in for cabinet doors will not be starring in the next season of your kitchen's show, particularly if they boast a scalloped edge. This kind of curtain thing has been doing the rounds and is certainly a useful solution in places where you want to hide things, Harding says. But you need to think about the practical aspect of it getting caught on doors or getting dirty or someone using it as a tea towel.As for the frilly edges, Davis puts it best: Im tired of scallops! They had their day.70s Color PalettesH. Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStock//Getty ImagesThis vignette looks straight out of Halstons house, and while we saw the appeal this year, retro interiors will favor Y2K. We wont judge those that are wearing 70s-inspired bell bottoms and corduroy jackets, but as far as home decor is concerned, were moving on from the #70s hashtag on TikTok and into the future. Retro will favor a mixing and matching of epochslooking at 1990s and early Y2K aesthetics, WGSNs Riberti tells ELLE DECOR, adding that a similar shift can be witnessed in todays fashion sensibilities.This will be particularly palpable in the color department. Rich, dark colors are supplanting the relaxed 1970s paletteof rust, mustard, and olivethat recently dominated, Barzilay Freund insists. Does this mean bright tones should be on your 2025 radar? Time will tell, but Davis thinks it just might be the factory reset, so to say, that youre looking for: Instead of a ton of pattern, people are really diving into rich colors with jewel undertones.If youre running to repaint your walls after this intel, though, you might not want to go with green (sorry, Charli). After several years of various shades of green topping the [1stDibs] survey, greens appeal is not evergreenthis year it was supplanted by chocolate brown as the top color choice of surveyed designers," says Barzilay Freund.If there are any parting words we want to leave you with in terms of how to tap into timelessness when creating a home for yourself, its these wise ones told to us by Julien Saban: Focus on creating spaces that reflect personal history, local craftsmanship, and lasting quality. Use fewer but better materials, and choose design pieces with enduring character, not just whats popular right now. Timeless style grows out of authenticity and restraint.New Years resolutions? Made.Stacia DatskovskaAssistant Digital EditorStacia Datskovska is the assistant digital editor at ELLE DECOR, where she covers news, trends, and ideas in the world of design. She also writes product reviews (like roundups of the top firepits or sheet sets)infusing them with authority and wit. As an e-commerce intern at Mashable, Stacia wrote data-driven reviews of everything from e-readers to stationary bikes to robot vacuums. Stacias culture and lifestyle bylines have appeared in outlets like USA Today, Boston Globe, Teen Vogue, Food & Wine, and Brooklyn Magazine.
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