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Home trends for 2021

Well, 2020 was quite a year wasn’t it? With many of us spending most of our time at home, we’ve come to look at our properties in a whole new light.

Where we might have previously been interested in the latest colour or material for our interior scheme, we’re now focusing more on how our homes can provide a safe sanctuary. With that in mind, here are some of the trends we think homeowners will be opting for this year…

Multi functional spaces

Working from home became the norm for many employees during 2020, and that has opened up options for the future. Whether you’re planning to work entirely from home from now on or to go to the office part time, you’d probably benefit from some flexibility in your space.

The trend for multi-functional furniture is set to grow this year. Look out for desks that double up as dining tables, play areas with storage attached and screens to help you zone an open-plan room. The space-smart desk-cum-shelf unit pictured here is a great choice for both kids and grown-ups, as it can be tucked neatly beside the dining area and provides some handy extra storage.

Enjoying the outdoors

Whether your home has a garden, a small balcony, or even a windowsill, there’s a possibility that you’ve been trying some gardening this year - along with countless other homeowners. In fact, the RHS website saw thousands more people searching for gardening tips in 2020 compared to 2019.

This newfound fondness for nurturing plants should hopefully continue into 2021, with more people growing their own veg, making compost or simply tending a few seedlings in a window box.

Smart Storage

If you’re looking to create a calm haven, mess and clutter won’t cut the mustard. So to ensure our homes remain Zen, 2021 should see storage become even more popular with homeowners.

If you’re lucky enough to have a separate utility space in your home, hunt online for handy pieces of small storage to keep everything organised. And if your home is more compact, use stylish baskets, boxes and shelving to create a neat, streamlined display.

Biophillia

Its not just outdoors where people are feeling the benefits of the natural world - a focus on wellbeing is prompting designers and homeowners to bring nature inside. Biophilic design is a trend that incorporates natural surfaces, plants and other organic elements to satisfy our human need to connect with living things. Here, a nature-inspired colour scheme of forest green and sea blue are mixed with houseplants, jute, stone and linen accessories to give the dining area a lovely sense of calm.

Spathrooms

The bathroom is a place where you can really indulge and create a calm, restful sanctuary – and this year looks set to see washspaces get even more spa-like. To go with the theme, many bathroom suppliers are offering Japandi-loook sanitaryware and accessories – a mix of Japanese and Scandi curved lines and wooden finishes.

You can easily create your own ‘spathroom’ with natural wooden accessories and plants. Don’t forget the all-important bath caddy for popping down a cleansing lemon water (or something a little stronger)!