TOP TIPS TO STAY ON TREND WITH SUSTAINABLE SPACES AND CUSTOMISED COCOONS
▶ Sarah Merchant says your home should reflect your personality in 2024
Trends evolve quickly, but styling your space is more about the journey. Every home is a treasure trove of sorts and, in addition to reflecting your personality, decor is about showcasing and innovating.
Happiness is a state of mind and our homes need to reflect this contentment and emotional calm. Every effective design scheme should aspire to be a bespoke creation, with styles ever-evolving.
As such, the ultimate predictive design trend for this year is predominantly about selfexpression – making our spaces customised cocoons. Each piece may have a story to tell, yet the future of design promises character, not clutter.
Studies have long proven the connection between the five senses and interiors, resulting in the creation of safe and welcoming environments. With a sustainable approach to the future, creating sensory home interiors will not only improve emotional connections with spaces, but also promote cognitive well-being.
Here are some tips to follow or, better still, to put your own twist on things.
Colour me peach
The colour for the year is inspired by organic living choices. Apricot Crush was announced as the official colour of 2024 by the experts at WGSN and Coloro, while colour institute Pantone declared Peach Fuzz as its shade of the year.
The colour palette can also include complementary blends in ochre, tan, deep green, hazy purple and creamy grey tones (use this last one sparingly as this solid has been grossly overused).
Brilliant yin-yang combinations, such as chocolate brown and taupe can also create exciting contrasts.
Another interesting trend will be dark wallpapers with busy, glamorous prints – especially suited to luxurious powder rooms. For the first time, eclectic combinations promise to blend dynamically warm and cool colours. To maintain the subtle palette, muted solids can be paired strategically with accents of bright, yet easy-onthe eye colours.
Let there be (some) light
Home decor lighting this year will need to evoke settings with inspiring calm and quiet luxury. Ambient lighting is here to stay and will now need to be ubiquitously integrated within home automation systems.
Simple yet sculptural wall and ceiling lights, layered lights, backlit panels and profile lighting will create their own versions of understated elegance in the coming year.
Make the threads count
Eco-conscious and breathable fabrics are in line with the organic theme for the year ahead. Tweed will be the new boucle and the rough twill of tweed will be well contrasted with the sophisticated sheen of jacquard, making it an ideal combination for upholstery and tapestry.
In keeping with countercultural cues, also gone are the days of standard-sized rugs and perfectly shaped accessories. It is time to celebrate the idea that there is symmetry in asymmetry, and everything from carpets and candles to vases and mirrors will offer asymmetric perfection.
In addition to free-form rugs in eclectic combinations of low and high piles, cork flooring is also making a steady comeback all the way from the 1970s.
Go green by turning to tech that reduces your carbon footprint by investing in solarpowered installations
Wall art
Tactile experiences will reign supreme this year. Alluring ceramic wall bas reliefs could be your next grand way to make an impression.
Bringing with it a rustic charm, themed 3D sculptural wall art, blended with the right lighting details and fixtures, will allow for textural fluidity.
A different kind of artistic expression (and a brilliant way to maximise wall decor), this blends classical, geometric and abstract forms by exploring minutiae and is an extraordinarily sturdy technique to tell a story.
Coloured concrete, although a tad expensive, is ideal for adding textured and layered colours in place of embossed wall plasters. The visual appeal will include accentuating feature walls in bathrooms and backsplash in the kitchen. Look to ceramic Zellige tiles to bring in subtle glazed bling. Auditory muffling will continue to be in high demand and can play out as consciously sound-treating your walls. With more and more people choosing the hybrid, blended approach to hit the perfect work-life balance, walls that can soften ambient sounds will be highly valued in the coming season.
Lay of the land
Minimalism in home interiors is fuelling the need to emphasise the ideology of character over cookie-cutter. Encouraging the art of in-person conversations and spaces with a charisma of their own, it will be all about infusing your personality into your favourite
nook, while ensuring there are also settings to have group dialogues. With the open-plan layout slowly losing favour, homeowners are keen to have definitive, albeit multifunctional, spaces.
Despite work from home having become less common, there is an inherent need to create a hybrid work environment in the home.
To complement and supplement evolving life choices, “flex rooms” will serve as coveted multifunctional spaces. They will provide options for personal use devoted to exploring hobbies, exercise and meditation, as well as remote-working modes. This can be coupled with clever selections of intelligently designed, ergonomic furniture that offers versatile use.
With minimal sustainable trends becoming the new go-to, the currently reigning round and curvy forms may continue to trend, but could move to wall panels and accessories rather than sofas and armchairs.
Integrate green living with technology
Virtual assistants on our phones have been really handy if not addictive and even intrusive. Find your balance, then make AI-powered conveniences blend effortlessly in your space, rather than as an expensive afterthought.
Going green now needs to be a way of life, so also turn to tech that reduces your carbon footprint by investing in solarpowered installations. Biophilia – or the art of injecting more nature into your home interiors – continues to trend.
Unusual accessories
In line with curious styling, minimally displayed statement pieces will double up as conversation starters. Also, adding a touch of the antique will bring in a unique curated and artisanal ambience, offering an interesting, even unusual blend of gold and silver.
The new mantra for home interiors will be about adding a whimsical charm and one-ofa-kind character, be it blingy trinkets or wonky ceramics.
When it comes to decor in 2024, oversee your own drama and make your home feel like a staycation experience. Channel contradictory qualities, such as glamour and comfort, sophistication and ease of maintenance, elegance and a feeling of timelessness, coupled with some eccentric elements. Dare to express your quirks and style your space for your own five senses.