What’s Hot and What’s Not? My Take on 2025 Interior Design Trends.

Not wishing to contribute further to the somewhat saturated market of “2025 Interior Design Trends” blogs, I can’t help but question some of the articles I’ve read and ponder their accuracy! With that said, rather than list the trends I think we can expect to see, I’ve compiled my list of ‘What’s Hot’ and ‘What’s Not’, based on my oversight of the industry across the past 12 months, and my honest thoughts on what others have forecast for the coming year.

Hot

Aubergine

Now, I know this isn’t exactly the Colour of the Year, but it’s not far off, especially when we consider the wider shift we’ve seen toward darker, comforting hues. Some have even referred to it as “the new neutral”, acting as a rich but grounding base colour to pair with a variety of other tones, ultimately producing a sophisticated and calming effect similar to how a classic beige would.

Whilst some may find it alarming, it does not come across as such when used in a considered and thought-out manner, instead anchoring the room with a homely quality – particularly successful in kitchens, or when paired with a natural woodgrain or stone as seen Kirsten Dunst’s exceptional (in my opinion) kitchen.  

 I know it might be a bit of a stretch to expect Aubergine to be adopted in the same way as a neutral shade, and realistically, it may only be seen few and far between, but that doesn’t mean to say it’s undeserving of a place on my list! What’s more, interior design and fashion are intrinsically linked, and Aubergine was a defining colour of the SS25 collections exhibited at Milan Fashion Week and New York Fashion Week

Kirsten' Dunst’s kitchen, photographed by Laure Joliet for Architectural Digest

Maximal Minimalism

Similar to the significant shift we’ve seen away from grey minimalism (think Kim Kardashian’s minimal Calabasas mansion where any sound reverberates from the walls of the chasm), we’ve consequently emigrated in the opposite direction and landed somewhere between maximalism and minimalism.

With the fallout of the dreaded (dare I say it?) pandemic and the subsequent cost of living crisis, most find themselves wanting to be surrounding by home comforts, with enough textural and visual interest to facilitate this. That being said, the considered chaos of full maximalism can be a step too far for most, the resulting compromise being an interior that embraces a modest degree of colour, pattern and texture, finished with a smattering of personal artefacts and furnishings to bring a sense of sentiment and comfort to one’s own home.

Custom joinery

With the necessary and ever-growing interest in sustainability and biophilic design, it is my opinion that custom joinery should be the design feature on everybody’s lips for 2025. 

Commissioning custom carpentry and joinery with a reputable and reliable tradesperson will doubtless yield a product of high-quality materials that will withstand the test of time and last a great deal longer than any on-trend flat-pack piece that can be purchased off the rack (or shelf, as it were). 

Upholstered Walls

Don’t get me wrong, I stand by my love of wallpaper! But there is so much more you can do with walls when not limited to tiles, paints and papers. One of the most striking ways to transform a wall is by upholstery, or investing in fabric wallcoverings, whether it be embroidered, fluted or 3D. Some of the best examples I’ve seen were on display during my trip to Paris Deco-Off in January, such as those produced by Elitis or Casamance.

Alternatively, you can opt for upholstered panels, to soften acoustics and evoke a calm, peaceful atmosphere.

Full Transparency 

Now, I don’t mean glazing here, and I certainly don’t mean Perspex! Though a bit off-piste, I mean businesses offering full transparency (or as much as possible) to their consumers – something that I think is on the rise and hope to see more of within the Interior Design industry.

Whilst such a change would require a seismic shift in attitude across industries and is often not the primary strategy employed by most companies, Aimee Smale offers a key insight into how this can only serve to benefit a business. In just five years, her business (OddMuse) has achieved unparalleled growth, heavily driven by her near-total transparency of how she operates her business. This is particularly important for her consumer – the current generation, who are accustomed to (and therefore expect) transparency, given their ability to access information online, their heightened awareness of social and environmental issues, and the strong value placed on authenticity.

Not … So Much

Bobbin Furniture  

Despite the somewhat timeless appeal of Bobbin furniture, I confess that I’m slightly over it and feel the uber-craze of bobbin-ing and beading everything may be a thing of the past! (Apologies extended to all bobbin-furniture owners).

Blanket Statements

As a designer, I find any sweeping statement about a particular design feature hard to swallow, particularly when it is without context. For example, I recently heard a fellow designer advise that “walls, skirtings, architraves and doors should always be the same colour”.

In my opinion, this is simply not the case, as every design proposal should be devised on a case-by-case basis, based on a number of factors including (but not limited to) the architecture of the room, the client, the brief, and the budget. As such, I fear advice like the above could be misleading to those outside the industry and result in a misconstrued understanding or expectation of the role of an interior designer.

Mocha Mousse

Not wishing to veto the proposal of Pantone or overlook the volume of work that goes into trend forecasting, I admit I simply don’t feel Mocha Mousse is going to catch on. 

Don’t misunderstand me – this does not come from a dislike of the colour (I actually used a similar shade in my own home recently – Queen Nefertiti by Valspar), but I don’t think it has the wide appeal this is needed to justify its status as Colour of the Year. Looking at is subjectively, I wonder if some may find it a little ‘sickly’ and an awkward middle ground between the light neutrals many are accustomed to, and the rising popularity in dark brown?

Mocha Mousse, Pantone

Brat Green

As much as we all enjoyed Brat Summer and the iconic pop-culture moments that derived from it across 2024, I can’t see the colour being adopted in the home to the extent that Architectural Digest content might lead us to think!

 In a manner similar to Mocha Mousse (though no doubt more divisive), Brat Green – or any shade of lime or neon green for the matter – does not have wide appeal and can be a real marmite colour triggering love or hate reactions. So, whilst I still think Brat Summer is a solid “hot”, I can’t say I feel the same about the album cover art (apologies extended to Charli XCX).

Grey

Grey. Specifically grey pile carpets, but also grey in general. Need I say more?