It’s the most wonderful time of the year… for people on the Internet who commit the month of December to reading lists for sport: recaps and predictions for interior design trends, rankings for the best and worst of them all, what’s in and what’s out. (If you’re reading this, the call is coming from inside the house.) Though we tend to have a love-hate relationship with “out” lists—your space should be designed for you, not others, not a trend cycle—it is a fact of life that there are larger movements gaining and waning in popularity.
So if you’re still crushing hard on a trend on this list, believe us when we say we’re not trying to yuck your yum. It’s up to you to decide what you leave behind in 2023 and what will earn a spot in your home in the year ahead. Just remember, trends may come and go, but your investment furniture pieces will last forever. Read on for our predictions on the interior design trends that are most likely to fade into the background in 2024.
Hiding your stuff
Collectors, rejoice. This year more than ever we saw personal knickknacks and photos on full display throughout the home. We’re talking on shelves, walls, your refrigerator—any surface available. Gone are the days where your mementos were designated to a sad closet box. We’re moving away from closed storage and the regimented minimalism associated with sterile counters and toward an environment that favors evolving collections and stacked personal items that bring you joy, like we saw in photographer Tyler Joe’s entryway. So go ahead, kick off 2024 by rummaging through your own cabinets and re-embrace cluttercore.
Wide open spaces
Critics have been calling for the end of the open floor plan since the start of 2020, but this revelation hits a bit different. There’s a commonality in many of the homes that we profiled this year: their small square footage. Has our generation finally decided we don’t need a cavernous house with extra, non-essential rooms, or can we only afford smaller real estate footprints? While extra space is a nice luxury, there’s something comforting about curating a tight, multifunctional space. Sure, we cook in the kitchen with our Le Creuset sets in full view, but isn’t that also where we connect and hang out? Why shouldn’t our living room double as a home gym? (Who is still reserving a guest room for just guests?) Even parents are making it work, proving that home is a respite no matter the size.
Blah beiges, greiges, and grays
Not since the ’70s has there been such an irresistible, gravitational pull toward warm, saturated colors. We saw this most in the move away from the cold grays and barely there beiges, now ubiquitous with both minimalist and farmhouse design styles, to deep, rich shades of brown. All-white walls are being replaced with color-drenched rooms—from the ceiling to the molding and every paintable surface in between, creating a new restrained maximalism. (This midcentury Oakland home designed by Arthur’s, the multidisciplinary design studio of Nick Spain, is a prime example.)
Wavy edges
For years, we’ve been gravitating toward overdoing it on curvy furniture, including a certain sofa that can best be described as a blob. One of our writers even waxed poetic about why the wiggle trend will never go out of style (for the record, we still strongly agree). And though you have our permission to hold on, this year we saw scalloped edges overtake easy-to-find waves. Why? There seems to be a gravitational pull to the ultrafeminine. The scalloped edge in design is akin to the hair bow in fashion. The cherry red bathroom cabinet in artist Andy Dixon’s Silver Lake home and shelf that spans the length of the kitchen in a colorful Mexican apartment says it all.
High-pile patterned rugs
It’s not that we don’t love a cozy, high-pile rug in a bright, eye-catching pattern. It’s just that this year, everyone bought a low-pile, single-color rug. Primaried owner Jonathan Sanchez-Obias showed us how to be bold, and architect and designer Martin Massé is here with a more minimal take. If you haven’t stalked and saved potential new flooring from Armadillo & Co or Nordic Knots, this might be your sign. Perhaps next year we’ll see less statement-making patterns on the floor and migrate up, embracing bolder upholstery and wallpaper.
Checkered patterns
The Internet has spoken: The omnipresent checkerboard pattern is officially Gen Z’s chevron. (Cue a collective shudder down the spine of every millennial reading this.) While that’s not stopping everyone, we are seeing a slight movement away from the classic pattern to other alternatives. Plaid and stripes are gaining traction and being applied in fresh ways with the rise of the Old Money aesthetic. In the meantime, we’re happy to hand out passes to people with original tiled bathrooms, rugs of the Moroccan, and jute varieties and those who were committed to the pattern before it started trending in the first place, like AD editor Sydney Gore.
Plants you can’t keep alive
That olive tree looks great in your favorite influencer’s house, but there’s a 99% chance it won’t survive in your apartment. Don’t buy it. It’s bad for the environment, it’s bad for your wallet, and it’s bad for your morale (if you’ve ever killed a tree and have been forced to look at the dead tree day in and day out before disposing of it, you understand my last statement). Earlier in the year, Plants and Spaces founder Zilah Drahn gave her thoughts on the topic in our coverage of the cringiest plant trends we’re leaving behind in 2023.
Uncomfortable furniture
I’ve lost track of the times someone has told me the tale of a friend who purchased a sofa with Internet clout as the only endorsement for a real chunk of change only to be sorely disappointed in just how uncomfortable the lounging experience was. Well, we’re not doing that anymore. Say it after me, form AND function. Being uncomfortable in your own home is a nightmare. This year as a part of Seat Week, we spoke with five plus-size creators about their sofas. As Alyse Whitney, food writer and TV host said, “Furniture, especially couches, should encourage people to stay relaxed, be comfortable, and really enjoy their time.”
Being influenced
From dupes to originals, there have always been pieces you see, you want, you buy, and join the proverbial club. Owning a notable trend piece is a status symbol of sorts and usually signals that you know what’s “in”—think the Murano mushroom lamp of 2019, the Ultrafragola mirror of 2020, the Togo sofa of 2021, and the Camaleonda sofa of 2022. To a certain extent, it’s trend participation. But not anymore. Not only have we reached peak dupe, but there’s a certain vibe shift on personal style afoot. Now, your proudest pieces on display are ones that nobody else has, like a jouch!
Faking it
We’re all for adding character and charm to your home, but creating something out of nothing isn’t always possible. Which is why we’re leaving behind the concept of “faking it.” No natural light? Lean into the moodiness and paint the room top-to-bottom in a pigmented shade. Live in a new build? Skip the fake molding and embrace a more modern vibe, creating contrast by adding vintage furniture and decor instead of mimicking old architecture.