What will our homes look like in 2021?
I was recently asked to be part of a panel of design heavyweights to discuss the interior trends moving us through into 2020. I’ve been surrounded by talk of trends throughout my 20-year career and while always intrigued at the predictions, I have become somewhat blase. But this year everything feels different and this year I have an opinion!
Colour has the power to make you happy and has a powerful effect on how we feel. We spend 90 % indoors, perhaps even more during these extraordinary times and so the interior décor that we surround ourselves with has never been more important to get right. But here’s the crux, expressing your own identity and your unique love of colour is an essential part of making it your home a happy one. It’s intrinsic to how we feel.
I feel so passionately about this that last year I launched my online interior design school, in order to help people gain the courage and confidence to design a home they love for themselves. Indeed I believe it’s more important than ever before to create a home that suits your authentic sense of style, that supports you emotionally and is a reflection of who you are.
Trends can no longer be slavishly followed as we increasingly understand that our homes are personal spaces and need to reflect our own tastes and identity. When we ignore the trends, opinions and points of views of others, and drill down what we truly love and decorate accordingly, this when the magic happens. The aim is to create a home that supports us emotionally, acting as the springboard that helps us take on the day. For me, it’s the bright colours that literally vibrate with the feel-good vibes, that lift me up and give me joy. I’ve always shunned the tastemakers who declare shades of grey and beige to be the colours for fashionable homes. Who gets a sense of thrill opening up a tin of pale grey paint?! Maybe you do, but either way, it’s really important that you take a moment to think how you respond to colour emotionally, because this connection to our homes and how they make us feel, is the big headline moving through 2021 and beyond. Understanding Colour Psychology for interiors is a wonderful tool to unlocking this secret and it was a real game changer to my own approach to decorating, both for myself and for clients. It’s also been my most popular online course to date!
The lockdown in 2020 saw a surge in people looking at their homes with fresh eyes and I’m happy to report, opting for bolder and brighter colour choices. It was a natural response to a desperate situation. The pop of a bright hue, be it a sunshine yellow, lipstick pink or apple green, has the power to make you smile. A neutral palette can be a great backdrop in order to bring a sense of calm and tranquillity, but beware that too much can leave a space feeling stagnant and indeed depressing. Consider there are areas of your home where you want to create more uplift and energy and other areas where you want to dial it down. An accent colour, be it a vase or a cushion, can be a great way to inject a bright colour you love if you don’t want to feel engulfed by it. For example, I love an optimistic bright yellow and have touches of it scattered throughout my home. But couldn’t stomach it on the walls. However, a hallway is a great place to experiment with your favourite colour. Mine is a rich cobalt blue. Rolled out on all walls it’s the colour that greets me first thing and again when I get home at night, and throughout the day there are multiple opportunities to walk through my favourite colour that makes me feel my best. So, consider how you use the room and how you want to feel in it as well as the colours you love as an essential place to start when picking your palette.
Breaking the rules and daring to be different is the new way forward. I love how social media platforms like Instagram have encouraged people to be more creative and experimental in their homes. It can be in totally unexpected places too, like painting the ceiling a contrasting colour or wallpapering the doors of a cabinet. Having fun with our decorating schemes, being creative and indeed experimental is a great emotional outlet! Pattern too has been having a moment in interiors and the jostle of clashing designs coupled with wrap-around wall to wall wallpaper (the feature wall is almost all but dead) is a stamp of commitment towards owning your personal style. With the importance of home cemented, we are increasingly prepared to make bigger decorating commitments and indeed investment in our interiors. This is decorating from my hymn sheet and helping people unlock their own Maximalist Interior is my life’s mission!
So, reject opting for the ‘safe bet’ or ‘sensible option’. Reject any conversations around ‘resale value’ and allow your home to be the full expression of the people within it. The ultimate goal in 2021 is to make your house a home and one that is as unique as you are.
You can view the full panel talk over on the Geberit instagram site here. To learn how to design a home that’s just right for you, check out my online design school here.
And finally, I’d love to know your thoughts on what your home means to you, running into 2021, in the comments below.
