Out: Ordinary. In: Extraordinary. That’s how Krisztina Bell, a designer and home stager with No Vacancy Home Staging in Atlanta, sums up new home décor trends. Homes are morphing beyond all-white or gray interiors to highly personalized, colorful, and memorable spaces.
Bell’s fresh take on new year's resolutions is right on trend with TikTok and Instagram posters who are creating highly personalized in-and-out lists. Maybe it’s time for you to come up with your own in-and-out list geared specifically to your home for 2024. Think of your home as an artistic canvas to decorate and style to your tastes, making it a place you’ll be proud to call home.
7 Interior Home Design Trends to Watch in 2024
Here are a few interior design trends that made our ins-and-outs list for 2024 to help you start or add to your list.
OUT: Design "cores"
IN: Your own style
Inspiration: Social media has been quick to name every design fad, including Barbiecore, cottagecore, mermaidcore, and grandpacore. Break away from boxing your style into the latest, ever-fleeting -core. Instead, create a space of self-expression and function. “Dopamine décor,” where spaces are designed to boost energy and mood, reigns in 2024. Use favorite colors, spotlight views of the outdoors, bring more natural light indoors, and add some playful, whimsical elements (yes, even that swinging lounge chair hung from the bedroom ceiling!).
OUT: Polished
IN: Texturized
Inspiration: While interior design gets brighter and bolder, the finishes are being toned down. Shiny surfaces dominated home design, like the polished white-cabinet fronts, glossy granite or quartz, reflective stainless steel appliances and range hoods, and glass tile backsplashes. Now, what about adding more-organic, natural materials and wooden elements, and textures? Countertops, for example, once favored in glossy quartz or granite, are more popular in leathered, honed, or matte finishes with softer sheens that are less reflective and have a slightly textured finish. Also, details like on-trend fluted wooden slats added to kitchen islands, living room furniture, or dining room tables add an attention-getting, texturized detail that makes everyday furniture feel less ordinary. These textures are adding a new dimension to home design, drawing in more layers to bring depth to a space.
OUT: Thinking small
IN: Going big
Inspiration: Consider supersizing elements. For example, mini backsplashes — just a few inches above the countertop — have fallen by the wayside in bathrooms and kitchens and are now stretching to new heights. Houzz’s 2024 home design report notes that backsplashes have become more of a focal point in kitchen design: A slab of stone or quartz behind the range or countertop stretches all the way up to the ceiling. The slab backsplash usually matches the kitchen countertop for one seamless look. Also, go big with flooring: Larger format tile sizes — anything beyond the once-standard 12-foot-by-12-foot size — can make a space feel larger with fewer grout lines breaking up the area. (It’s also known for being easier to keep clean!). And, pay attention to the lights: Lighting is getting sculptural, artistic treatments, with oversized statement chandeliers that demand to be the center of attention.
OUT: Matching
IN: Mismatching
Inspiration: The all-white kitchen and all-white bathroom are looking sooo pre-2020. The all-in-one color schemes, as well as matching furniture sets, look tired compared to today’s souped-up styles. Consider an accent wall for some contrast — painted or wallpapered — to banish the monotone look. Try a colorful or patterned chair to break up matchy furniture sets. And it’s still on-trend to mix metal finishes on cabinet pulls, faucets and lighting fixtures: Combine warm metals, like brass, with cooler ones, like chrome or matted black. While mixing styles, stay cohesive. Here’s one formula designers favor to make it work: The 60-30-10 way in adding color.
OUT: Cookie-cutter
IN: One-of-a-kind
Inspiration: Fast furniture and highly replicated artwork and home accessories have ushered in a one-size-fits-all look to home interiors. Differentiate by adding sentimental accessories and unique, customized pieces. You don’t have to buy new. Instead, reimagine the old in new ways (it’s also more sustainable to preserve and recycle antiques). Modern homes are incorporating old elements like brick, handmade clay tiles, rustic wood elements and arches, Houzz notes in its 2024 design report. More homeowners also are adding in handmade features, like chunky, crocheted blankets. “Maximalism and personalization get extreme as it becomes more important to break the cookie-cutter layouts and venture into expressive design,” Bell says. Make it one-of-a-kind by adding color and unusual shapes (for example, curved furnishings or wavy mirrors), and unique artwork. Take a spin on tradition, such as even changing up a herringbone pattern’s’ horizontal zigs and zags in a new direction – diagonally or vertically, Houzz notes.
OUT: Cluttercore
IN: Clutter-store
Inspiration: The pandemic set off a “cluttercore” aesthetic that welcomed blanketing and overfilling shelves and nooks with a plethora of household objects. But clutter can make you feel bad; studies show a clutter-free house helps improve your physical and mental health. Tackle the clutter with creative storage solutions, like adding a trendy appliance garage into your kitchen for tucking away countertop appliances (air fryers, coffee makers, blenders, etc.). Houzz also notes the growing popularity of “mud-laundry rooms,” combining these two household spaces into one and tackling messes by bringing in cubbies, benches, baskets, and a utility sink.
OUT: Less color
IN: Colorful
Inspiration: Single color schemes are fading in favor of more color throughout the home. A trendy option for 2024: blue. Several major paint firms chose shades of blue as their 2024 color of the year, from Benjamin Moore’s bright “Blue Nova” to Sherwin-Williams’ softer “Upward.” “Whether it’s a sky-inspired hue or a deep watery blue color, look for an array of blues to be more prominent in decorative materials and housewares in the coming year, Houzz’s 2024 report predicts. (Plus, blue pairs well with whites and grays — colors you likely already have everywhere) And, in 2024, don’t default to, “When in doubt, paint it white,” in painting the kitchen, bathroom, trims, or even the home’s exterior brick.