The New Year is when many of us resolve to make changes to better ourselves. And sometimes those changes involve our homes. After all, even if you’re lucky enough to have a tropical vacation planned, you’re still going to be cooped up at home for most of the winter, so it’s not a bad idea to update your décor.
Keeping your home’s décor and interior design up-to-date has benefits beyond brightening the dark days of winter. When you regularly renovate your home, you put a focus on the comfort and functionality you enjoy from your home. Especially in kitchens and bathrooms, there are always new storage options and convenience features that simply make your home a nicer place to live. And keeping it up to date maximizes your home’s value, should you ever decide to sell it.
Interior Design Trends for 2017
From new colours to new technology, every new year brings with it certain trends that you should know about so you can make the best choices. Here are some of the design and décor trends you should look for in 2017.
1. The 2017 Pantone Colour of the Year
No interior refresh or renovation can happen without choosing a colour scheme. If you’ve never heard of Pantone, it’s a company that is the keeper of all things colour. When paint colours are matched from one can to another, it’s done using the Pantone Matching System.
Each year Pantone releases it colour of the year, which is often the basis of many interior design trends. Recent years has seen the colour of the year shift between ‘neutral’ shades of earth tones, like greens and browns, to bright primary colours, including reds and yellows.
Greenery – Falling between neutral and bright, Pantone says the following about “Greenery”, its colour of the year for 2017.
“a fresh and zesty yellow-green shade that evokes the first days of spring when nature’s greens revive, restore and renew. Illustrative of flourishing foliage and the lushness of the great outdoors, the fortifying attributes of Greenery signals consumers to take a deep breath, oxygenate and reinvigorate.”
While Greenery is considered a neutral colour, Elle magazine called it “the world’s brightest neutral.”
2. Mixed Patterns
Fashion design often finds its way into interior design. If you’ve had an eye on the fashion runways in the past few years, you would have no doubt spotted the trend to mixed patterns and textures. That trend will come to home decor in 2017 so you can finally put to rest the idea that your décor shouldn’t be “too busy”.
3. The Faux Finish
Have you ever visited a friend’s post and beam cottage, or funky downtown ‘exposed brick’ loft, and wanted your home to have at least a touch of what sets those interiors apart? Then 2017 is your year. While imitation finishes for walls, floors and counter tops have been around for a while, newer versions are more authentic looking and offer added benefits, like ‘wood’ that doesn’t rot or warp and engineered quartz that withstands the ravages of the kitchen better than its authentic counterpart.
4. Folding Appliances
Just like many design trends, like faux finishes, are the product of outside influences, so too has the recent proliferation of condominium buildings had its effect on current trends. If you’re a condo owner in one of the many new developments in Markham or Richmond Hill, you’ll be happy to know that your lifestyle has spawned at least one interior design trend this year. Appliances, even furniture, like kitchen stools, that fold away help to maximize the living space inside condominium apartments, which seem to get smaller with every new development.
There’s one ‘trend’ that is permanent. You can always put your own creativity and personal style to work in your home’s decor in a way that makes it a more pleasing and inspiring place for you – regardless of what the current trends might be.