Five Interior Design Trends for 2023
At Soucie Horner, we love trends reports as much as you do. But what we love even more is reflecting back on our own year and making predictions for what’s next based on trends we’ve identified among our clients.
Much of what we’re anticipating for 2023 continues to be driven by pandemic-oriented factors. We’ve seen a pronounced shift in the way people live, work, and spend time in their homes. That in turn impacts the way we approach our work. With that in mind, here are Shea’s and Martin’s thoughts on what to expect in the coming year:
Multiple Home Offices
Since many of our clients have multiple residences, we’re seeing a growing need to create home offices that are the same or very similar in each of their houses. That way, no matter where in the world they are, our clients will appear to be “home” when they’re zooming with their own clients and teams.
We never suggested multiple, similar offices to clients prior to covid, but since the pandemic’s arrival they’ve become an increasingly welcomed idea among our clientele.
An Even Greater Emphasis on Handcrafts
For a few years already, we’ve been talking about the best design work exhibiting an artisan’s touch. While we acknowledge (and applaud) the wide availability of well-designed goods found through the trade, retail outlets, and online, we also feel strongly there is nothing – and we mean nothing – that compares to objects crafted by hand.
Simply put, they add incomparable soul and instant history to even the newest of spaces. Incorporating handcrafted furnishings, rugs, and objects into our designs has been a hallmark for years already; what’s new is the degree to which our client’s interest in such goods continues to grow.
New Ways of Customizing
Long gone are the days when a monogram would suffice to personalize an object or a space. The customized ideal they once represented has exploded to include forms of personalization that were unheard of just a few years ago. Thanks to both technology and the talents of our own in-house graphics design team, we’re able to personalize and brand space by creating customized wall coverings and even custom carpets embedded with logos.
While this trend may not be ubiquitous – not every design firm has in-house graphics capabilities – it is becoming an increasingly prevalent aspect of the work we do for our clients’ homes and workplaces.
Art Integration from the Get-Go
The past couple of years have proven to us that clients interested in building art collections are increasingly motivated to plan their collections into their design schemes from the very beginning – often, even before their homes have been built. We do this by creating architectural niches to showcase important pieces of sculpture, for instance, or intentionally leaving broad expanses of wall space free of windows, doors, and ornamentation to highlight art.
Approaching art placement as an integral part of the design process and not as an accessories-only afterthought has become our go-to approach. We see this as a trend that will continue to blossom.
Continued Passion for Antiques
This is another trend born of the pandemic that shows no signs of abating. When supply chain issues first hit the world, the design industry turned its attention to items that were already in stock and available for immediate delivery. Many of these items were antiques. Once chosen because of their easy availability, they quickly became the darlings of many designers thanks to their instant ability to tell stories and lend gravitas to rooms both humble and grand.
And while antiques have always been favored by certain designers or for particular room styles, what’s new is a more widespread appreciation for the charm, the history, and the uniqueness antiques bring to a space. Without the pandemic, antiques might have continued to be of interest to just a subset of designers. Today and into the future, we see them becoming of greater interest to our clients, who are increasingly attracted to the warmth and richnens antiques bring to their homes.
Associate Designer
Grace is an outgoing perfectionist who draws inspiration from everywhere: scents, memories, moods. “I find lots of my choices to be rooted in how I am feeling,” she says. Grace grew up on a farm and recently received a call at the office that her chicken coop was flooding.