Keep up with the Joneses, or get ahead of the curve with these top five interior design trends to expect in 2018.

Colour of the Year

According to major paint manufacturers, there is some observable consensus on the colour of the year. Jotun’s “Blushing Peach” and Dulux’s darker “Heart Wood” are two versatile shades of pink revealed in late 2017 as the world’s choice of warming and comforting tones to mitigate the effects of our urban lifestyles and the uncertainty of our present times.

This compact living room, designed by Traci Connell Interiors, features a subtly warm shade of pink similar to Jotun’s “Blushing Peach” - with the versatile shade appearing lighter while under the influence of other bright colours and an abundance of sunlight

Rustic-Industrial

With industrial land continually being converted into commercial properties and homes around the world, post-industrial interiors will likely continue to appear for decades to come. As of late 2017, the global consciousness began to shift into a restorative mode, resulting in rustic features such as reclaimed wood being increasingly blended with post-industrial style.

This urban loft epitomises the new rustic-industrial aesthetic - with an exposed clay brick wall and roughly-hewn concrete forms of industrial origin accompanied by reclaimed wood furniture

Classical Centrepieces

While the world’s emerging economies experiment with styles incorporating aspects of regional cultures, paying homage to European tradition is still considered the most direct route to the overt display of wealth. However, as with everything else in life, moderation is the key. The careful curation of antiques and classically-inspired furniture or decorations as centrepieces is still largely preferred - over the assembly of a completely classical, and potentially gaudy, décor.

A few select pieces of classical design - such as the matching armchairs and oriental carpet pictured here, serve to elevate the decor to luxurious heights

Scandinavian Minimalism

The Nordic nations often set global standards in multiple arenas, and no other decorative style as lightweight, airy, or prevalent as Scandinavian design has emerged from any other region of the world so far. The Scandinavian colour palette is equally prevalent, appearing even here in the tropics as the favoured neutral colour scheme of our homes.

The pale architectural finishes and minimalist furnishings upholstered in accordance with a neutral palette are the hallmarks of Scandinavian style, pictured here with the charming accompaniment of rustic wood beams painted in white

Futuristic Innovations

The term “modern contemporary” gets bandied about quite a bit, but words evolve and only a handful of decades lie between “modern” and “vintage”. Those seeking to redefine modernity should look to recent developments such as smart home fixtures and ecologically-conscious engineered materials such as wood laminates and reprocessed metals.

This bedroom demonstrates the kind of results that can be achieved with relatively affordable engineered wood laminates and recent lighting technology that enable the smallest fixtures to be hidden away in recesses for dramatic effects

About the Writer

Kiff Oakenhill is a freelance writer of works ranging from the fanciful to the technical, having written on topics as diverse as anthropology, geopolitics, and the arts.