What's Hot in 2018 for Your Home

A new year, a new…chair? While we might tease trendwatchers for habitually snapping up the latest and greatest in furnishings, it’s normal to find new objects, colors and patterns interesting.

But there’s no need to makeover an entire home. Instead, freshen up your living room by changing out a silver-toned lamp for brass, or repainting a tired grey bathroom in a gorgeous new blue.

Here are some upcoming color, furnishing, kitchen and bathroom trends – either hop on the style bandwagon, ride for just a while, or watch it pass by.

Color Trends

Benjamin Moore’s color palette for 2018 includes many rose hues (dusty and otherwise), pale greens, and warm, earthy colors. The color of the year: “Caliente,” the color of a Red-Hot, the cinnamon-flavored candy.

Sherwin-Williams chose Oceanside, a marine-inspired deep, dark jewel-toned blue-green. Other palettes include “Sincerity,” a desaturated scheme inspired by hygge, or a cozy warmth; unity, bright colors inspired by optimism and globalism; and connectivity, a pixelated palette inspired by tech.

The Pantone Institute looks at not just individual hues, but how they play together for Home Interiors 2018. For example, the “Resourceful” palette features complementary color-wheel colors; nostalgic hues in the “Discretion” palette and “Verdure,” a mix of greens with purples and blues, according to this article by Home Accents Today, an online industry publication.

Upscale paint company Farrow and Ball’s fall/winter 2017 catalog notes that wallpaper is incorporated within the design trend of “texture,” which also boosts use of velvets, linen, wood and fur. Other trends noted include “escapism” (floral and botanical designs) and “maximalism” (velvet, eclectic furniture and vivid colors).

If you want to skip the splatter, consider wallpaper, such as Graham Brown’s wallpaper of 2018, a Magnolia-pattern on a metallic backdrop

Interior Trends in Furnishings

Interior design professionals attend furniture shows and markets to discover next year’s new materials, furniture and design trends.

Every six months, the High Point market in High Point, North Carolina brings together interior designers, architects, buyers and others in the home furnishings industry. Senior Market editor Jennifer Condon’s piece House Beautiful points to some interesting new debuts, including brightly colored vinyl wallpaper, a sleek swivel chair and architectural wall sconces.

Browsing High Point Market’s Fall 2017 picks gives a fashion-forward clue to dressing next year’s house, with brassy light fixtures, 70s’s style armchairs, geometric pillows, and compact and flexible stools and poufs.

Geometric patterns, wood (in bowls, stools and other accessories) and um, fringe will be popular in 2018, according to coverage of a speech by Pantone Color Institute Executive Director Leatrice Eiseman on Realtor.com. Use of triangles, letters and words, metallics, and iridescent texture are on their way in, says Home Accents Today in coverage of the same speech.

Portland-based interior designer Jessica Helgerson of Jessica Helgerson Interior Design finds that clients are enjoying built-in furnishings in living areas. “We do a lot of built-in-sofas, which are amazing in a small space, to be able to have 20 people over comfortably,” she says. With compact houses increasing in popularity, the smart space usage makes sense.

Kitchen

Is a solar-powered fridge in your future? In 2017 the Silestone Institute carried out a survey gathering the opinion of more than 800 professional kitchen and bath experts in eight countries (including the U.S., Italy and Australia). The survey held clues to kitchens of the next 25 years; you may detect some of these trends in the coming year.

With an increased focus on “smart” appliances, you’ll be able to personalize and manage your fridge, oven and other gadgets through mobile devices, according to a piece covering the Silestone survey in Editor at Large, an industry publication. Kitchen tools and techniques may be borrowed from the professional community, including vacuum cooking and packaging.

Kitchens will integrate more into the rest of the home, a multi-functional space that boosts emotional health, relaxation, leisure and work. Lighting that matches time of day or syncs with food or emotions (think: quiet dinner at the end of the day, versus a bright-lit breakfast nook). As a hub for family gathering open to the living spaces, the kitchen will be used to watch TV, surf the Internet and do homework.

Bathroom

Homeowners are ditching the tub, according to a survey of consumer trends released by interior site Houzz, in September 2017. Splurging on showers and boosting the size of a master shower is top on homeowner’s lists. Add-ons include rainfall showerheads, dual showers, mood lighting and digital controls.

Millennials want bigger bathrooms, and more homeowners are looking for high-tech bathroom features, such as toilets that are self-cleaning, offer a bidet feature or have overflow protection (a built-in nightlight is an interesting high-tech option, too).

Top bathroom wall and flooring colors at present: grey and white. White countertops are also a popular pick, but dark wood cabinetry and multicolored countertops appear to be on the way out.

So if you’re ready to welcome 2018, paint those walls Caliente Red.