Interior Design Trends & Direction 2023

2023 So Far...

The Market PH Interior Design Team is made up of partners from 7 countries and draws on a diverse and rich cultural and stylitic pallet. Market PH has delivered 3 projects in 2023 all highlighting some of the most popular design trends of the last 12 months with eye on the next 12. From the call of the wild and tug of the natural materials to the new normal of comfort and utility forward homes, here are a few of the trends and musings we are seeing from our clients and collaborators this year.

Much of what we’ve seen this year has built on the themes and memes of 21/22, but, thankfully, it’s not because we’re resigned to the fact that every day feels much like the one before. Instead, the forced introspection many experienced over the last 36 months has led to a more true to ourselves and what feels good attitude across the board.

Mirroring the recent evolutions in fashion, interiors are increasingly becoming less about what’s trendy and more about personal expression. More than ever there is no wrong answer Rather than specific trends declining, we are seeing the lines between different styles blurring. Several key examples of this are the industrial minimalism mixed with tactile naturism or more juxtaposed minimalism and maximalism. As the line blurs between these previously incompatible approaches, this has empowered all of us to discover individual approaches to incorporating flashes of each in the other to find a new third way. This is leading to a highly personal incredibly eclectic and more nuanced approach to interiors.

Regardless of our want for individuality, several decorating trends have coalesced so far this year. After a wild and uncertain ride, it seems we’re clinging to familiarity more than ever. For so many homes have become refuges from the ever more turbulent world and their interiors are more about feeling anchored, calm, comfort, all while loving colour!

Back to the Earth Pantone Hybrids

Our client's love affair with soothing greens, greys, and earth tones continues, but it’s not necessarily a simple case of aesthetic preferences. Neuroaesthetics (yes it is a word!), an innovative area of scientific study, investigating the "perception, production, and response to art, as well as interactions with objects and scenes that evoke an intense feeling, often of pleasure, has found a proven correlation between mental health and beauty in both natural and designed spaces, and it’s infiltrated the design trends of 2022: Savvy designers are embracing the call to create rooms that feel connected to the outdoors in the colour of walls, furniture, and accessories.

“Research shows that natural colour schemes and organic forms like those found in nature reduce stress, lower blood pressure and heart rate, increase productivity and creativity, and make us happier,” says Michelle Lamb, editorial director at The Trend Curve. “Perhaps because humanity has never needed the healing powers of nature more than we do at this moment, there is a quest to take this approach even deeper.”

We have begun to see a move away from the cooler tones and instead a wider pallet of more warm greys. Terra-cotta has of course maintained its timeless appeal so embedded in many cultures around the world giving a sense of place to billions. But beyond paint, the hue has found use throughout the home. The appeal of terra-cotta tones translates to the full range of interiors products right across the board, from the robust natural stones, and urban oxidized metals, burnt wood, and clay as well as the traditional soft materials like linen, leather, suede, and brushed pile fabrics, there has even been a dipping trend seeing all manner of the weird and wonderful given a new lease of life with a simple coat of terra-cotta paint.

Nature Pervasively Infiltrating Our Homes

So much more than the inexorable march of biophilia and beyond the inclusion of plants in decor! The furniture through natural materials like rattan, wood, and stone creates the grounding and familiarity seen infiltrating other trends in design. We are seeing raw material rugs this year serving as a great neutral base that grounds furniture and works with so many types of textiles. Bedrooms are embracing this sanctuary vibe more than any other room with rattans and jutes in bedside tables or consoles, and even vintage lighting, create that safe space insulated from the world so may are always after. We are working with more textures, more textiles, more print and colour, with an important focus on classic ad evergreen pattern and design.

“We are inundated with pallets incorporating oiled or stained woods with grain and stones with life and movement. Onyx is the word on everyone’s lips ! We have seen Onyx being used in a bold way by celebrities and artists creating a splash of drama in living and dinning spaces. We have been sourcing ours from an amazing supplier in Chihuahua for the last few years and the quality has been some of the best we have had.

The indoor outdoor divide is ever more blurred with giant custom frameless glass doors fostering seamless transitions from living spaces to garden where we are installing extensive outdoor kitchens and multipart seating areas bringing the relaxed opulence of home comfort into the elements all feeding the need for grounding and contact with nature. Now, the exterior is influencing the interior not the other way around as we saw throughout the 90s and early 00s. Indoor-outdoor fabrics are in high demand, prompted by material development and innovation that has catapulted forward in the recent years.

Increasingly, clients are asking for interiors that reflect “the context of their home’s location or architecture,” a trend that has continued to support the industry’s overall focus on customized and personal materials and spaces.

Integrated Overlapping Media

We have seen a sea change in many of the traditional traders, auction houses and galleries that we have worked with for years beginning to carry and promote the formerly relegated to mere “craft” status—ceramics, woodworking, and more—for its incredible artistic value, allowing a new generation of collectors to define what’s on display at home. As the concept of living with artworks continues to snowball we have seen a marked increase in bespoke display furniture and pedestals giving space purpose and integrity.

Single tune spaces are long gone with a much younger and more focused generation of clients opting for casual over formal, with interiors that feel multi-dimensional reflecting a kaleidoscope of personal moods and modes. A sense of adventure imbues today’s interiors, where we are not afraid to mix avant-garde contemporary works with vintage pieces and art.

Sensual Stimulation Strategy

One thing’s clear about the future of interiors: They need to feel as good as they look. All of our projects are paying attention to the sensory notes of their homes.

Signature Scents are essential components of our design process evoking so much more than we ever imagined possible in our clients and viscerally connecting them to the heart of the design process. With that comes a zeal for adding fragrances to specific areas of the home—a move that allows users to “inhabit space with all of their senses.” A home office, for instance, may feature mint to promote mental sharpness, while the bedroom will be scented with lavender and cherry blossom to promote calm and sleep, and the living room with burnt oak and Hopps creating a cosy almost festive like fragrance. The only constant is that every person will need a unique collection of scents to create the emotional response from their own lives and unique collection of experiences. This is one of the most exciting areas of innovation and development and can change the way the whole project feels without moving a stick of furniture or applying a drop of paint.

Touch/feel, composition, and sensory stimulation are influencing people’s choices for interior products. The scents are just an extension of how the sensorial experience is dynamic and individually unique yet an unconscious desire on many levels. Working on both visually stimulating vibrant colour combinations, signature scent collections for set and setting, all integrated through high-tech performance designs such as amusing voice-activated kitchen faucets, and bamboo as the most important fibre to emerge in furniture and lighting design, which is natural, sustainable, and organic.

Comfort is King

Maybe we’re all still subconsciously feeling the need for a metaphorical hug, or maybe we’re simply not yet ready to give up the work-from-home, everyday athleisure experience, but our city projects are still seemingly not ready for sharp edges in interiors. The rise and rise of the plush, tufted, and luxuriously upholstered furniture pieces and accessories are pervading, trending through styles and proving that you can be both classically possessive of integrity and cosy at home.

An ottoman was the most searched pieces of furniture this year according to our fav bespoke makers, and has helped create spaces that truly felt like refuges. Whether paired with a comfortable chair or a sofa, our clients want to put their feet up and relax. At Salone del Mobile this past June, the 1970s were back in the form of bulbous sofas and armchairs that invite one to do just that.

Soft textures are also taking centre stage. Our favourites that instantly create a design-forward, comfortable environment are mohair, velvets, suedes, mixed with textured linens and wools, rattan, and custom jute. We have more than ever been sourcing and working with artisanal weavers around the world to produce unique and unusual materials for our clients to ensure a truly personalised look and feel to their homes. This trend is creating work for developing countries most marginalised communities while providing authentic beautiful design solutions.

It’s a perfectly scented, grounded, natural and tactile ...brave new world!