2022 Home Décor Trends

Over the past two years, our home décor needs have changed. We’ve had to adapt to how we do everything from work and learning to exercise and entertainment. Home, which has always meant more than just a house, is the heart of our lives. It has become the center of our fitness, school, and work lives, as well as our family universe, and it’s become increasingly clear that this way of life is here to stay.

To fit the new landscape of our lives, we need functional décor that works for us to take care of what matters without distraction. BDI has been ahead of the curve, anticipating many of the emerging trends that we are now seeing. 

Here are some of the home décor trends you can expect to continue through 2022.

The Great Outdoors

Exterior spaces are getting significant makeovers, with people devoting more time to caring for their homes in general and their exterior spaces in particular. We’re moving a step above lush gardens and manicured landscaping to create more functional outdoor living and workspaces.

With a well-designed outdoor space, people can create more opportunities for small get-togethers, family dinner nights, or even a zoom conference call with an authentic outdoor background. However used, you’ll see more furnishings designed to withstand the elements.

And when we can’t take our work outside, we can make our interiors feel more like the soothing outdoor sanctuaries we love. To this end, home décor is transitioning towards warm earth tones, deep rusts, and every shade of green.

Consumers also want to live with natural fibers and materials that bring the feeling of the outdoors in. Fibers like jute, washed linen, and cotton will add natural texture and tactile elements to indoor spaces. This includes natural marble surfaces, stoneware, travertine, and terracotta accents to inspire a feeling of nature. 

Organic Shapes

In keeping with elements from nature, home furnishings are taking on more curved, organic forms. While the traditional rectilinear coffee table or squared-off chairs and sofas will always have universal appeal, consider refreshing your living areas with pieces that embody a sense of movement and flow.

Now is the time to think outside the box when it comes to home furnishings. Think lush and curvy shapes such as a sumptuous lounge chair or a curved couch. Or, you might incorporate a new table that boasts rounded outer edges or more amorphous shapes. These unique shapes provide a greater variety in how you can place your furniture, and unique table shapes work particularly well with sectional sofas.

Warm Minimalism

It may be cliché to say, but when it comes to home décor—especially over the last couple years—less really is more. And with many families still working and schooling from home, the desire to keep home spaces clean, simple, and clutter-free has never been higher.

With a slant to what is known as 'warm minimalism', interiors will focus on simplicity, clean silhouettes, soft lines, and most importantly – no clutter. But this simplicity does not mean a space needs to be stark and uninviting. This minimalism must be balanced with furnishings that are supple, tactile, textural, and shapely, creating the perfect balance of spaces that are organized and orderly, yet warm and inviting.

We are seeing this manifest in lighter wood tones, soft, natural fabrics, and smooth, easy-to-clean surfaces. Think mid-century vibe, but in a softer, brighter incarnation.

Repurposed and Vintage Looks

Updating your home does not mean you have to have everything new. As we’re all aware by now, the supply chain has been strained globally due to increasing demand for material goods. This means that this year you may need to be a little more resourceful in sourcing the furniture that you need. 

Don’t be afraid to be innovative and hunt for statement pieces from a local source like an estate sale, thrift store or second-hand shop. You may score an incredible vintage desk or wardrobe that pulls together your design theme or provides a subtle contrast, adding warmth and timeless style to a room.

Be sure to keep your overall décor theme in mind, however. If it doesn’t work well with your existing elements, it may not be a good get, no matter how much you love it.

Form Follows Function

The Bauhaus school embodied the adage, “form follows function,” and their creations reflected that in the starkest possible manner. The function is as necessary as comfort and visual appeal in your home. While you should feel your most comfortable at home, you want to get the most from your spaces.

Just as your rooms often serve multiple purposes—the dining room or living room may turn into an office during the day—so should your furniture do the same. This is where multipurpose furniture plays a part. A coffee table’s top raises to transform into an ideal workstation, then glides back to its resting position when it’s time to entertain. The end table by the chair transforms into a convenient laptop desk when working in front of the TV. That console table that serves as a laptop station during the day turns into a buffet at night.

Like well-thought-out spaces, well-designed furniture can help you transition from one function to the next with ease and look great doing it!

Home Office Remains Central

If we’ve learned anything from the last couple of years, it’s that WFH is not going anywhere. Reports indicate that we will likely morph into a three-tiered workforce. Frontline workers, like those in the service or healthcare industry, will remain mostly in-person in the near future. A large segment will adapt with a hybrid approach—working partly from home with a few days in the office. But roughly 50% of the workforce will remain fully remote.

So with more than half the population at least partly working from home, the home office is of increasing importance for home décor trends. Real estate reports show new home buyers are looking for dedicated home office spaces more often than not. But if that is not available, consumers find ways to creatively and effectively create hybrid spaces that work.

Whatever you have available to you, filling your workspaces with functional furniture that helps get the job done is necessary. This means increasing interest in standing desks that offer an efficient workstation or a modular system that incorporates shelving and storage to keep everything in its place. Also, investing in a good office chair is no longer a nice-to-have—it’s become a priority for home-based workers. ​

In cases where multiple people are working from home, furniture that can function as a workstation during the day but convert to storage or an entertainment piece at night has become increasingly relevant.

Curbing Clutter

While spending more time at home may go hand-in-hand with the build-up of more 'stuff', consumers are focusing on solutions that help simplify and organize their spaces. This means we will see more investment in storage and functional shelving that helps keep everything easily accessible but orderly.

Online tools and solutions that help organize your life, help create checklists, find deals and save you money have also increased this past year and will continue to do so. Home décor apps and interior design tools abound, helping consumers with real-life solutions—or make-believe creativity—to plan and design their spaces for the year ahead. We can expect a continued growth of mobile technology that keeps everything in the palm of your hand while helping create more effective workdays, supporting a better work/life balance.

Though there is still so much that is uncertain about 2022, one thing that we can count on is that our homes will continue to be a place of focus in the coming year. As with anything, those who plan ahead and create spaces and systems that work to meet the needs of their family will be primed for a successful new year.