12 Interior Design Trends 2026 UK Homeowners, Room by Room under £150

Interior Design Trends 2026
Window shutters

Interior Design Trends 2026

Interiors in 2025 have turned away from neutral minimalism towards richer colour, heritage detail and craft-led furniture. Expect Art Deco revival, jewel tones and warm earth palettes, painted ceilings, curved furniture, cocoon bathrooms, bespoke and antique pieces, and multifunctional furniture built for smaller, flexible homes. Sustainability and durability run through nearly all of it. What follows breaks each trend down room by room, with practical, budgeted ways to bring it home.

TL;DR:

  • Art Deco details like geometric panelling and brass accents are key features, adding timeless elegance through small accessories or large fixtures.
  • Rich jewel tones, warm earth hues, and layered textures will dominate, with investments in quality furniture and bespoke pieces ensuring longevity.
  • Painted or papered ceilings and curved furniture are essential updates that add drama and softness, especially in smaller or multi-purpose rooms.
  • Technology such as motorised shutters and AI design tools support trend execution, but quality craftsmanship remains critical for lasting appeal.
  • Fixed window treatments like bespoke shutters improve trend durability, especially when matched to room palettes and architectural detail.

Table of Contents

Design editors and trend forecasters largely agree on the direction of travel this year: warmth, texture and personality over the clean, pared-back minimalism that dominated the last decade. Dezeen’s coverage of 2025 interiors points to a “yearning for authenticity” driving richer colour, maximalism and heritage references such as Art Deco. Here are the twelve trends worth knowing, and how to actually use them.

  • Art Deco revival. Geometric panelling, fan motifs, fluted surfaces and brass detailing are back, borrowed from the 1920s and 30s but rendered in contemporary materials. British Vogue’s designer round-up names this one of the year’s defining looks. Try it small with a fan-shaped mirror or fluted lamp base; go bigger with a fluted wardrobe front or a fireplace surround in the same idiom. It has genuine staying power because Art Deco has resurfaced in design cycles for decades.

  • Jewel tones, including soft yellow and wine red. Emerald, sapphire, amber and deep burgundy are replacing beige and grey as the default palette. Vogue UK highlights soft yellow and wine red specifically as 2025 signature shades. A cushion or a vase gets you in the door; a velvet sofa or a painted feature wall commits you properly. These colours photograph well and age gracefully, so the investment tends to outlast the trend cycle.

  • Warm earths and brown furniture. Chocolate brown, ochre and terracotta are having a moment, reversing years of grey-dominated schemes. The 1stDibs Designer Trends Survey reports chocolate brown among designers’ top picks for the year. A brown leather armchair or oak sideboard works as a small step; reupholstering existing seating in a warm earth tone is the medium move. Brown furniture wears well and rarely looks dated, which makes it a safer bet than most colour trends.

  • Painted and papered ceilings. The “fifth wall” is getting attention again, whether through a bold paint colour, wallpaper, or a contrasting cornice detail. Vogue’s colour trend coverage singles out ceilings as a key 2025 move, and statement ceilings add drama without eating into floor space, which matters in smaller rooms. Start with a single coat of a deep colour in a hallway or cloakroom; a papered ceiling in a bedroom is the bigger commitment.

  • Cocoon bathrooms. Warm lighting, tactile stone, curved sinks and softer, spa-like finishes are replacing the cold, all-white bathroom. Country & Town House’s 2025 trend list names this look specifically as a UK favourite. Swap a bright white towel set for warm neutrals and add a dimmer to existing lighting for the quick version; a stone basin or curved bath panel is the investment-tier upgrade.

  • Curves and organic shapes. Rounded sofas, arched doorways, curved consoles and soft-edged mirrors are replacing hard right angles across nearly every room. The 1stDibs survey found curvaceous furniture in strong demand among designers. A single curved side table introduces the look cheaply; a rounded sofa or an arched joinery detail is the bigger statement.

  • Joy-drenching and primary colour play. Bold, saturated single-colour schemes, sometimes called colour drenching, are extending beyond walls into trim, ceiling and furniture in one matching hue. Pinterest’s 2025 trend forecast flags “primary play” and bold colour experimentation as a headline theme. Drench a small cloakroom in one saturated colour as a low-risk trial before attempting a whole living room.

  • Maximalism and eclecticism. Layered patterns, mismatched eras and a deliberately “collected over time” look, sometimes dubbed shambolism, are edging out the minimalist single-palette room. Designers surveyed by 1stDibs rank maximalism as the leading trend intention for the year. Add one bold patterned rug or a gallery wall of mismatched frames to start; full eclecticism means mixing furniture periods deliberately rather than matching a set.

  • Bespoke pieces and antiques. Personalisation and provenance matter more than matching a catalogue. Country & Town House reports rising interest in bespoke furniture and antique sourcing as shoppers move away from flat-pack uniformity. A single antique find, such as a side table or mirror, is an easy entry point; commissioning a bespoke piece of joinery is the long-term investment that tends to outlast any single trend cycle.

  • Mixed woods and metals. Combining oak with walnut, or brass with matte black, has replaced the old rule of matching every wood tone in a room. It works because it reads as collected rather than showroom-bought. Introduce a second wood tone through a small side table or shelving unit before committing to mixed materials across a whole kitchen.

  • Statement lighting and decorative glass. Hand-blown Murano-style glass pendants and sculptural table lamps are back as focal points rather than purely functional fittings. The 1stDibs guide cites renewed interest in Murano glass specifically for 2025. A single glass pendant over a dining table delivers most of the impact for relatively little outlay; a chandelier is the investment-tier version.

  • Multifunctional furniture and flexible storage. Sofa beds, nesting tables, and storage ottomans are gaining ground as homes get smaller and rooms need to do more than one job. Pinterest’s trend data points to multifunctional furniture as a top 2025 priority, driven by adaptable layouts in smaller homes. A storage ottoman is the cheap fix; a built-in bench with concealed storage is the bigger structural answer.

Trends work best layered in, not bolted on overnight. Editorial roundups consistently suggest testing a new look through textiles and accents (cushions, rugs, lamps, upholstery) before committing to structural change, which keeps risk low while you decide what actually suits your space.

  1. Quick swaps (under £150): new paint colour, a jewel-toned cushion set, a statement lampshade, or swapping cool white bulbs for warmer tones.
  2. Medium upgrades (£150 to £1,500): reupholstering a sofa in velvet or flame stitch fabric, hanging a papered feature wall, fitting a curved mirror, or adding a wallpapered ceiling in a small room.
  3. Investment pieces (£1,500+): bespoke joinery, hand-blown lighting, custom cabinetry, or made to measure window shutters that anchor a room’s palette for years rather than seasons.

Room by room: living rooms suit curved seating and a colour-drenched alcove; kitchens benefit from mixed wood and metal detailing on cabinetry and handles; bathrooms lean into the cocoon look through warm stone and dimmable lighting; bedrooms take painted ceilings and antique or bespoke interior door designs and headboards well.

Before spending anything, run through a short checklist: build a moodboard, order paint and finish swatches, measure the room properly, set a realistic timeline, and source any artisan or bespoke pieces early since custom lead times often run to several weeks.

Pro Tip: Test a bold colour or pattern on the smallest surface in a room first, a windowsill, a door, a single wall, before you commit to it across furniture or joinery you’ll live with for a decade.

Why joinery and bespoke shutters matter for 2025’s biggest looks

Several 2025 trends live or die on the quality of the fixed elements in a room, not just the soft furnishings. Colour drenching only reads properly if the woodwork holds its finish; mixed-wood schemes need joinery that genuinely matches the grain and tone you’re pairing; heritage and Art Deco references depend on details, fluting, panelling, proportion, that off-the-shelf products rarely deliver on unusual window shapes.

Some specialists have worked with these constraints for many years, building bespoke shutters for bay, arched, angled and skylight windows where standard sizing simply will not fit. That matters for trend continuity: a shutter finished to match a chocolate brown scheme or a mixed-metal kitchen stays consistent with the room’s palette for years, rather than fading or discolouring within a couple of seasons. Ranges span the Seattle collection in MDF with a polypropylene coating through to premium hardwood finishes, covering both the budget-conscious quick upgrade and the investment-tier piece. These are illustrative examples of how joinery choices support a trend, not the only route to achieving the look.

Smart home features and AI-driven design entering the mainstream

Technology has quietly moved from novelty to standard spec in 2025 interiors. Motorised shutters and blinds that respond to a phone app or voice command are increasingly common in new-build and renovation projects, letting homeowners adjust light and privacy without a physical switch on the wall. Lighting systems that shift colour temperature through the day, warmer in the evening, cooler in the morning, are following the same path, supporting the cocoon and wellness trends already covered.

AI-assisted design tools are changing how people plan a room before committing to it. Rendering software can now generate a realistic preview of a colour-drenched wall, a mixed-wood kitchen, or a curved sofa in a real room photo, reducing the guesswork that used to make bold trends feel risky. That is particularly useful for anyone weighing up a bespoke or investment-tier purchase, since visualising the result before ordering cuts the chance of an expensive mismatch.

None of this replaces good material choices or craftsmanship. Smart features and AI previews are tools for confidence and convenience, not a substitute for a well-made piece of furniture or a properly fitted window treatment. The trend is additive: technology sits alongside the tactile, heritage-led looks dominating 2025, rather than competing with them.

Spatial planning after the pandemic: offices, wellness zones and flexible rooms

Homes are still being reshaped by habits formed during lockdown, and 2025 layouts reflect that permanently rather than as a temporary fix. Dedicated home offices, even small ones carved from a landing or alcove, remain a standard request in renovations, and multifunctional furniture (already a headline trend from Pinterest’s forecast) is often the mechanism that makes a spare room double as a workspace without looking like one.

Wellness zones have expanded beyond the bathroom. Meditation corners, dedicated reading nooks and even small home gyms are appearing in spare bedrooms and converted garages, usually furnished with the same warm, tactile materials driving the cocoon bathroom trend elsewhere in the house. The common thread is flexibility: a room that can shift function through furniture rather than structural work.

Storage is doing more work than it used to. Built-in benches, ottomans and modular shelving let a single room serve as office, guest space and wellness zone depending on the day, which is exactly the adaptable-layout thinking Pinterest’s trend data associates with smaller, multi-use homes. Expect this to keep growing as more households settle into hybrid working patterns rather than treating them as temporary.

Flexible room changing between three uses

Global influences and cross-cultural fusion shaping 2025 interiors

Cross-cultural fusion is one of the quieter but more persistent threads running through 2025 interiors. Moroccan tile patterns sit alongside Scandinavian oak, Japanese joinery techniques inform minimalist furniture lines, and Indian block-print textiles turn up as cushions in otherwise pared-back British living rooms. This isn’t new, but it has intensified as global sourcing and travel have made regional craft traditions more visible and more accessible to buy.

Country & Town House’s trend coverage notes rising interest in bespoke and antique pieces partly driven by this appetite for provenance and story, buyers want to know where a piece came from, not just what it looks like. That plays directly into the maximalist, “collected over time” aesthetic already dominating the year: a room that mixes a Moroccan rug, a mid-century Danish chair and a British antique sideboard reads as personal rather than chaotic, provided the colour palette ties it together.

Collected UK room with global design influences

The practical takeaway is restraint in execution, not restraint in sourcing. One or two culturally distinct pieces per room, a rug, a lighting fixture, a textile, tend to work better than filling a whole space with references from different traditions at once.

Buy fewer, better pieces and let bold trends live in what’s easy to change: cushions, paint, a lampshade. Durable anchors, a well-made sofa, solid joinery, quality window treatments, should outlast any single colour or pattern moment. Layer personality on top of that, not instead of it.

— Ken

There are plenty of ways to chase this year’s colour and material trends, paint, textiles, new furniture, but windows are often the one element homeowners overlook until last. Shutter World offers a route that ties directly into several of the looks covered above: made-to-measure shutters, surveyed and fitted in your own home, with a material range running from durable coated MDF through to premium hardwood finishes.

Shutter World

That matters for trend longevity because shutters, unlike paint or fabric, are fixed features that need to hold their finish and colour for years rather than seasons, which is exactly what a colour-drenched room or a mixed-wood scheme depends on. Some companies specialise in bay, arched, angled, skylight and other non-standard window shapes, where off-the-shelf blinds and curtains simply don’t fit properly. A full service often includes professional survey, clear quotation, expert installation and product guarantees, reducing guesswork on measurements or fitting.

If a bespoke shutter fits your plans for the year, the bespoke internal shutters page is the place to see material options and start a quote.

Sources

FAQ

The headline trends are Art Deco revival, jewel tones and warm earths, painted ceilings, curved furniture, cocoon bathrooms, maximalism, bespoke and antique pieces, mixed woods and metals, statement lighting, and multifunctional furniture, all moving away from neutral minimalism towards richer, more personal interiors.

What is the next big interior design trend?

Momentum is building behind cross-cultural fusion and craft-led, bespoke pieces, as buyers favour provenance and story over mass-produced uniformity, alongside continued growth in multifunctional furniture for smaller, flexible homes.

Are all-white interiors going out of style?

Yes. Designer coverage from British Vogue lists all-white and overly minimal schemes among the looks fading in 2025, replaced by jewel tones, warm earths and layered texture.

Start with textiles and accents, cushions, a lampshade, a rug, or a single feature wall, before committing to furniture or fixed joinery, and reserve larger investment pieces like bespoke shutters or custom cabinetry for elements you want to last well beyond this year’s colour cycle.

Yes. Fixed features like bay window shutters or full height styles hold colour and finish consistency for years, which supports colour-drenched schemes and mixed-material rooms far better than fabric window coverings that fade or date quickly.

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