Trends in home decor and interior design are always shifting, but it would probably be fair to say that COVID-19 gave them a rather violent push in 2020.
The pandemic influenced everything in our day to day lives. The way we have to act and interact with each other adapted to the new normal. The ways we do business and relax had to be reimagined, in some instances – from the ground up. We perceive ourselves and our surroundings adjusted to accommodate the new normal. This is giving rise to some interesting trends in interior design, particularly when it comes to the practice of incorporating antiques in home decor.
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Maximalism is Back in Style
Minimalism was the flavor of the previous decade, and it’s easy to see why. A slick, clean design can create quite a stylish look for your home. Further, it’s easier to accentuate a specific design decision when every other element of your decor is deliberately subdued.
The lockdowns that forced everyone inside quickly put an end to that trend. As practical and stylish as the clean, smooth, and polished, minimalist vision could be, it didn’t exactly bring visual variety to the table. In fact, in many instances, it created correlations with the clinical, the vacant, and the deliberately artificial. Suffice it to say that these are associations that people want to invite in the current situation.
Quite the opposite – it seems that the need for familiar comfort, visual variety, sweet nostalgia, and a more deliberately intricate style has never been as strong as it is in 2021.
In short, regular homeowners and professional designers alike rediscovered a passion for antiques.
Layering is now in Fashion
This newly rekindled passion for vintage furniture is giving rise to a trend known as “layering.” It is a way of incorporating older pieces into designs dominated by modern conventions. In doing so, you can add some much appreciated visual interest where it is so desperately needed.
Ideally, layering should be done in a way that blends the antique and the new into a cohesive vision. The end goal is to incorporate antique elements into newer designs in ways both subtle and obvious so that at the end of the process, nothing looks out of place.
If done right, layering allows interior designers to tell a story of their own, mixing visual cues of the modern with the antique. It can enrich a space and create striking visuals that can’t be achieved by using only modern or just antique elements.
Snug is a Consistent Trend of 2021
Comfort has always been an essential aspect of interior design. However, up until 2020, it hasn’t always necessarily been at the forefront of people’s minds when it comes to home decor. Now, with people spending so much time indoors, it’s become crucial for them that their homes are as comfy and accommodating as possible.
This can be done in a variety of ways. For instance, adding soft and comfortable elements to a room or a piece of furniture, even if they aren’t strictly needed there, is a sure way to make something feel snug. Using a surplus of textures that are silky and pleasant to the touch does a beautiful job of creating an impression of warmth and homeliness. Using linen, wool, or other soft and warm materials as much as possible also helps create a feeling of comfort.
Rewinding Time is the Way to Go
This shift toward the comfortable, cozy, homely, and nostalgic has popularized styles that had been on the decline for years. Classic traditionalism, Rustic Vogue, Cottagecore, and Contemporary Country are now quite popular once again, their appeal reinvigorated by homeowner’s nostalgic longings.
It makes sense, really – in times of crisis, one tends to find comfort in the past’s imagery even more than usual. This tendency neatly explains why antiques, vintage furniture, and older designs, in general, are so highly valued right now. Such aesthetic choices deliberately re-introduce the spirit of a simpler, more secure, and comfortable time back into a home.
Home Office Decor is Gathering Momentum
The practice of working from a “home office” in its current form has existed for more than a decade, but has never been so prevalent. In 2021, remote work has become the norm in entire industries for extended periods of time. This has prompted many of the people who work from home to realize their own unique vision and make their home office as comfortable as possible.
The design philosophy at play now sees the utility of the office incorporated into the homely aesthetic of the living space without dominating it. Visually stunning and elaborate details that couldn’t be introduced effectively in a corporate setting now fit perfectly within the concept of a home office.
Re-introducing Nature Into the Home is in Vogue
Houseplants have always been a staple of interior design – that much is true. But now, with people’s access to the outdoors restricted by lockdowns and social distancing, they have become much more important to home decor than ever before. The plants in a home create a much needed visual and conceptual bridge between man and nature, which has become that much more crucial to our well-being and mental health in 2021.
To put it simply, plants tie a home to nature and bring a feeling of balance to it, just like antiques and vintage furniture bring a sense of stability and link it to the past. Both of these connections are really important in the current, stressed-out state of the world.
