Home Design Trends We’re Loving Right Now
A little inspiration for the last stretch of the year
As we head into the last stretch of the year, home tends to get a little more attention.
We’re spending more time inside, getting ready for the holidays, welcoming people over, and sometimes noticing the spaces we’d love to change.
Sarah recently attended a design training with HGTV interior designers, and it sparked plenty of ideas about what we’re seeing in homes right now—from warmer colors and natural materials to wallpaper, mixed finishes, and spaces designed around everyday life.
You don’t need to follow every trend or start a renovation before the year ends. But if you’ve been thinking about refreshing a room, tackling a small project, or simply finding new inspiration for your home, these current design trends are worth a look.
What Home Design Trends Are Popular Right Now?
One of the biggest shifts we’re seeing is toward homes that feel warmer, more personal, and designed around the people who actually live there.
Instead of making every finish match or keeping every room perfectly neutral, homeowners are bringing in more color, natural materials, texture, character, and spaces that serve a purpose.
Here are a few of the trends that stood out to us.
1. Homes Are Feeling Warmer and More Personal
For a while, home design leaned heavily toward white, gray, black, and very neutral spaces.
Now we’re seeing more warmth.
That might mean deeper paint colors, natural wood tones, vintage pieces, interesting tile, textured fabrics, or simply keeping some of the character that makes a home different.
That doesn’t mean neutral is suddenly “out.”
It just means your home doesn’t have to look like everyone else’s to feel beautifully designed.
2. Color Is Coming Back
If you’ve been ready for a break from cool gray, you’re not alone.
We’re seeing warmer and more grounded colors show up throughout homes—earthy neutrals, greens, browns, deeper blues, charcoals, and richer colors that give a room a little more personality.
And you don’t have to repaint your entire house to try it.
A powder room, office, bedroom, built-in, or even a single piece of furniture can be an easy place to experiment with color.
If you prefer something more classic, warm neutrals and greige tones can still work beautifully.
One thing to keep in mind: If you’re thinking about selling relatively soon, the color you love for your own home and the color that makes sense before listing may not always be the same. That’s a different conversation—and one worth having before you repaint the whole house.
3. Wallpaper Is Bringing Personality Back
Yes, wallpaper.
And we’re not just talking about the wallpaper you might remember from years ago.
We’re seeing wallpaper used in smaller, more intentional spaces like:
Powder rooms
Entryways
Pantries
Bedrooms
Accent areas
Even ceilings
It’s a fun way to bring pattern, texture, or personality into a room that otherwise feels a little plain.
You don’t need to wallpaper an entire house, either. Sometimes one small space is enough to completely change how it feels.
4. Natural Materials and Texture Are Everywhere
Another theme we’re seeing is a move toward materials that don’t necessarily look perfectly uniform.
Natural stone, wood, interesting tile, textured fabrics, and finishes with variation can make a home feel more layered and lived-in.
That might include marble, quartzite, soapstone, travertine, natural wood, or simply bringing more texture into a space through smaller design choices.
But this is one area where we wouldn’t recommend choosing something just because it’s trending.
Natural materials can vary quite a bit in cost, maintenance, durability, and how they age.
If you’re making a larger investment, choose something that works for your home and your everyday life, not just something you’re seeing everywhere online.
5. Everything Doesn’t Have to Match
This might be one of our favorite shifts.
Your cabinet hardware doesn’t necessarily have to match your faucet.
Every wood tone in the house doesn’t need to be identical.
And your kitchen doesn’t necessarily need one cabinet color from top to bottom.
Mixed metals, different wood tones, painted cabinetry paired with natural wood, and collected pieces can make a space feel more layered and personal.
The key is making it feel intentional.
If you’re nervous about mixing finishes, start small. Changing cabinet hardware, a light fixture, or a piece of furniture is much easier than committing to a major renovation.
6. We’re Paying More Attention to How a Home Feels
One of the more interesting changes in home design isn’t really about design at all.
It’s about how we use our homes.
More attention is being given to spaces that make everyday life more comfortable and functional.
That might look like:
A quiet reading corner
Better storage
A comfortable place for everyone to gather
A bathroom that feels a little more relaxing
Better lighting
A useful home office
An outdoor area you actually use
A flexible room that can change as life changes
Not every home needs a dedicated wellness room or a spa bathroom.
Sometimes it’s much simpler than that.
It’s asking:
What would make this home work better for the way we actually live?
That’s a question we think is much more useful than asking whether something is officially “in” or “out.”
7. Small Changes Can Make a Home Feel Completely Different
A home refresh doesn’t have to mean a renovation.
If you’re looking around your home this fall and feeling ready for something different, start with something manageable.
You could:
Paint one room or smaller space
Change cabinet hardware
Replace a light fixture you’ve never loved
Try wallpaper in a powder room
Rearrange a room around how you actually use it
Simplify what’s displayed on shelves and surfaces
Bring in a different texture through pillows, rugs, or window treatments
Finally organize the space that hasn’t been working for you
Sometimes changing one thing makes you see the whole room differently.
And if the holidays are bringing people to your house, you don’t need to suddenly redo everything before they arrive.
Your home doesn’t need to be perfect to be welcoming.
Before You Update Your Home, Ask Yourself This
Trends are great for inspiration.
They’re not always a good reason to spend money.
Before making a bigger change, ask yourself a few questions.
Do I actually love this?
If you’d choose it even without seeing it all over Pinterest or Instagram, that’s a good sign.
How long do I plan to be here?
If you’re planning to enjoy the home for years, your own preferences should carry a lot of weight.
Does it work for everyday life?
Beautiful isn’t very helpful if the material, layout, or feature doesn’t work for your household.
Is it easy to change later?
Paint and hardware are very different commitments from countertops, flooring, or cabinetry.
Am I updating for myself or because I’m preparing to sell?
Those can be two completely different strategies.
If you’re updating a home you plan to enjoy for years, make choices you love.
If you’re considering selling in the near future, it can be worth having a conversation before spending thousands on improvements that may not be necessary.
Trends Are Inspiration, Not Rules
Our favorite thing about where home design is heading right now is that there seems to be a little more room for personality.
Not everything has to match.
Not everything has to be neutral.
And not every house needs to look like the house next door.
Your home should work for the way you live in it.
Trends can help you discover a color you hadn’t considered, give you an idea for a room that isn’t working, or finally convince you to change the light fixture you’ve disliked for five years.
Take the ideas you love.
Leave the ones you don’t.
That’s really the fun part.
Frequently Asked Questions
What home design trends are popular right now?
Current home design is leaning toward warmer colors, natural materials, texture, personalized spaces, mixed finishes, and rooms designed around how people actually live. Rather than making everything perfectly neutral or matching, many homeowners are bringing more character and personality into their spaces.
Do I need to follow home design trends when updating my house?
No. Trends are best used as inspiration rather than rules. Consider how long you plan to stay in your home, what works for your everyday life, your budget, and what you genuinely like before making a change.
What are some easy ways to update a home without renovating?
Paint, cabinet hardware, lighting, wallpaper in a smaller space, rearranging furniture, updating window treatments, and simplifying shelves or surfaces can change how a room feels without requiring a major renovation.
Should I update my home before selling?
It depends on the home, its condition, the local market, and which improvements you're considering. Some updates can help a home show better, while others may not be necessary before listing. Before making a larger investment specifically for resale, talk with a local real estate professional about which changes may make sense for your home and your selling timeline.
Should I choose trendy finishes if I'm planning to sell soon?
Not necessarily. If a sale may be coming soon, broadly appealing and well-maintained finishes can sometimes make more sense than investing heavily in a current trend. The right approach depends on the home, price point, neighborhood, existing finishes, and likely buyers.
A Note from Sarah
One of the reasons I loved this design conversation is because it wasn’t really about making a home “perfect.”
It was about making it personal.
Your home can change as your life changes. Sometimes that’s as simple as paint, new hardware, or finally making a room work better. And sometimes you realize the home itself doesn’t fit quite the way it used to.
Either way, you don’t have to make changes because a trend tells you to.
Take the ideas that make your home feel more like you—and leave the rest.
Helpful Resources
Thinking about updates because selling may be somewhere on the horizon?
Explore our resources for selling your home and learn what may actually be worth updating before you list.
Wondering if your current home still fits your life?
Start by exploring your home’s value and what your options could look like.
Thinking a different home might fit better?
Explore homes for sale and start narrowing down what matters most for your next home.
Going through a bigger life or real estate change?
Visit our Resource Library for more guides about buying, selling, rightsizing, and making your next move.
