Another year, another exploration into the wide world of interior design. And what a difference 365 days make to our taste.
This year, we’re saying goodbye to the beige and off-white shades of 2024 and fully embracing PANTONE’s Color of the Year, Mocha Mousse and everything it represents — namely cravings of hot chocolate. Scandi-inspired minimalism is getting a bold upgrade, with statement art making a comeback (although did it ever truly fall out of style?). And while we thought we had pruned away our indoor jungles back in 2022, this year the foliage is creeping back in.
The verdict? 2025 is a vibe. Join Artfinder’s Chief Editor, Emily Sparshott, in discovering the best interior design trend picks for the coming year.
Browns and earthy tones
Who isn’t a fan of a warm cuppa enjoyed next to a crackling fire? Well, bottle that feeling of cosiness and apply it to your interior, as PANTONE has declared 2025 to be the year of luxury. The iconic colour design company says, "Mocha Mousse nurtures us with its suggestion of the delectable qualities of chocolate and coffee, answering our desire for comfort." With this in mind, we’ll be seeing this warm brown featured more in interior colour palettes, namely for living areas and bedrooms.
Echoing the love of brown and earthy tones, American luxury paint brand, Benjamin Moore, has declared their colour of the year as Cinnamon Slate, which sits alongside their other top choices of Leather Saddle Brown and Ashwood Moss, among others. Similarly, UK-based paint company, Little Greene’s 2025 Colour of the Year is Mochi, a light-brown shade reminiscent of a dreamy mug of hot chocolate.
And while the earthy and delicious browns will dominate this year, this does not mean colour palettes will be drab; far from. In 2025, we’ll also be celebrating rich, jewel colours such as crimson red (think burgundy, cherry, oxblood), emerald greens and sapphire blues. These tones tend to be very high in saturation, which add an extra dynamic element to your interior design.
Finally, the concept of ‘colour drenching’ — to rely on just one primary colour or shades of the same colour to decorate an entire space — will be big in 2025 according to US-based interior design firm, Studio McGee. Goodbye boring white skirting and architraves and a big hello to Moccha Mousse bedrooms — we're thinking giant chocolate bar door vibes, just don't be tempted to take a bite.
Bringing the outdoors in
What do you remember about the year 2020? (Besides a global pandemic and total upheaval of our life as we knew it?) We remember the plants. All of the plants. As we spent the majority of our time indoors, there was an immediate need for our space around us to feel both homely and reenergising: cue the Monsteras. And while the indoor plants trend quietened during 2022-2023, we’re now seeing a resurgence of biophillic interior design.
Biophillic design is the concept of integrating the outdoors into your indoor living space, not just through incorporating plants and furniture (although a quick and effective way to heighten the senses) but through your home's overall structural design. This includes large, floor-to-ceiling windows, skylights or building around already existing natural elements.
You may not be planning a huge home renovation in 2025, but never fear: if blending the outdoors with your interior is important to you, you can still achieve a lush escape without knocking down the walls. Alongside indoor plants and natural textures, consider incorporating artworks made from wood and stone, like Emanuela Camacci’s Cone, a beautiful stone sculpture, organic in style and representing a pine cone.
Here at Artfinder, we’re also big on meaningful and symbolic art — if it has a deeper meaning, we’re all ears (or eyes). Which is why we’re jumping on Architectural Digest's obsession with snails.
“Haters might say it’s a reach, but hear me out," says Senior Digital Design Editor, Sydney Gore.
"We saw the same exact thing happen with mushrooms from 2020 through 2021 … My first snail spotting in a domestic space happened in June when Architectural Digest featured a Reath Design home tour in coastal Maine. From there, I saw snails out in the wild in the streets of New Jersey and knocking on the doors of Block Shop in Los Angeles. Can I interest you in this carved wood snail table, papier-mâché snail, or medieval snail wallpaper?”
As a more general symbol, the spiral shape of a snail shell is found in many examples of the natural world, such as in the trunks of trees or ripples in the water. And while it may be a long shot, we are right behind Sydney on this one.
Vintage and playful
In 2025, we’ll continue to see the rise of vintage in interior spaces. Certainly over the last five years, there’s been a meaningful shift in the way people consume both fashion and furniture, for not only financial reasons, but personal too. After all, a unique item with history is always going to be a good conversation starter.
There are two ways to incorporate vintage in your home. Firstly, treasuring the pieces you already have — whether that be family heirlooms or simply repurposing items you’ve already bought — is the most straightforward way to remain on-trend in 2025. However, if you’ve got an entirely blank space to play with, you’ll be required to do a little more work to uncover your treasures.
VERANDA.com includes a number of ways to include vintage elements in your design. Some trends of particular note are folk art, ‘frilly’ glass, papier-mâché and dark woods. During your vintage hunt, you’ll be making sure to keep an eye out for teak, walnut or mahogany pieces — a buffet or side table are safe options to begin with — while layering glass or antique-style mixed media art to create texture and interest.
Make a statement (art)
We bet you can guess which trend is our favourite for 2025. Still unsure? We’ll give you a hint: it involves the keywords 'wonderfully unique' and 'true to your personality'. Yes, it's statement art.
We want our spaces to not only feel like personal havens, but for it to tell a story. Which is why this year, statement pieces will be all the rage. But this doesn't have to mean incorporating overly-large-and-very-awkward items into your home. When choosing items, it's all about curation, curation, curation. Consider pieces that work cohesively to create a picture of you — a picture tells a thousand words, as they say.
While a trend is a trend for a reason, if you prefer ocean blues to rich browns, beech to mahogany or simply can’t keep a plant alive no matter how hard you try, don't worry. Focus on pieces that reflect your values and ideas and before you know it, you’ll be as trendy as any interior design professional.
Image credit: Nadia Culph
