We have started 2023 with a lot of uncertainty in the world and the cost of living is a top concern for many of us. This year it’s about bringing joy back into our homes and looking to a brighter future.
Earthy tones
Earthy colours like chocolate brown, claret red, olive green, ochre and saffron yellow will take the place of cooler colours like blues and greys. These warm and engaging earthy colours are rooted in nature and help create a sense of calm and make our homes feel cosy and inviting in these uncertain times.
Lick’s director of interior design, Tash Bradley, described the feel of the 2023 colour palette as “connecting you to nature and being very grounded. Sustainable slow living is what people are moving towards.”
Joa Studholm, Farrow & Ball’s colour curator agrees, “There is a move away from the harder grey tones so beloved for the last decade to those that feel kinder and warmer.”
I love this new trend for earthy tones; they feel fresh and modern. The combination of a rich chocolate brown and a soft dusty pink looks soft and gentle without being overly feminine. Rich oxblood and terracotta reds also work wonderfully with this palette.
Natural materials
During the pandemic we all sought to strengthen our connection with nature. Earthy textures, organic natural shapes, raw materials, and greenery continue to add depth and soul to our homes this year.
Natural materials and tactile textures in calming neutral shades are durable, environmentally friendly and look stylish. Whatever your interior design style, there is a natural material that will look amazing. Rattan and wicker used to be a material you would only see in baskets, but nowadays they are so on trend, there are stylish rattan and wicker pieces everywhere to give you a fresh bohemian style. Popular for the laid back Scandi vibe, mix rattan and wicker with white walls and bright accessories for a modern contemporary look.
Modern Maximalism
The antithesis to minimalism, maximalism is brash, bold and over the top. Minimalism is always less is more, whereas maximalism is more is more – it’s a movement defined by abundance and excess, so think clashing prints, bright colours and plenty of fun accessories.
The look can be rooted in 1980s excess, eclectic English country homes or a 1920 bohemian vibe. Modern maximalism is a more measured approach to the style. It takes careful planning and a good eye to create an overall effect that expresses creative flair.
Modern maximalism is full of pattern and personality but is less chaotic and more considered and streamlined. Modern maximalism doesn’t use bright or intense colours – it’s more about moody tones or using tone on tone hues to create a Soho House style relaxed interior. Patterns are chosen to work with each other rather than to clash. Textures are also key to modern maximalism; throwing tactile sheepskins or blankets on the back of sofas, layering rugs on wooden floors and mixing velvet and slubby linen cushions on chairs will create a space that is cosy and comfortable to live in. Arrange objects to create a layered feel but choose similar colours or materials to design a modern maximalist space.
Green Kitchens
Green, that wonderful colour we associate with freshness and the outdoors is now one of 2023’s top colour trends for the kitchen. Symbolising balance, growth, renewal and harmony, green can be a refreshing, calming and invigorating colour, making it the perfect choice for the hardest working room in the home. Using tones of green creates a sophisticated yet subtle effect, injecting colour into the kitchen without it being overbearing.
From forest green and emerald green to olive and sage, it’s not at all surprising that this versatile colour is becoming the go-to hue in the modern kitchen. It’s become a new neutral, working equally well in contemporary and traditional kitchens. Moody dark green kitchens with marble worktops and brass hardware look sophisticated and luxurious while softer sage green kitchens paired with more natural materials look calm and serene.
A green kitchen doesn’t have to mean wall-to-wall colour. There aren’t many colours that don’t go with green. You can paint your lower cabinets a darker green and keep the higher cabinets and tiling a lighter shade or just introduce green through small appliances such as a toaster, kettle or KitchenAid.
The Hipstoric Home
An ‘hipstoric home’ combines vintage and antique styles with modern trends. Pinterest reports that interest in the hipstoric home trend is reflected in the rise in searches for terms including “eclectic design vintage”, “mixing modern and antique furniture” and “maximalist decor vintage”, which saw up to 850% increases in searches in the last year. Pinterest report, “In 2023, people will find new ways to honour old things in their homes. Got a hand-me-down handy? People are combining vintage—often inherited—pieces with their modern styles. Thanks to the Boomers and Gen X driving these trends, antiques have never looked so chic.”
This year, many of us are looking to find new ways to display or use old things in our homes. Whether it’s an antique cabinet passed down the family or a vintage rug bought in a flea market, we are all looking to shop more sustainably and mix treasured and contemporary items together. It’s all about making your home unique and rejecting mass-produced high street items. You can add charm to your home by upcycling some older pieces with a coat of paint or a new varnish, hanging vintage prints, swapping pieces with friends and family and honing your sewing skills to make cushions and bedspreads with fabric remnants.
Read Part 2 for more 2023 predictions.
