6 Top Home Trends for 2021

It’s a new year and a fresh opportunity to update your home décor in the upcoming months. If there’s one thing that one year of quarantine has demonstrated to many of us, it’s that our spaces could use some sprucing up. We’ve compiled a list of the 6 top home trends for 2021 that interior designers are talking about and implementing for their clients.   

1. The Return of Maximalism

For the past several years, the streamlined look of midcentury modern has been featured in magazines and home design programs. While the style remains popular, trend experts predict we’ll be seeing less of it in the years ahead.

According to renowned lighting expert and trend pundit Jeffrey Dross of Lighting by Jeffrey in Cleveland, midcentury modern is characterized as a paring down of ornamentation and a focus on functionality. As today’s design world begins to move a few steps away from midcentury, we will start to see decorative accents and features reappearing on lamps and lighting fixtures and heading towards Maximalism. “For example, instead of a smooth arm or rod, we might see fluted tubing to give texture and visual interest,” Dross states.    

During the 1980s, “power dressing” and “ostentatious glamour” were hallmarks of the decade – according to the New York City’s Fashion Institute of Technology – and is perhaps famously evident on TV programs such as Dynasty or Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous. Those looks are examples of Maximalism.  

Don’t expect a ’80s redux in home décor, however. “Think of it as Maximalism re-invented,” Dross quips. “Today’s Maximalism might be deciding to use color or pattern much more than we have in the past, but not every element in the room has to be that way.” This new age of Maximalism will be showing restraint.

2. The Natural Appeal of Organic

As the demand for hybrid cars and solar power has increased in the name of saving energy and the environment, so has the desire for organic and natural elements in our homes. Real wood, jute, grass, rattan, cotton, and bamboo are among the materials distinguishing the latest looks in lighting and home décor. Furthermore, the preference for natural materials dovetails with the increased desire for casual and cozy home spaces that comfortably blur the lines between the outdoors and indoors.

3. Warm Brass Brings Elegance

For the past five to 10 years, polished chrome and polished nickel finishes have been everywhere in décor — from lighting fixtures and table legs to hardware, faucets, and mirror frames. These highly reflective finishes have a couple of drawbacks, such as being prone to showing fingerprints and giving off a stark, sterile vibe. On the contrary, warm brass and soft gold finishes hide smudges well and have a yellow-based tone that lends a warm golden ambiance. If you want to soften the harder edges of room furnished in Contemporary décor, warm brass and soft gold finishes add visual balance by introducing a transitional to traditional touch with a subtle touch of glam.

4. Matte Black Stays Strong

As with clothing fashion, black will always be considered a classic and glamorous accent in home décor. Over the past several years, matte black has played a more dominant role in design schemes – from lampshades and lighting fixtures to faucets, tubs, and countertops – especially as midcentury modern style has taken hold. “Black finishes will definitely have a strong lifespan for quite a few years yet,” Dross predicts. After all, what goes with black? Everything.

5. Make Mine a Double

When you think of installing lighting over a rectangular dining table, chances are you are imagining one large chandelier. Today’s interior designers are mixing things up and injecting freshness to the décors they design for clients by approaching the lighting in a unique way.

“I designed a dining room in Cleveland recently that had a substantially long dining table,” Dross recounts. “I asked the homeowners, ‘Let’s buy a smaller version of the chandelier you like and hang two of them instead of one larger fixture.’ Not only does this eliminate any potential dark spots that can occur at each end of the table when using one fixture, but it’s an arrangement that lends distinction. It immediately sets your house apart when all the other homes on the street may look the same.” 

The same idea has become popular over kitchen islands. For years, designers and homeowners would select one long fixture for placement over a kitchen island. Lately, design magazines and TV programs are updating that tradition by showing two or three pendants over an island to great effect.  

6. Statement Chandeliers Set the Mood

Instead of investing heavily in a suite of furniture, today’s interior designers are using lighting to create an undeniable ‘Wow factor’ for the room. From foyers and entryways to living rooms and bedrooms, decorative ceiling fixtures that are oversized and unusual in style command attention in a most welcome way.

While our parents thought matching furniture and lighting was a sign of affluence or “good taste,” younger generations are gravitating toward individual pieces that contribute a curated, more eclectic environment that is more reflective of their individual style. Homes with high ceilings can accomplish this look effortlessly; however, even rooms with more modest ceiling heights can enjoy this trend with unique semi-flush lighting fixtures that provide maximum visual impact without encroaching on space.  

Read more:

• 3 Reasons to Try a Warm Brass Finish This Year
• How to Use Matte Black in Your Home
• Top Trends in Bathroom Lighting
• The Complete Chandelier Sizing Guide