Interior Designer Inspired Trends To Decorate Your House In 2022
Decorating a house to become a home takes time and a little help from friends. Everyone has ideas, and you may even like some of them. The best way to keep the interior of your home modern and fresh is by looking to the professionals. Pick up those design books on your coffee table, and start flipping through the pages, or find inspiration from your favorite home renovation shows and popular Instagram home profiles.
However, before tapping 'add to cart' when shopping for that wallpaper, accent chair, or area rug, consider your home's unique features and layout. "The first mistake most people make is that they buy things that are the wrong size — sofas that don't fit in the room, sofas that don't fit through the doorways, tables that are too small, desks that are too big, nightstands that hang into the doorway," designer David Kleinberg told The New York Times. Before tackling any project, measure, measure, and then measure again. You want to avoid the common mistakes people make when following design trends. Once you know what will fit, you can start piecing together the decorations you will add to each room for the trendiest interior designer-inspired look this year.
Begin with a vintage rug
No matter what flooring already exists in your home, you can always add a rug. Any surface can benefit from a beautiful accent rug, including vinyl, tile, or wood. When decorating a space, it's easier to begin your design here. Using color and pattern below the visual field makes it seem less intrusive than a bold wallpaper covering the walls. Area rugs also help balance a room and provide structure in an otherwise open space, as long as you choose the correct size for the room. "When selecting area rugs remember too big is better than too small," designer Joe Berkowitz told Vogue. "You can cut down a large rug, but you cannot stretch a small one." A rug that is too small for the space will look out of place, while one too large could overwhelm the area.
Once you have the desired rug size, it's time for the best part of choosing a new rug — pattern and color. Here is where you can let your personal taste shine. "There are a couple of rugs that will be popular in the coming year, but vintage rugs remain number one," designer Andi Morse told Ruggable. Persian-inspired prints with flora details in neutral tones are timeless in any home decor preference. Although popular, it's not the only option you have for your space. Area rugs with geometric patterns, animal prints, muted shades, and woven materials are also trending as floor decor.
Balance primary and secondary pieces
"Always make sure a room has layers," interior designer Charli Hantman told MyDomaine. "Core pieces — like a sofa, cocktail table, and rug — ground the space. Secondary options and accessories — like side tables, decorative objects, textiles, and art — are the elements that transition a house to a home." The first layer of a look should be the area rug. From here, you can move on to adding three-dimensional pieces and creating more layers in the space. With your inspiration set and ideas in mind, it's time to add furniture to your look.
When choosing the right pieces for your space, interior designer Mimi Meacham told HGTV, "paring down the amount of stuff to deal with in the home will feel enticing." A less is more approach to furniture is trending for interiors in 2022. For the interior designer look in your home, add furnishings that you need, like coffee tables, end tables, and baskets. Leave clunky, oversized, and bulky furniture at the door for 2022.
Include practical decor
Interior decor today is about having items in your home that are practical and purposeful to your everyday life. That's not saying that the vase on the table needs a higher purpose than holding flowers. Could the decor be pretty and functional? Is that bowl on the table just decoration? What's inside the woven box on the shelf? Items like the boxes and bowls are good at concealing remotes, coasters, and corralling miscellaneous objects in a living space. These curated accessories are a trend that never goes out of style.
"If you have a console table in the foyer, make sure everything is easily accessible," interior designer Christina Nielsen told Insider. "Create a spot for your keys – I love leaving a little dish out for this." This type of decoration boosts functionality and purpose in your space. Elements like baskets, counter pedestals, and trays are decorative pieces you can incorporate into the look to do more for you than fill in a gap or add a pop of color. Try to find these items in woven material or crafted from wood and marble, as they will provide the longevity and durability you need in an everyday element. Interior designers use these decorative items to make it easier to contain the clutter while maintaining the beauty.
Gallery walls with unique personality
Do you have a blank wall in your house and have no clue what to do with it? Consider adding frames in a gallery wall-style display. The number of frames will depend on your wall dimensions, frame sizes, and layout design. Grid gallery wall displays consist of six to nine frames or more, while free-form styles widely vary in quantity. Try to map the layout with blue painter's tape before hanging anything on the wall. Once you have determined the precise plan of your grid or freestyle gallery wall, focus your interior design efforts on filling the frames with pictures and prints of your choosing.
What you choose to display in the frames is personal but try to make it unique to you instead of displaying art that is a part of a pre-packaged collection. "A far more appealing way to create your own gallery wall is to collect prints you love over time, visiting antique or vintage sellers for limited print runs or little framed oils," creative director Camilla Clarke shared with Homes & Gardens. "This way, your collection will be entirely unique." Creating these groupings of frames is attractive in home interiors because of their timelessness. The perfect gallery wall can capture a moment and freeze it for all to see. Your style is trending in 2022, so be sure to let it show through the art you display.
Choose chairs with pattern upholstery
When decorating a home, most people want it to feel homey. The best way to achieve this cozy mood is by decorating with upholstered furniture throughout your house. "An upholstered room provides the most wonderful feeling of coziness and tranquility," designer Timothy Corrigan told The Study. What says home more than cozy and tranquil? The extra padding, cushioning, and textiles that upholstery provides will transform your space pending you pick a pattern.
When choosing patterned upholstery, consider the pattern and material. What colors do you see? Are there elements or shapes that mimic existing ones in your home? Will the material withstand wear and tear? The trendiest upholstery is one with a small-scale pattern (via Niche Interiors). The smaller the design, the more it can be used as a neutralized pattern in your space. Chairs, sofas, poufs, and ottomans with thin striped details, diamond patterns, or delicate floral prints will trend for a lifetime. Choose fabrics that help ground the space, like wool, linen, or leather.
Embrace curved furniture pieces
Assuming you already glanced at the image above, you undoubtedly noticed the unique curves in the furnishings. Interior designers love this trend for 2022. "Curves are welcoming — they have a stronger emotional impact than rectilinear spaces," Oliver Haslegrave, founder of Home Studios, told The Bruno Effect. Curved furniture typically features rounded edges, soft surfaces, and a puffy appearance, which can feel like you're floating on a cloud rather than sitting on a couch. These nonlinear shapes are pleasing to the eye and add movement to a room.
"I believe this style of furniture is having its moment in the sun because the more people are at home, the more they realize the ultimate luxury is comfort," interior designer George Yabu said to The Bruno Effect. Rounded furniture will help soften the aesthetic to make it more visually pleasing. It's available in a selection of pieces, large and small. Some typical items include bed frames, sofas, and oversized chairs. You can also add curved furniture in smaller accent items like ottomans, poufs, and end tables, as seen on Lulu and Georgia.
Vary items of scale and proportion
When you glance around the room and find that spot where everything is just right, from the lamp to the candlestick and book stacks, it probably comes down to scale. It's the reason why you find the collection of objects so attractive. Your eye perceives these combinations of height and form, but when something is off, it's very noticeable. A big trend in interior design is incorporating items that vary in scale and proportion from very tiny to oversized. "One of the central ways I think to be more fluid about proportion is to have pieces of many different proportions in a room," designer Alexa Hampton told House Beautiful. "Sometimes people get these huge homes and they think they have to scale up." This merriment of large and small objects will add visual interest to your space.
Whether where you call home is spacious or quaint, decorate it with items that vary in scale and proportion. You can achieve this look by adding oversized lamps or vases to entryway tables or hanging extra large pendant lights above the kitchen island. Stay on trend for 2022 and choose items that exaggerate the proportions and push the boundaries.
Treat a kitchen like any other room
Things are cooking in the kitchen, and it's more than just breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Decor is finding its foothold in this once overlooked part of the house. Homeowners are embracing new fads like open shelving, moody kitchen islands, oversized lighting, and even art. Decorating a kitchen can be tricky, especially when you need it to be practical for everyday life.
According to some interior designers, kitchens are like any other place in the house. "Treat it like you would a drawing room or bedroom; pay attention to fabrics, lighting and comfort as well as practicality and suitability to lifestyle," designer Henriette von Stockhausen told Homes & Gardens. "By doing this, the room will feel more inviting." The right decor makes kitchens more welcoming, creating a spot for you and yours to hang out. Get your kitchen trending in the right direction by adding unexpected design features like framed landscape art on the backsplash or ceramic bowls and cups on floating shelves.
Layer light fixtures
If you want to mix up a room in your home, consider swapping out the light fixtures or adding in a few more. "Many people don't pay enough attention to their lighting," interior decorator Amy Bell said to MyDomaine. "Living room and bedrooms should have at least three light sources in addition to the overhead light." Look around your room and count how many light sources you have. One? Two? Can you add any more to a tabletop or corner area? Consider the type of lighting that is missing. A combination of fixtures and materials is ideal in any one room. You can begin shopping for a trendy piece based on your lighting needs and craftsmanship. Pendant lights, table lamps, floor lamps, and wall sconces are available in different finishes, including brass, silver, black, ceramic, stone, and metal.
Multiple light sources are ideal in any one space for functionality and the visual texture they provide. Floor lamps with a drum or cone shade take up space in a corner and add ample reading light, while wall sconces complement a bedside and are ideal task lighting. These lighting styles are trending in interiors today as they take up just the right amount of space while providing the perfect amount of light.
Bring in the vintage vibes
Decorating a home is about more than just filling it with items. It's about filling it with meaningful pieces. "Incorporating vintage items you inherited from friends or family or that you discovered at a local flea market is a great way to give your home a timeless look," designer Justina Blakeney told Vogue. "Trends are great, but vintage is forever." Trends that last forever? Yes, please.
How do you add vintage to your home without going overboard? Mix your vintage collections with contemporary pieces to prevent the look from appearing dated. Invest in vintage furniture such as old cabinetry, dressers, or pedestal tables, and pair these pieces with contemporary mirrors, chairs, and vases. Consider adding smaller-sized vintages finds like ornate tea sets, picture frames, and busts. You can decorate with pieces from thrift stores or objects you mind in grandma's attic. Select vintage items that speak to you to achieve a nostalgic, cozy vibe at home.
Reuse, recycle, repurpose
A large part of decorating is collecting all of your furniture from previous homes. Eventually, these pieces mingle with pricier ones, questionable furnishings, and trinkets from the past as you grow older and trends change. However, not all of it is junk. Most homeowners love nostalgic furniture but might want a fresh color or different hardware for a modern twist. "I love using old family furniture or a faded carpet, so the room feels timeless, as though it has evolved over generations," designer Alidad told Architectural Digest.
However, there's a couple of things to keep in mind when using old furnishings. "If you want to upcycle an old piece of furniture, think of ways that your embellishments can easily be removed or how it can be repurposed into something else once these trends have had their day," designer Athina Bluff told Homes & Gardens. The goal for home decor is to make it evolve with you, as not all trends should be permanent. Any piece of furniture you reuse, repurpose, or recycle will add character and charm to your abode and be favorable for the environment.
Achieve a big impact with small spaces
Not every trend begins in the main room of the home. Sometimes those hard-to-decorate areas, small spaces, or staircases become the most memorable moment in your home. If you have a space like this and are searching for the perfect decor to add dramatic impact, consider this next tip for your newest home project.
"One thing we love to do in small powder rooms or spaces with funny angles is add a beautiful, bold, busy wallpaper," shared designer Erin Gates with Real Simple. "The wallpaper conceals soffits, jut-outs, and weird angles — plus it makes a super tiny room seem much bigger — because it tricks the eye into not knowing where the corners are." If wallpaper is on the walls, it's sure to be the first element the eye notices upon entering the room. A patterned wall will have a significant visual impact on your space. The versatility is endless with this trending wall covering, as there are diverse designs and different application styles. There are peel-and-stick varieties and the traditional glue and paste types.
Mix high and low pieces
The material you choose for the furniture in your space will impact the overall aesthetic. When shopping for furniture, the condition is just as essential as the material. "Quality is key," designer Joelle Nesen shared with Curbed. You want some things to have authenticity, originality, and uniqueness." The type of metal, wood, stone, concrete, fabric, or linen you choose will directly impact the feel in your space.
Try blending a combination of high and low-end pieces for an authentic mixture of furniture. "When investing in high-end home furnishings, homeowners should select statement pieces that are durable and offer the most longevity, such as a sofa, bed, table, or hutch," designer director Erin Powell told Apartment Therapy. "To offset the price, add touches of lower-level decor through throw pillows, decorative blankets, poufs, or stools, and a series of vases, frames, and other ornate figurines." This blend of decor will give your home a comfortable, lived-in feel.
Maintain proper flow in the room
With all the elements that go into decorating a space, it's easy to get swept away in the current trends. Avoid this by filling your space with what it needs. If something doesn't fit, let it go. "People always want their furniture to fit," kitchen design expert Elyse Moody told MyDomaine. "But, you don't want a room to feel crowded or cause traffic jams." Be selective about what you layer into your space. There is something perfect for your area, so keep looking until you find it.
If you force something into a room, it won't flow properly. How do you maintain proper flow? The sofas and accent chairs in a living room should parallel and encourage conversation. This setup is trending in home interiors today as homeowners prefer a mix and match approach to furniture elements. Double chairs make a space look more open, while a sectional or additional sofa may close off the area. Determining the proper placement of the tables and seating arrangements is essential to achieving a cohesive layout and flow. Above all, you want to move comfortably in your home. Find the trends that fit your dwelling and incorporate these interior designers' advice into your house.