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Interiors Trends 2019

Oh I know we all say that trends aren’t for following and we should ignore them and only buy what we love and will love for ever, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a look. And given that the shops will likely be full of these things in 2019 we may as well be warned about what we’re going to be seeing, which does, in turn, I firmly believe, lead to a subtle influencing on taste and desire as well. I mean I bought a pair of flared trousers the other day after swearing I would never, ever give up on the skinnies. And I’ve only done that because I kept seeing them around and then suddenly the skinny jeans felt a bit wrong, so I decided to try something else. So basically we can end up being influenced despite our best intentions. The trick is knowing how to interpret the trends into something that works for you and your existing style and not just slavishly adopting them wholesale.

So what do we have for 2019. Well broadly speaking it’s all pretty nice if you ask me. I’m thinking lots of beige – which you can take down to cream if you like, foresty greens, curving shapes and still lots more velvet and soft pink to come. So how does that sound?

warm neutrals by Bianca Hall of French for Pineapple
warm neutrals by Bianca Hall of French for Pineapple

I’m sure plenty of you will be shouting about the beige but – as I said you need to make it work for you so – lighten it until it’s a shade you’re comfortable with. The point is that it’s about soft warm neutrals rather than cold hard whites. We’ve had grey as a neutral (now a classic), we’ve spoken about dark neutrals – still here and often replacing grey and now we’re swinging back to soft whites and creams and occasionally (for the early adopters) looking at shades of beige.

Karen Knox, of Making Spaces, who has written on these pages before, points out that the designers are often a step (couple of years) ahead with their predictions so things they were talking about two or three years ago are now arriving in the high street.

” I wrote about pale pink tones two years ago suddenly now it’s here. Everyone is embracing those warm neutral and paring back but it feels like the High Street is just getting to the dark neutrals. So I would say that next year it’s all about warm neutrals contrasting with dark colours, and particularly, warm darks such as burgundy and chocolate.”

image via hm home

I completely agree with her on that and would add that that the pale pink shades will warm to peach and terracotta and the dreaded Living Coral from Pantone. Read Michelle Ogundehin on that – it’s a fascintating piece that I thought was both correct and interesting.

Kimberly Duran, of Swoonworthy, agreed about the warmer colours: “Cool greys have become greige  – a mix of grey and beige which gives it a more mushroom vibe. Brilliant white is also changing to warmer taupes – Farrow & Ball School House White (see image) or Wattle by Paint and Paper Library.”

Also green. There’s masses of green about and more to come – particularly the dark foresty shades. It’s one of my favourites and I’m about to swap the dark grey in the bathroom for dark green. It’s softer and, that word again, warmer.

green kitchen by plain english
green kitchen by plain english

Moving on to shapes and curves have been floating around the edges for a while and that will continue. A friend of mine said two years ago she wanted a curved sofa for her square living room and it was really hard to find one that didn’t cost about £8000. Now there are lots, and look out also for beds that curve gently round your head at the top. This is mine and I didn’t think it was a trend until suddenly I noted that Swoon, Made and Anthropologie are all doing them. And trend or not I can tell you there is something really lovely about a curved bedhead. It’s really cocooning and cosy. Although you need to bring your bedside tables forward or you can’t get at them.

rouen bed from sofas and stuff in moleskin bottle velvet by linwood
rouen bed from sofas and stuff in moleskin velvet bottle by linwood

From colours and curves to textures and materials. Velvet is still here. Expert to see the emergence of corduroy. I think 2019 is probably too soon to call it but the high street is full of corduroy clothes at the moment so it’s coming. Might go confidently with that one in 2020.

corduroy sofa by Bella Freud and Retrouvius

Now metallics – copper is now dead for the trends, but it’s now called rose gold so it’s the same and it’s still here. Brass is over being trendy but is still massively popular. Don’t panic if you’ve got loads. At least only panic if you bought it to be trendy and not because you love it. My money’s on black as the metal of the year. It goes with chrome – so you don’t have to swap everything – and it looks new and different.

school house white by farrow & ball
school house white by farrow & ball

But enough of my predictions. What do the experts say?

First up, is Bianca Hall, of French for Pineapple, who first used blush pink in early 2015 (and had been planning it for months before that) way before anyone else. She also painted her whole house cream and beige before anyone else so she’s on the money when it comes to these predictions. She says:

Neutrals neutrals neutrals. Or if you’re going to use colour, stick to just the one. Two max. And use it EVERYWHERE.

Goodbye white woodwork. The only time your skirting boards should be white is if your walls  are white, or your floors. Otherwise paint them the same colour as your walls. Ditto Architraves.

Hello wooden wall panelling. This one’s been creeping in for a few years now, and we’ll be seeing it more and more. Even better is relief plaster work if you can afford it.

Lime washed walls are back (unless you can afford Venetian polished plaster, then do that instead).

While herringbone parquet will always be a classic, wide pale floorboards are back.

With the world’s obsession with Crittall we’ll be seeing lots of window frames being painted black. And I like it!

Curves on everything from dining and coffee tables to furniture. And fully upholstered chairs, sofas & beds.

warm neutrals by Bianca Hall of French for Pineapple
warm neutrals by Bianca Hall of French for Pineapple

Got that? That’s probably all you need to know but we’ll get some more. It’s that dead week between Christmas and New Year when you’re probably trying hide from young children, old relatives, and the lure of another mince pie. You can always read this in two sittings.

Emma Gurner from Folds Inside @em.gurner www.foldsinside.com

My trend prediction would be a move towards a warmer colour palette and away from the cooler greys. We have seen the colour nude begin to make an appearance towards the end of this year and with the announcements from Dulux that the colour of the year is  Spiced honey and Pantone’s Living Coral, I think these earthy tones are here to stay for a bit longer. I particularly love the natural earthy tones such as Farrow and Ball’s Setting Plaster, used here in this Loft conversion project.

Photo by Anna Yanovski
Photo by Anna Yanovski design by Em Gurner

Fiona Duke of  Fiona Duke Interiors says 2019 will definitely see a continued trend for being both bold and brave with wallpaper.

designed by Fiona Duke Interiors
designed by Fiona Duke Interiors photo by Anna Stathaki

Serena Pitchers of YourInteriorsFriend.com and a member of the Interior Design Collective says: I think the use of ‘brown furniture’ or more antique furniture will be seen in homes more. Mid-century furniture has been embraced by the British Public but the antique, Victorian, era has never had the same popularity in our homes, in recent times. I think people will discover the quality of workmanship and the colours that you can get in woods like Mahogany that you simply can’t buy new anymore. Also re-using existing furniture or heirlooms is a very eco-friendly decision. Brown furniture can look awesome juxapositioned against a very modern background and looks great against the slightly paler palette that I see creeping in too.

Photo Credit: James French Photography
Photo Credit: James French Photography

Last year was a big moment for rich, deep and warm colours. Burgundy, browns and dusky pink took centre stage in the long-burning trend away from the cooler, greyer palette of the preceding five years. 2019 is going to follow the same path, but with more impact. Expect yellows and burnt orange to be very popular. However, my big colour tip is Chartreuse.

There will be a continuing trend towards darker brown furniture. The end of the mid-century monopoly is fully upon us. People have realised there are a lot of affordable, desirable antiques out there – timeless and elegant art deco can be incorporated into many existing styles, while arts-and-crafts pieces will emphasise a return to artisanal originality.

Claire Elise of Clare Elise Interiors

It’s all about textured walls for me. I see this being an overarching trend in 2019 which will include the return and rise of Anaglypta, fabric wallpapers and the use of paint effects to create texture as well as 3D tiles and specialist plasters.

I’m also predicting a shift away from the sleek and streamlined look as we search to incorporate warmth and character in our surroundings. Tadelakt and micro cement can bring huge visual weight to a room so it’s time to let the walls do the talking.

textured walls by clare elise interiors
textured walls by clare elise interiors

So there you have it. Remember it’s not an exhaustive list  – there will be micro trends within that. There will also be the big predictions compared with what people are actually doing. Which is where I would stick green – no-one’s calling it as a trend, except me, and that’s because I’m seeing more and more people actually choosing it as a colour. So not so much a trend as a real life thing. Make of these what you will and just remember it’s only worth doing if it fits with your style and you love it.

All these predictions, with the exception of Bianca Hall, were made by members of The Interior Design Collective, a network that connects independent interior designers around the country so you can find a designer that fits your aesthetic in an area that’s convenient for you.

Kate Watson-Smyth

The author Kate Watson-Smyth

I’m a journalist who writes about interiors mainly for The Financial Times but I have also written regularly for The Independent and The Daily Mail. My house has been in Living Etc, HeartHome and featured in The Wall Street Journal & Corriere della Sera. I also run an interior styling consultancy Mad About Your House. Welcome to my Mad House.

11 Comments

  1. Thanks you for the beautiful inspiration pictures. I am happy to see the trends start to move away from all white interiors or the farmhouse modern aesthetic, but I don’t love that it’s moving toward beige! I loved Pantone’s choice of Living Coral, and that pretentious article did not change my mind! I was hoping 2019 would be the year where people finally let loose and get bold and creative with color! The inspiration pics are beautiful nonetheless. 🙂

  2. I was interested in your comments Laura. I have a nothing type corridor with no windows, hence deciding to use two shades of paint, because if I just painted it all beige, (I intend to paint the ceiling in the second lighter colour) , I do think it would look depressing. If you could paint a different colour around the lower part of the wall in your child’s room it may well improve the look.

    1. Thanks for your reply – I do think the two shades of paint will work well.

      I’ve tried to lift mine by using a lot of warm mustardy colours elsewhere in the room, as well as natural materials (cork, plywood, wooden toys etc) and I think those warm colours make the paint itself look lighter and more of a soft white, which works. But on its own I think beige is tricky. It definitely needs a lot of thought to get right.

  3. I painted my baby’s nursery beige back in September and I regret it. I thought it would be a calming and restful neutral that would go well with just about any other colours, and it wouldn’t feel harsh or stark, as white sometimes does. Plus, I had read that beiges and warmer neutrals were coming back. That was the theory. In reality it just looks old fashioned.

    One of the design tips that works so brilliantly and that I have seen mentioned many times on this blog is to design a room in such a way as to make it clear you’ve made a decision (hence the advice to paint woodwork and trim any colour other than white, avoid feature walls, etc). Therein lies the problem with beige. It looks as though you couldn’t decide what colour to go for so defaulted for a dated, safe look, even when you indeed spent hours pouring over the paint charts to pick exactly the right shade of beige. Plus, it’s not fresh or different enough to even look recently done – it looks as though the room could quite easily have been last decorated 20 years ago. So, based on my experience, I don’t think that beige really translates well into modern interiors. But then it could just be that I chose a shade that doesn’t work in that particular room of my house, who knows.

    Treat this “trend” with caution is my advice!

    1. Hi, Laura, I agree with you. I think it really does depend on the room when you use beige. I have just spent a year repainting all our rooms from the beiges that were used six year ago to sell the house. The issue is, the house is a mid century ranch with low 8 ft ceilings and no distinguishing architecture. Beige made it feel so oppressive. I think creams and even beiges look beautiful in Victorian style homes with lots of intricate woodwork, but they don’t work with simple architecture styles for me, at least. I also think beige has an issue with “getting along with” other colors. It is not as versatile as white, grey, or even pink! I have the two front rooms of our home painted very saturated blues and even those are more versatile than beige!

  4. OOPs I meant the darker colour two thirds of the way up the wall …..have another Prosecco…chin chin!

  5. In the first photograph there is a two tone paining in “creamy beige” on the wall. Apart from wanting to spend time in that room, I am considering painting our windowless corridor in those 2 colours.
    So walls a third way up the darker colour and then the last third of the wall and ceiling the lighter colour. The corridor runs through our flat and the walls are not high at all. Part of one wall is taken up by a huge bevelled mirror (professionally stuck to it) and the 4 doors are white. I think it will work?

    If anyone can recommend matching paint colours that can withstand use, I’d be grateful.

    Now to book the painter who has a long waiting time!!

  6. Does anyone have any idea whether the corduroy fabric on the Bella Freud sofa is original or if it’s available to buy? I’m in love and obsessed! Must track down 😉

  7. I would love a feature where at the end of each year you go back to the predictions for that year made in the December before and review whether they came true.

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