Collecting insights from the community of homeowners and home professionals, Houzz Australia & New Zealand editor Vanessa Walker predicts the next six top design ideas that are set to take off on our shores this year and next.
“As we continue to cautiously navigate our way through the pandemic, solitude in nostalgia has translated into design trends with a retro resurgence in furnishings, fixtures and colour choices by homeowners and designers,” she says.
The return of feel-good furnishings
Right now we’re seeing designers and architects on Houzz manifest a wave of the ’70s in building forms from curves to rounded panelling, arches and sunken rooms.
As we continue to cautiously navigate our way through the pandemic, solitude in nostalgia has translated into design trends with a retro resurgence in furnishings, fixtures and colour choices.
Following suit, soon we will experience a resurgence of the style return in feel-good furnishings. Be prepared to see decor including tufted cotton, fringed bedspreads and floral bed linen in ’70s colourways, such as russet offset by soft pastel-like hues.
It’s hip to be square
While organic shapes are perennially popular, we’re seeing more square tiles appearing in fashion-forward kitchens and bathrooms on Houzz.
An aesthetic that lends itself to linear conformity but also zellige-style in variations of colour, glazes and rippled surfaces. More and more, hip squares will take form in tiled furniture, in particular benches, side tables and coffee tables.
Terrazzo palazzo
Interiors experts at Houzz unanimously agree that terrazzo and porcelain terrazzo-look tiles are still experiencing a rocket-like popularity this year.
Often terrazzo is used as a playful touch, a way to instil a sense of movement and personality in a space. It’s telling that the phrase ‘terrazzo bathroom’ had one of the highest search volume surges on Houzz in 2021 compared to the same period last year.
The slim shaker
Shaker cabinet style gets a ‘slim’ shake-up. This version of the trend features a flat centre panel and square-edged border – but with finer, narrower frames and with recessed handles or subtle finger pulls.
Professionals on Houzz say it solves what has long been a design conundrum, how to have a streamlined contemporary kitchen with just enough detail to give it a sense of place in period homes.
Wallpaper as a textural feature
Wallpaper makes a comeback, but not as the once regarded hero of the room. Trendsetters on Houzz demonstrate it’s now all about layering wallpaper with other highly textural elements. A trend that is a carefully crafted visual expression of colours and movement. It’s worth noting that these highly curated mixed material combinations require the specialist experience of an interior decorator or designer.
Creative brickwork
Curved, cut-out or coloured, the rise of artisanal bricks and using brick materials in creative ways is being more readily integrated into Australian architecture. Creating far more unique and interesting home facades, this trend will cement itself as a modern 21st-century exterior style.
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Warmer colours are definitely trending this year (think terracotta and mustard) and this new limited edition colour, Desert Rose, from I Love Linen, ticks all the boxes. Founder Lauren Roe says: “This year we’re working on building up a palette of earthy shades with some feminine elements blended into it. It is a really beautiful colour and was inspired by my love of terrazzo, clay and pottery, and those sun drenched warm terrains you find on a European summer escape.” 
