Interior Design Trends 2025: A Personal Perspective on What's Defining the Year
- The Del Gatto Interiors Team
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Every year, a wave of predictions washes over the design world. Some stick, some fade, and others quietly evolve into something completely unexpected. But 2025 feels different. It's not just about aesthetics or ticking off a trend checklist. This year, design is becoming more intimate, more intentional, and more human.
I've been in the interior design industry long enough to recognise when a trend is surface-level and when it reflects something more profound—a cultural shift, an emotional undercurrent, or even a longing for something we've lost. And what I'm seeing this year, both in my studio and through conversations across trade fairs, is a quiet revolution, one that's reshaping the way we design and the way we live.
Here's my take: This is not a buzzword-heavy list or a Pinterest-perfect roundup. It's a real, layered narrative of the themes, colours, materials, and feelings shaping the Interior Design Trends 2025. Please take this as a journey through the spaces we're creating and the lives they reflect.
The Colour Story: Emotion Over Aesthetics
Colour has always set a space's emotional temperature. But this year, colour is more than a mood. It's memory, nostalgia, and a rebellion against sterile minimalism and lifeless greys.
Oxblood is everywhere, and I'm obsessed. It's not just an Interior Design trend for 2025—it's a feeling. There's something raw, grounded, and unapologetically elegant about it. I used it recently on a velvet daybed in a client's reading nook, surrounded by warm walnut wood and sheer curtains made of sheer linen. The room didn't just look good. It felt safe, warm, and honest.
Then there's Butter Yellow, which I call the anti-grey. It's a colour that whispers instead of shouts. It's light, cheerful, and slightly retro. I never expected to love it, but after incorporating it into a sunroom project, paired with white oak and vintage ceramics, I realised how much we all need a bit more joy and softness in these dark days.
And the earthly spectrum? Still here. Still essential. Terracotta, olive, clay, and every sunbaked tone in between. We're still craving nature, grounding, and tactility. But this time, it's less about copying nature than embodying it.
Maximalism with Meaning
I couldn't wait to write this, but minimalism is... tired. It served us well, teaching us restraint. But now, we're ready to fill the void.
Maximalism in 2025 isn't clutter. It's not just shelves full of objects or colour for colour's sake. It's curation with soul. Think of it as storytelling through layers—a blend of Art Deco lighting, Rococo silhouettes, hand-thrown ceramics, and travel-worn textiles—not because they match, but because they matter.
A few months ago, I worked with a couple in South London who had just returned from Morocco. Their brief? "Make our home feel like a memory." We used Zellige tiles, vintage Berber rugs, and plastered walls in a shade between desert sand and rose. Every corner of that house now feels like a personal poem. That, to me, is 2025.
Innovation in Materials: The Rise of Responsibility
The Surface Design Show this year blew my mind. It wasn't just the beauty on display but the ethics behind it.
One material that stayed with me? Polygood. Made entirely from recycled polystyrene, it's proof that sustainability doesn't have to mean sacrifice. I've started specifying it for commercial interiors—retail counters, office panels, even tabletops. Every panel tells a story of waste transformed into wonder.
Natural stone is back, too—but not in the overly polished, sterile way. I'm talking travertine with texture, marble with mood, and raw edges that feel human.
And what about metallic surfaces and textures? Has anybody mentioned liquid gold and brushed stainless steel? I love it!!
Texture and the Senses
We're designing with our hands again. Texture isn't an afterthought—it's a necessity. I'm seeing an explosion of tactile design: boucle, linen, unglazed ceramics, brushed plaster, and woven grasses.
However, the most poetic use of texture is material drenching. Using a single material across walls, ceilings, and even joinery. I recently did a guest bedroom in lime-washed plaster, floor to ceiling, paired with a stone-toned bed and sculptural light fittings. The result? A space that wrapped you in calm.
Kitchens Unfitted, Homes Unstructured
Another surprising shift in the Interior Design Trend 2025 is the move away from fitting everything. Kitchens, in particular, are breaking free from symmetry and rigidity.
Unfitted kitchens are becoming the new standard: freestanding furniture, open shelving, vintage hutches. The same goes for living rooms and bedrooms—people crave flexibility over formality. We're seeing daybeds in entryways, desks in hallways, even baths in bedrooms. The home is evolving into a living organism, not a series of strict zones.
Wellness as the New Luxury
Forget spa days. We're bringing the wellness home.
Biophilic design is no longer just about adding a plant. It's about living with nature: sunlight, airflow, organic shapes, and materials that soothe the nervous system. In several recent projects, I've created "invisible wellness": filtered lighting, acoustic materials, and calming colour palettes that promote rest.
I've also received more requests for meditation corners, cold plunge tubs, and even salt walls. It's not indulgence; it's survival.
Final Thoughts: Toward a More Personal Future
If I sum up the Interior Design Trends 2025 in a single word, it is intention.
We're designing less for Instagram and more for ourselves. We're choosing handcrafted over mass-made, expressive over efficient, and meaningful over marketable. This is the most exciting time I've ever experienced as a designer.
The homes I'm designing today feel more alive, grounded, and human. They're not perfect; they're personal. And I believe that's where design is heading—finally.
I'll be back with more thoughts as the year unfolds. But for now, I'd love to hear from you. What Interior trends have you noticed? What spaces have stayed with you? And most importantly, how do you want your home to feel this year?
Until next time,
Paola
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