7 HOME DECOR TRENDS FOR 2020
We all love decor trends! I do too! I either love to think about incorporating them into my home or I view them as an interesting train wreck! There are certainly changes in decor upon the horizon so let’s preview home decor trends for 2020.
Before we get into the trends let’s set up a few ground rules.
DON’T SHOOT THE MESSENGER!
Seriously, friends! I’m just sharing what I am seeing! You may be happy about these trends or not. But please know that it’s my job and joy to share them.
You have no idea how many emails I get every time I do a trends post! And sometimes they can be a bit testy!
Thanks for understanding!
HOW TO LOOK AT DECOR TRENDS
First, all trends are just great guesses. The design industry (including blogs) look ahead to see what they feel will be showing up strong in the near future.
Second, trends are just that. Trends! That does not mean you can’t love what you have or are in any way compelled to change. When I do trend posts I get tons of emails from upset readers telling me why they love what they have and won’t embrace change!
Trends are not about changing your style, but offering you thought-provoking ways to see how design changes the way we live.
For example, I see velvet still very strong in 2020! And velvet sofas still the queen of the velvet movement. Although I absolutely LOVE the look of a cobalt blue or deep green velvet sofa I’m going to appreciate it from afar and a gorgeous velvet sofa will probably never end up in my home.
For me, this trend is not practical! However, you might see a couple beautiful velvet pillows on my neutral, stain-resistant sofa this winter!
And lastly, trends often contradict one another. And yes, that can be confusing.
Here’s what I mean. This year I see neutrals and naturals will still have a big, big presence. And I’m also seeing beautiful colors like corals and greens pushing forward in the design industry.
That’s because design is like fashion. There is not a one size fits all trend! Designers have different niches and manufacturers carry many different styles to satisfy consumers different tastes.
So think competing trends as offering fresh ideas in decor to everyone’s decorating preferences.
Now let’s look at 7 trends that are pushing to the front in 2020!
TRENDS ON THE HORIZON
I think there is a huge shift coming in the way we use our homes! I’m seeing a work meets leisure fusion. The need for a workspace in our homes is skyrocketing! And the push is to find that perfect mix of living space and working space. We will talk more about that later.
But now, let’s get into the decorating details I see for 2020.
NEUTRALS…
The first trend I see still very strong for 2020 is neutrals! They are not going anywhere! However, they are morphing a bit.
INDUSTRY VIEW
I’m reading that we will be seeing more bone, and wool white, and softer tones and tints of white.
Gray is still a decor player but as I’m reading I keep hearing that the shift is moving from gray to bone. In other words from cool neutrals to warmer ones.
MY TWO CENTS
I love this shift! However, I’m really still fixated on pure white walls. I love how they show off whatever is put in front of them. I’m all in when it comes to using softer whites but I’ll be trending towards white walls.
Now, about gray. As many of you know I appreciate gray and love it in accents in my home but I cannot live with it in more concentrated doses. Color is powerful and can evoke strong emotions. I never knew the effect of color on our emotional well-being until gray came on the scene!
Gray makes me sad! Funny, but not funny! Saying that I still am SEEING gray everywhere. The industry talk is less gray but gray is not going away! Maybe gray will not dominate the decor scene as much as a couple years ago but it is still a strong contender and deserves a place on the 2020 list.
DULLED DOWN BLUES
Blue was the up and coming color in 2019 and now it’s the “it” color this year!
This is not your mother’s blue. No powdery colors! No straightforward shades! This new decorating trend blue is moody and muddied and darker!
Tones of blue like Benjamin Moore’s Van Deusen Blue (HC-156)
Or Benjamin Moore’s Hale Navy (HC-154) is on-trend right now and will continue to be popular in 2020
INDUSTRY VIEW
Blue is a color favorite… always. In one form or another. And this year there is a shift from cobalt blue popular a few years ago to deeper and more dulled down tones. It is a natural and welcomed progression!
MY TWO CENTS
I’m in LOVE LOVE LOVE with these gorgeous, moody rich blues! The work so well with so many colors. And to me, are a new neutral! Neutral! Well, not really but what I mean to say is they will probably coordinate with the colors you use in your home!
I’m seeing kitchen and bathroom cabinets painted these luxurious blues! Will you see mine painted blue? Probably not! But I might not be opposed to a cloudy blue island!
You will definitely see a dirty, rich blue in my home!
GEOMETRIC DESIGN
Geometric designs have been popular for a couple years and they are here to stay for another year.
See this pretty geometric wallpaper HERE.
See this beautiful geometric chandelier HERE.
INDUSTRY VIEW
There is a major love affair with geometric designs. Geometric wallpaper, lighting, furnishings, and accents!
The lines are clean and thin. Nothing clunky or heavy!
MY TWO CENTS
You can’t go wrong with adding a taddy bit of geometrics to almost any decor style. Just don’t overdo it! And interpret geometrics to work with your style. Go for classic designs on a French chair and get a little crazy with a more contemporary style!
Wallpaper an accent wall with geometric design with lots of negative (white, empty) space.
Paper a small powder room with a thin-lined geometric design and use an architectural element such as wainscoting or shiplap or tongue and groove on the bottom half of the walls to balance the wallpaper.
Put a great accent chair in a fun geometric fabric in a neutral room.
from top left… micaela armchair || sophia slipper chair || karina slipper chair || gatley flared armchair
I think this fun trend can add a lot of style and fun to what we have in our homes! Me? Look for a new accent chair in my living room soon.
GOLD AND BLACK CHROME
Move over stainless, chrome and nickel! Gold is probably hitting its zenith of popularity in the home decor trend movement for 2020!
We have seen it gaining an immense following of natural brass, bronze, and gold lovers! And who can resist it after almost a decade of all that silver!
from top left clockwise… ellison two-tiered coffee table || mason 4-light chandelier || casas end table || marlene table lamp
INDUSTRY VIEW
Gold metal is nothing new. It is just coming on very strong in new and exciting ways! Natural brass that earns its own patina and other gilded metals are showing up in sleek designs for the modern home.
MY TWO CENTS
As the saying goes… what goes around comes around! And so it is in decorating. But returning styles usually come back with a little different spin!
I love the pared-down, slimmer profile of the gold accents I am seeing! This is not the brass and gold of the 1880’s and 90’s!
I think gold metal is a very welcomed returning classic! There is room in on-trend home decor for all metals. And they look their best when they are mixed together.
Choose gold to be your predominate metal color and mix it with a bit of nickel! Gold and nickel look gorgeous together!
Don’t shy away from the gold trend just don’t be too matchy-matchy!
WORK AND LEISURE FUSION
More and more people are working from home and there is a huge shift in combining a living space and a workspace. What does that look like? Well, in-home offices for 2020 may look like nothing you have ever seen!
INDUSTRY
The homes on the horizon are mixing home and work together in a whole new way. Yes, there will still be home offices and studies but there is a big forward movement towards fusing our lives and overlapping leisure and working environments!
Modern looking homes have great storage spaces that open up to reveal a whole office! And kitchens have work areas mixed into huge islands. This new home and work living shows up best in open concept homes where multifunction is taken for granted.
MY TWO CENTS
This may be a trend for designer homes and decor with a big price tag right now. But this is a trend that is just now being introduced will only continue to grow!
It makes perfect sense to me! Why be secluded to a room of your home while working! Why not work in your favorite parts of your home!
I’ve been seeing some wild and wonderful interpretations of this 2020 decor trend and I LOVE it!
VELVET, AGAIN!
Velvet is a luxurious classic fabric to use in your home! And it’s back!
INDUSTRY VIEW
The rustic, chippy farmhouse movement has been here for over a decade and although it is still very popular many decorators are just getting a bit weary of it. They long for elegance and scrumptiously beautiful fabrics like velvet and silk!
MY TWO CENTS
For some reason, velvet was very popular among designers last year but this trend did not catch fire with the home decor public. So velvet is having a do-over!
I so agree with the weariness of the chippy farmhouse evolution and am ready for a little more luxe!
GOING GREEN
Just like some of our other 2020 trends, going green and using sustainable and recycled materials is still here! It is a part of our lives now.
INDUSTRY VIEW
There is a definite tidal wave push for sustainable decor materials. From recycled bottles that become furniture to beautifully engineered materials for floors. Going green and caring for our earthly home will forever affect the home we live in!
MY TWO CENTS
I say, get used to it! This is a trend that will be a lifestyle.
Today more care is given to using materials that are sustainable! And this push has produced some beautiful and useful new home decor products.
I’m especially taken with the new flooring and backsplashes and ceiling treatments all made with engineered material.
WHAT DECOR TRENDS MEAN TO YOU
Some decor trends are fun to know and some are really going to change our lives! I think we need to pay attention to two trends. Technology and the green earth movement are going to change how our homes look and function in the very near future! These two things will have a huge effect on how we decorate and live in our homes!
As far and color and style? Well, you can love it or leave it! That’s for you to decide, my friend!
Whew! I just painted my office Hale Navy. Happy Day! laura
LOL!
Oh I love seeing the new trends. I’m actually re-doing my bedroom and using more brass and gold accents. My furniture was all black, and I am tired of it so I’m painting (well, I should say my husband is doing most of the work) it a creamy white and distressing just a touch to show a little black on the corners and edges, and it really has brightened up my room. I still love black furniture, but in accent pieces. My whole bedroom being black was just too dark. So the white is brightening up the room. I just think gold and brass accents look great with white, and my neutral bedding with burlap accents (my dust ruffle and curtains are burlap). I always love your inspiration and am already looking forward to some early Fall posts on your blog.
Sounds like you are a busy decorator! One thing I am doing is adding some brightly colored rugs to my floors. I’m so excited about this new trend too!
Velvet – love it but I have too many cats including fosters. I would spend all day vacuuming the velvet.
The rest of the trends – not interesting
Thank you for your help in articulating trends
Good morning, Beautiful!
I’m fixated as well as you on WHITE walls! I can hardly wait to find a White House, as well, my hubby and I are moving ! We’re trying to find
Our last house! Yvonne, I ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️Your videos! You’re an ABSOLUTE doll! XOXO
Thanks! I really did not know if I would like video but I do. One thing the videos showed me is my hair needed a but more styling! So I had it trimmed and layerd. You can see it in the next group of videos I’m planning!
Glad to see a come back of color and classic and elegance! Is wool white the same as winter white of years gone by? Have a great day. Linda
That is how I am interpreting wool white too, Linda.
Thank you for your comments on GRAY! I am so tired of Gray. I grew up with a Mother who did not like gray, said it always reminded her of a gray coffin. In fact, when my father passed she said “no gray coffiin” – any other finish but gray. Gray is depressing I agree. I have seen a few places where charcoal gray has worked – once in a laundry room, with white trim. Looked great. Always fun to read your “take” on the market. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Linda! No wonder you don’t like gray. Isn’t it amazing how our childhoods can affect how we feel as adults.
Yvonne, I’ve been reading your emails for a couple of years now and thought it was high time to tell you how much I appreciate your home decor help and wisdom! I really think what you are doing is a form of ministry–using your own gifts and interests to help others, and doing it from a platform of personal character and faith-groundedness. Thanks for all you do!—Blessings, Jeanie G.
Wow, Jeanie! Thanks so much! The encouragement is so appreciated!
Thanks for sharing Yvonne. I am not a designer and everyone has their own opinion/favorites. I like that you tell us what is the trend but also to use what we love. I will take gray over beige and brown any day! And they can keep the gold trend for themselves. It may not be the brass of the 80’s/90’s but it’s too close for me! I do plan to use more blue in my new house though. Even the builder said thank you for not chosing beige and white everything.
You may want to look at the beautiful gold decor. It is NOT brass of the 80/90 AT ALL. It has a look all its own.
I also like gray but I don’t like the grays that have a bluish tint to them. I don’t like blue in my decor at all. I see it in homes of others and it’s beautiful but I know I couldn’t live with it over 3 days and I would be wanting a change.
It’s all a matter of personal taste Bobbie. So you can love it from it from afar.
Just as in women’s clothing – “new” trends are published in order to sell something “this year”. If it’s dark make it light, if it’s light make it dark. They have to change something or you will simply use what you have. Unless women are convinced a change is necessary, nothing will sell that year. That’s why men’s clothing never changes but women’s clothing changes drastically from year to year. I’m with Yvonne, peruse the new trends as inspiration but stick with what you like and can afford. Unless your house is on the market, don’t go with the flow just to keep up with the latest trend. If dark is “in” but you want white walls, stick with white. If you want to “keep up”, do it with accessories not the bones or big ticket items of the decor. (Velvet? To me it’s very formal, stuffy, old/last century, hoity-toity, “don’t sit on me” and heavy feeling — Gray? depends on the gray, some grays are like blues and are very relaxing and cooling. To each his own… Vive la différence!)
Well said Amma!
I agree gray is depressing. We recently bought a house the realtor had suggested to paint the interior gray to sell it. I had the entire interior repainted a neutral eggshell. Now it is truly lovely. Glad gray is out!!!
Well, I would not say OUT! It is still a trendy color but not as popular as it was a couple years ago. I think gray is a classic color but in 2020 and beyond we may not see it used on the walls of every room in a home.
I agree with you on gray, Yvonne! Since my dad was in the U.S. Army, we lived mostly in government quarters throughout my childhood in the 1960’s. Gray and O.D. (olive drab) green are two colors I just can’t tolerate in my home. Depressing!
Maybe that’s why gray is a little sad to me. We lived in lots of base housing too!
I don’t like that gold is making a comeback. Chippy furniture I never liked! Slightly worn and chipped is subtle and doesn’t look like you got it out of the trash! LOL
Love the update on trends. We are building a home and nice to see what is appearing and what is drifting out.
Great read!
Congratulations on your new home, Jayne! And God bless you in it!
Yvonne,
Your videos are excellent! Way to go! I think I am seeing your new hairstyle and it is beautiful! Your hairdresser has done a super job.
Trends… thanks for giving us a look at what is coming in 2020 and for doing it with grace.
Judith
Thanks so much! Actually, this is the old hairstyle. The upcoming hairstyle is new. You will be able to see the difference
Hi Yvonne,
May I please ask where you purchased the arrows on your wall? Plus the rod that has the French laundry basket on it. I love the arrows, the rod, and the basket!! Sundays I always look forward to your devotional. Thank you so much
The arrows came from a local shop. And the French Laundry basket came from Decor Steals. Go online to Decor Steals to see if they still have it.
I just love geometric designs! So I’m happy that that trend is alive and I’m able to have more in my home. I’m not sure about that kinda blue thou, although it works well with golden and chrome home decors.
Thanks for this article, now I know what to looking for. 🙂
So glad it was helpful!
Loved this article and the honesty!
Thanks, so much Alli! This home is where we made so many family memories!
Thanks for the trend updates. I always appreciate your view and couldn’t agree more that not all are for everyone. We followed the gray trend and once painted the bedroom that trendy color. I found it so depressing that we had to repaint in a month.
Thanks, Emily! I love to see gray in a home but I just can’t use it!
Thank you for the great work and interest ideas. I I just finished home improvement and, not knowing it, fell into trends – white walls, geometric design. Thank you very much. I will be your follower.
Welcome to the StoneGable family Elena!
I am so with you on the gray moody think. Four years ago my husband and I purchased an early 1950’s brick home in Greenville, SC . The previous owner thought to update the home by painting every room but one a shade of gray, the bedroom being a dark purple/mauve gray. I am sooo wanting to paint the walls, especially my bedroom and living room, well all rooms a white or oyster color!! We did paint the guest room sea salt from Sherwin Williams paint, and it is the freshest and brightest room in the hom, color and mood wise that is! Thank you for your input and walk with our Lord!
I am loving most of these trends, but I feel like I’ll be that dorky out of style lady forever with the chrome and stainless steel for my metals. It’s not that I don’t love the gold in other people’s homes. (and I tried for my own home. Oh man, did I try.) It’s just that there is a very limited way I feel that I can make gold look good and I never seem to pull it off. I LOVE silver, so I’m okay with that. 🙂
Jen, you are so right! Use what YOU love!
I feel the same way about gray! It makes me sad. That being said, I changed the color in my sunroom from a butterscotch/sunflower yellow to a warm taupe, and I love it. The room seems calmer and more elegant!
I love blue too, but just can’t understand the new trend in choosing for cabinets. In my opinion, always best to use a neutral and change out accent colors.
I have white cabinets and loved this look even before it became popular.
By the way – I love your home and decorating style!
Hi Yvonne, when our house was built many years ago, we had the walls painted light grey. I was very disappointed as it felt to me like an overcast dreary day with that colour. As quickly as I could I began to paint the walls white, which was wonderful.
I guess I’m not the only one that is affected by gray! I have white walls now and LOVE them too!
Thank you for sharing the 2020 trends. We moved recently to be closer to our grandchildren and have wooden oak kitchen cabinets. Our LR has fireplace with fieldstone colors of greys and shelves next to FirePlace painted a beautiful grey. I was thinking of having my kitchen cabinets painted grey and going with white granite with soft grey lines and a white backsplash…..Tell me please what are the future colors of kitchen cabinets?? Is grey the wrong color to paint. Please assist as to what color would you paint cabinets?? To blend in with the L.R.
Hi Diane, Grey is still a very popular color. First, it’s really all about what YOU like! If you like gray cabinets then paint them gray. Gray will probably be around for a while. But it is not as popular as it once was. White, however, is a classic! We are painting our cabinets white. That way I doubt I’ll have to paint them another color.
I hope this helps.
I am 100% with you on the gray trend (it depresses me). I never incorporated it into my decor (which was difficult since everything was gray). I will be glad when it goes!! I am also 100% happy with the blue, brass, gold trend. I am grabbing everything I can find to add to my decor that is blue. Now if they (the industry) will throw in some french country accents (like rugs & pillows) in warm reds and yellows with traditional patterns, I will be a happy happy gal!! Great post on the new trends, thanks for sharing!! 🙂
I’m with you Yvonne. I love the calming of white. I had grey in the eighties and it was gloomy.
Hi Yvonne! Love your article! I totally agree with you on the trending geometric patterns in furniture and decor. This January, I replaced the old sofa in my living room with a new set that had beautiful geometric designs on it. By the time I got down to replacing the decor, the pandemic struck and I haven’t been able to complete my work!
Well written and so wonderful post! Great work!! Thanks for sharing
I really like the rattan / woven natural materials trays you use in your decor. Could you provide links for locating them? I’m not having much luck – at all – in finding pretty trays!
Here are a few trays you might like. cut and paste the links: https://rstyle.me/+GoT1nOrmBiPhbgOutYbo4w https://rstyle.me/+n_VUwqOQX2xd41NdjpPkJg
Thanks for all the new trend info. Im with you.
..love the velvet but just not practical in my world. On a different note entirely, i know you’re a huge fan of simply white paint. Will you use it for your kitchen cabinets as well?
Yes, the painters are here today spraying the cabinet bases. I can’t wait to see the fronts.
thankyou for sharing this
Elegant!
So sweet!
It is!