2024 Design Trends: What’s New and Innovative This Year?

When the calendar flips to another year, many look forward to seeing (… and hearing, feeling, and tasting!) the latest, hottest trends. It’s a fun way to incorporate a breath of fresh air into our wardrobes, playlists, routines, culinary lineup… And homes?

2024 Design Trends: Fusing Now with Timeless

Our homes are everything, and given the emotional, physical, and financial investment, we understandably want design that endures. As Home & Willow Senior Designer and Founder, Stacy Stater, says, “We like to encourage more timeless, classic looks that will give our clients greater longevity.” At the same time, thoughtful integration of current design trends can revive and rejuvenate your space – while setting you up for style that lasts.

Trends that will age like a fine wine:

Wrapped In Warmth

Some aesthetics emphasize a stark, even austere atmosphere with cool tones. While they can make a space feel light, airy, and calm, they can also make it feel…cold. In 2024, we are fully embracing warmth, and this trend guides us towards warmer tones. This does not mean, though, that your palette is restricted to reds, yellows, oranges, golds, creamy neutrals, browns, and tans.

This is a point that Sherwin-Williams drives home beautifully with their 2024 Color of the Year pick: Upward, which is an “icy blue.” Director of Color Sue Wadden says:

We’re seeing a captivating shift toward warmer colors since 2020, signaling a departure from the cooler grays that have graced our interiors from 2008 to 2019. As designers, we understand that the essence of good color theory lies in striking the perfect balance. That’s where the beauty of icy blues comes into play—they act as an exquisite counterbalance, ensuring all the warmth in our palettes is in harmonious equilibrium.

This is it! This contrast provides balance. The trend towards warmth isn’t about selecting “warm” items and colors just because they’re “homey” and comforting. It’s about considering the entire look and feel and intentionally using design elements to create spaces that exude warmth – and that envelop us in it.

Wallpaper Isn’t Just for Walls

We expect ceilings to be drywalled and white-painted, but what if they became a fifth wall? What if it was a canvas for paints, murals, moldings, or (our top pick) wallpaper? This is a bold move that makes a fresh, innovative statement. The ceiling offers the opportunity to introduce color, texture, patterns, and visual interest to your space.

How you use your “fifth wall” is up to you. Will you make a daring statement with a dark hue or daring pattern? Will you try a sky- or nature-inspired look, bringing the outdoors in? How about a mural-inspired approach or a whimsical print to offset a deep wall color?

Maybe 2024 is your year to be bold – and enjoy the results in 2025 and beyond!

Yes, You Can Sit In That Chair!

Formal interiors are often striking, elegant, and sophisticated. They can also be the types of spaces where people are afraid to kick back and relax (and that includes the ones who actually live there!). We are happy that casual vibes have replaced the formal feel. So, sit down, curl up, pull a bar stool up to the island, and indulge in warmth and comfort.

Instead of sofas that are never meant to be more than perched upon, pillows that must never be shuffled around for an afternoon catnap, or experimental furniture that looks as inviting as a boulder with sharp edges, design is focusing on usable, functional, comfortable, and beautiful. And, why yes, we will have a seat in that indulgent arm chair – and put our feet up on the cushy ottoman!

Au Naturel

In a world that can feel so artificial, it is important that home is a refuge. Natural fibers are a key 2024 design trend – and one that will endure. Cottons, bamboo, silk, linen, wool, rattan, sisal, seagrass, cork, and other materials are a natural fit in furnishings, textiles, flooring, and accessories.

Not only are they beautiful and full of texture, natural fibers are beneficial for those with sensitive skin, more sustainable, and less toxic than many synthetic products.

When’s a Trend Not a Trend?

When it’s home. As Stacy says, “We don’t really concentrate on current trends. We welcome them and receive them as nods toward a certain look.” The focus is not on chasing 2024 design trends (or worse… fads!), but on infusing a fresh breath into classic, long-lasting, resilient style.

It is your vision that ultimately drives your design and that’s what we are passionate about. Whether your home needs a refresh and reset or you are building from the ground up, Home & Willow is here to help you navigate the process. Connect with our team to discuss your project.