Looking to make modifications to your home but don’t know where to start? You’re not alone! It can be really challenging sometimes to take a high-level overview of your living space and decide where you should be focusing your attention.
Maybe you’ve been thinking about renovating a bathroom or finally getting around to that unfinished basement. Whatever your thoughts, it’s important that you’re not just making changes you’re happy with now, but can also be happy with years down the line.
But with so many trends coming and going, how do you know what areas offer the best return on investment for your efforts, and, most importantly, are still relevant? To make this process easier as we approach 2026, we’ve created a short list of what’s in and what’s going out with interior design trends.
What Trends Are In?
Health and Wellness Improvements
When most people think of “interior design,” the first thing they think of is the overall aesthetics of a home. And it’s true, aesthetics are an important part of home renovation projects or general upgrades. Still, looks are only one piece to the puzzle, and today’s designers are putting more focus on how spaces contribute to overall health and wellness.
Many homeowners are showing a lot more enthusiasm for incorporating specific zones throughout their property used for wellness retreats. These spaces don’t need to take up a significant amount of square footage, but they are designed for a specific purpose. This could be anything from a private mediation room, a spa-like bathroom, or even a personal yoga studio.
A common approach to designing these types of spaces includes the use of adjustable lighting, natural elements like plants or water features, and even diffusers or sound machines to help calm all the senses.
Warm Color Selections
In the past, many homes commonly applied color schemes centered around various shades of white and gray. These “neutral” colors were pretty much standard in new homes and provided a better baseline for adding all types of furniture or artwork.
However, while these achromatic colors still have their place in many homes, a significant number of individuals are now opting to incorporate warmer, more genuinely welcoming shades into their living spaces.
For example, many modern home designs use a wider spectrum of natural, earthy colors, tones, and shades. This includes different depths of browns, yellows, and greens. Along with this trend, homeowners are often choosing to avoid sharp lines and corners in their homes wherever possible. Instead, many are taking on renovation projects designed to “relax” the design of their living spaces with softer lines, rounded corners and more approachable architectural choices.
Timeless Furniture Collections
A growing trend for quite some time now has been to incorporate more eco-friendly living options into homes. This applies to everything from installing energy-efficient appliances and fixtures to making more sustainable furniture choices.
When it comes to furniture, there is an ongoing movement to take a step back from purchasing mass-produced furniture collections – sometimes referred to as “disposable” furniture. Instead, choosing pieces that are more timeless, durable, and less harmful to the environment seems to be the most practical and ethical choice for many people.
Highly Functional Living Spaces
Given the constant shifts in the economy and the real estate sector, the costs for purchasing larger homes have become unrealistic for a lot of people. Because of this, square footage is often at a premium, and it’s important to make sure that properties are designed to maximize the value of available space.
This has placed a high priority on designing living spaces that serve more than one purpose. For example, having a large living room that doubles as a dining room or office helps homeowners make the most of the space they have to work with. This, in addition to hideaway tables or furniture with hidden storage compartments, provides much more functionality in a home.
What Trends Are Out?
Overly Uniform Style Choices
While extreme uniformity in interior aesthetics might be suitable for certain commercial environments, this style is currently seen as excessively cold and uninviting for residential applications. And since most people don’t want to “live” at work, steering away from these types of design elements is important.
For example, at one point, many homes made use of higher contrast black and white color schemes. However, these trends are quickly on their way out, and most interior design concepts are favoring warmer features and inviting color schemes going into 2026.
Matchy-Matchy Designs
For many years, a common practice in home renovation and interior design projects involved creating a highly coordinated aesthetic. This often meant making sure that every piece of hardware on cabinets or door frames, and all permanent fixtures, was designed around a single style choice to create more consistency.
However, going into 2026, the appetite for this type of uniformity is starting to get less and newer designs don’t require the same matchy-matchy style formats.
Impractical Aesthetics or Functionality
A large number of design projects now feature highly useful, functional improvements with less importance placed on impractical aesthetic choices.
Even if highly unique design choices might be nice to look at and not easily found in other homes, living in these houses and using the spaces can be inconvenient. This issue is particularly noticeable with architectural features that require significant time and effort to maintain.
Make Your Next Redesign Project Relevant
There are a lot of options you have when starting a new interior design project. However, it’s important to remember that practicality and sustainability should be a chief consideration before you start knocking down walls or grabbing a paintbrush.
By recognizing what design trends are in and which are fading away, you’ll ensure that you’re making smarter choices for your living space that not only add more functionality but also help to increase the value of your home long-term.
About the Author
Rebecca Denis is the Head of Interior Design at Revive Real Estate and an accomplished interior designer with over a decade of experience creating inspired, functional spaces. Known for her refined aesthetic and meticulous attention to detail, Rebecca brings creativity and strategy together to transform everyday interiors into meaningful experiences. She’s built a reputation for turning ideas into inspiring spaces that balance beauty, comfort, and function. Rebecca’s diverse portfolio includes commercial projects, curated show homes, and bespoke custom interiors—each reflecting her belief that thoughtful design can elevate how people live, work, and feel in a space.
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