We get you. The new year is bringing up some complicated feelings. On one hand, you welcome the opportunity to reinvent yourself, but you’re also feeling overwhelmed by the pressure.
It’s not realistic to expect sweeping change overnight, but small home adjustments and creative expression can give you a new outlook. This year, renovations focus on making spaces that ground you. For 2026, interiors should be crafted to make you feel, with an emphasis on texture and wellbeing.
We’re welcoming the tactile and taking a trip through time, pairing contemporary and heirloom pieces to build rooms with genuine soul.
Colours to Ground and Calm
Chocolate brown, spicy burgundy, and mossy green are bringing depth, luxury, and stability. These rich, earthy tones ground spaces, provide comfort, and connect us to nature.
For fans of minimalism, fear not, mushroom neutrals are here to save the day. These muted tones have a warmth and organic quality that rivals the stark whites and harsh greys that were once a minimalist staple.
Try blending natural, restorative colours with regal, moody jewel tones to balance wellbeing with playful self-expression.
Kitchens Built for Ritual
Kitchen renovations are also seeing a shift. We’re seeking solace in the rituals that steady us: cooking from scratch, gathering around the table, and creating community through shared meals. The 2026 kitchen features terracotta tiles that glow with natural light and sage cabinets that energise the space.
While we’re seeking deep, bold tones in other rooms, the kitchen returns to a simpler time. Many are saying goodbye to the fitted kitchen and choosing unique standalone furniture to create a room that feels curated over time.
For lighting, choose metallic or glass fixtures with a brass patina, or hand-blown glass with gentle curves that cast soft shadows and become the room’s focal point.
Creating Bathrooms that Nurture
Turn your bathroom into a daily spa ritual and make self-care part of your everyday routine. Combine emerald-green or natural stone tiles in slate or limestone with vibrant plants. Aside from softening hard surfaces, moisture-loving plants actively filter the air and help keep mould at bay.
Choose ferns, pothos, and peace lilies that thrive in humidity, purify your space and breathe life into the bathroom.
Subtle eucalyptus greens bring calm and look great when paired with natural wood vanities and stone sinks, with verdant emerald tile as an accent. Go for warm terracotta flooring and muted sage for walls.
Thoughtfully chosen bathroom art adds a layer of novelty and makes your daily routine feel more intentional. Choose prints with organic forms, abstract landscapes in earth tones, or botanical studies that echo your living plants.
Living Rooms that Tell a Story
Lived-in luxury defines the 2026 living room. Homeowners are embracing a collecting sensibility and selecting unique items from the past. The 2026 lounge blends era, texture and substance: think chunky throws, tactile ceramic vases and ergonomic furniture with soft, rounded edges that invite touch.
If you’re not ready to remodel your living room, curate a gallery wall to take centre stage, mixing vintage finds with modern prints in varied frame styles that give the feel of a collection built over time.
Bedrooms to Support Your Nervous System
Your bedroom should evoke feelings of calm and relaxation as soon as you enter. Choose soft earth tones, such as limewash and warm taupe, that read as neutral while radiating more warmth than grey or eggshell.
Add biophilic elements to bring the outside in. A single trailing pothos on your bedside table, linen bedding in natural oatmeal, a jute rug underfoot. Invest in tactile items that provide comfort and make you feel safe. Layer wool blankets and velvet cushions to create the perfect space to curl up with a good book at the end of a long day.
Look Beyond the Label for True Sustainability
2026 marks a turning point in eco-conscious design. People are seeking transparency through clear supply chains and homeware built to last decades rather than seasons.
This aligns with the modern heritage movement, where many choose to upcycle vintage furniture to breathe new life into their homes. When buying new, research whether materials are sustainably sourced. Choose quality over quantity and
support makers with transparent practices.
Design a Home that Makes You Feel Good
This year, we’re prioritising how our homes feel over how they photograph. From kitchens that invite connection to bedrooms that calm and cocoon us, each room in your home can contribute to a sense of grounding. The bathrooms that double as personal retreats, the living rooms that tell your story through collected pieces, and hallways that guide you thoughtfully through spaces.
You don’t need to transform every room at once. Let one renovation inspire the next and use design as an act of care to create a home that steadies you in challenging times.
