With a new year often comes an urge for change. An itch presented by the possibilities of a brand-new year and the knowledge of the last. January represents an excellent time to refresh and revitalize your home. Hopefully having shed the excesses of the festive period and become free to define the year ahead. Here are some key ways in which you could consider uplifting your home in 2022 whether you want to take matters into your own hands or hire an interior designer.

Cottage-Core

‘Cottage-Core’ has its origins in online spaces such as Tumblr, where the -core suffix came to create an entire new naming convention for understanding aesthetics and genres. Cottage-core, born from online communities nostalgic for idealized and fictional environments and aesthetics. It embodies a specific idea of rural living. Think unfinished; well-worn wooden surfaces; thatched roofing and freshly-picked spring flowers from a nearby meadow. The trend took off online, and has now bridged the gap into the real world. Where its influencing interior design aesthetics in the process. Bring cottage-core into your home with the judicious use of light, sun-dappled pastel colours and earthy stoneware. Then add natural wood features and furniture for that rustic countryside feel. Remember for the bigger jobs to call in the professionals. For example roofing should always be done by a reputable company.

Upcycling and Sustainability

Cottage-core feeds into another trend which has been growing in popularity in recent years, but for a different reason entirely. Increasing public awareness of a growing climate crisis has resulted in renewed individual efforts to limit impact on the environment, whether by reducing consumption or choosing greener resources where possible. For interior design, this means a major focus on sustainable decoration practices, whether repairing and upcycling old furniture for a new use or sourcing sustainable materials to carry out decorations. Visually, this makes for an embracing of maximalist aesthetics – items and materials both space-age and antique, purposed and re-purposed, meeting and clashing in eclectic living spaces.

Blue is the New Black

Colours now, and one of the most recognisable new trends to hit interior design circles relates to the colour blue. Previously, feature walls and statement areas in living spaces were being painted black. Which is a bold and striking choice designed to pull the eye in and highlight unique furniture pieces. This year, though, darker smoky blues are taking centre stage. They instill a sense of calm as well as a resolute definition to a given wall or space. A darker blue bathroom paint can revitalise bathroom spaces, bringing context and dimensionality to the room. Therefore making for a more suitable space in which to relax.

Plants and Greenery

Introducing plant life to your home is nothing new. Houseplants have been a revelatory part of millennial home décor practice since the early 2010s. But appetite for interior flora has only increased in recent years, as has the variety available for homeowners to revitalize their home with. Air plants are one of the latest trends in house-plant decoration, as a low-footprint plant which subsists off moisture in the air. They do not need soil, or potting at all. Glass bulbs suspended from wall or ceiling hooks are a popular way to contain them, providing an intriguing way to introduce a sense of nature to your living spaces.

Maximalist aesthetics have also leaked in, with large, imposing ivies and twisting indoor trees impose themselves on living rooms, and truly bring the outside in.