Kitchen by “1stDibs 50” designer Amber Interiors.
Today, 1stDibs has announced the results of its fifth annual Interior Designer Trends Survey, taken by more than 750 interior designers from around the world. The data from these expert insights indicate the trends we can anticipate for 2022, including popular colors, iconic vintage design pieces and more, plus a look at what’s going out of style.
In many ways, this year’s survey results suggest that designers are going green. Not only is the color slated to be extremely popular in the year ahead (just look at how many paint brands named a green shade their 2022 Color of the Year), but biophilic design trends continue to come out on top. Conversely, primary and secondary colors and, perhaps shockingly, the once-ubiquitous grandmillennial trend are falling out of vogue.
“The design industry is always changing–new trends emerge, old trends are reinterpreted and our perception of beauty continually evolves. Additionally, the last two years have been unlike anything we’ve ever experienced, with our homes and corporate offices taking on new meaning,” said Anthony Barzilay Freund, editorial director at 1stDibs. “It’s interesting to see the spike in ‘solopreneurship,’ and the new geographical concentrations of the design industry.”
Here’s what the interior designers had to say:
Design by Ashe Leandro.
What’s In
Color Trends: Green Is Supreme, Warm Tones Reign
Both dark greens, like emerald, and lighter shades, like sage, were noted by respondents to be popular in the coming year. In fact, emerald is the number one color of choice for designers at 24% of the vote.
In general, warmer earth tones like burnt orange and tan continue to feature prominently in interiors and are slated to remain popular.
Design by Leyden Lewis.
The New Blue: Cobalt Cancels Navy
Another haute hue to capture a top ranking is cobalt, which is trending up and falls right behind the earth tones. As the most popular blue this year, cobalt bested navy, which had the most dramatic decline in responses out of all the hues compared to last year, dropping a whopping 43% in interest.
Design by Madeline Stuart.
Design Trends Also Lean Green
For designers next year, going green extends beyond color trends and into green thumbs and green living. When asked what design trends will remain popular in 2022, almost all designers selected sustainable materials (nearly universal at 97%) and plants (93%), which both reflect a desire to remain in harmony with the environment.
Top patterns and finishes for 2022 extend this ethos, with organic motifs, bold and large scale prints and plant patterns as the top three choices for designers.
Materials slated to become popular are all options that are either derived from nature or have a tactile finish, including wood, plaster, natural materials, bronze and leather.
Isamu Noguchi Akari 10A Floor Lamp available from 1stDibs.
Eames Chairs and Noguchi Lamps are Top Iconic Designs
From a list of 11 iconic seating options, 20% of designers dubbed the Eames Chair as the top trending piece, followed closely by the Mario Bellini Camaleonda sofa at 18%. At third place in seating is the Hans Wegner Wishbone Chair at 11%. Tied for fourth at 10% each are two options in ultra-plush seating: the Afra and Tobias Scarpa Siriana sofa and Ligne Roset’s beloved Togo design. Unsurprisingly, survey results indicate that the 1970s trend remains strong, with 36% of respondents noting that the decade would be most likely to make a comeback.
In the lighting category, over a quarter of designers named Noguchi lamps as the most iconic design, capturing 26% of the vote. The second highest lighting options were Louis Paulsen pendants and chandeliers at 19%.
In general, designers reported that the styles of furniture they plan to use more or the same of are contemporary, followed by Brutalist, Art Deco and Mid-century Modern.
What’s Out
Primary and Secondary Colors Stay Behind
The least popular colors for 2022 are millennial pink, tangerine, light yellow, violet and bright red. Each of these hues captured less than 5% of designer votes, with red earning just 1%.
In addition to declining interest in navy (down 43%), mustard yellow saw its numbers slide (down 27%), as did light grey (down 25%) – a tough break for the two hues Pantone named their 2021 Colors of the Year.
Instagram Fads? Neon Signs, Arches, Cane Seating and More
Designers are passing on several trends made popular through social media in recent years. Specifically, neon signs received the lowest votes when asked about design trends expected to remain popular in 2022, with only 13% of the vote. Also at the bottom of the list were black interiors, grandmillenial, cane seating and arches.
Structured Seating is Out, Falling Behind Plush Designs
With everyone spending so much time at home, it seems that any sofa or chair beyond the most plush, comfortable options is out of favor. When polled on preferred iconic seating designs, Marcel Breuer’s Cesca Chair and Wassily Chair each earned just 3% of the vote, while the Panton Chair, a 1960s Danish design iconic for being the first S-shaped plastic chair, earned just 1% of votes.
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