The Top Six Interior Design Trends for 2021 / January 13, 2021 by Margaret Chambers

Over the course of my interior design career, I have watched many trends come and go. Some looks are timeless and never seem to go out of style. Others fall in and out of favor in decades-long cycles. In this article, I’ll touch upon the six trends I am seeing come back for 2021: colorful interiors, antiques, globally-inspired rooms, home offices, brass hardware, and wallpaper.

Color:

Starting around the 2010s, designers and homeowners alike gravitated towards neutral interiors with cool grays, dark hardwood floors, and all-white walls. Recently, I’ve started to see things swinging back in the other direction. Colors, especially rich colors (like ocean blues), are finally back. I think this is due in part to Instagram, where colorful interior photos seem to attract more attention than neutral ones. While I have designed many white-and-gray homes at my clients’ request, I’ve always preferred color and am excited to see homeowners favoring it once again.

For this Preston Hollow dining room, we decorated the wall with antique Rose Medallion plates.

Antiques:

Contemporary design has enjoyed precedence for quite a while now; meanwhile, Old-World styles went out of fashion. Nowadays, however, people are wanting to mix old and new pieces again. Since people are spending a lot more time at home, buyers are more attracted to comfortable furniture with rounded curves and traditional detailing instead of sharp lines and sleek metals. Antiques add history, warmth, soul, and character to a house.

This older project from our portfolio still looks current today due to the use of bold colors and multicultural art.

Although antiques are not as valuable as they once were, I predict that buyers will begin to seek them out again this year. Antiques and vintage items also appeal to young homeowners because they are a more sustainable option than newly-produced furniture.

Globally-Inspired Rooms

Another trend that design experts are predicting for 2021 is globally-inspired and travel-inspired rooms. This makes a lot of sense, since many of us have spent the year yearning for travel. With the right décor, it’s possible to make any room feel like a tropical getaway, coastal oasis, or luxury hotel room. Some interior designers are also seeking to include influences from Africa and India in their work.

Home Offices

The patterned wallpaper we placed on this dining room ceiling helps to create the illusion that the ceiling is taller.

Global Workplace Analytics, a research and consulting firm, predicts that twenty-five to thirty percent of the workforce will continue to work from home for multiple days of the week by the end of 2021. Although most people will be working outside of the home this coming year, the trend of renovating home offices is here to stay. This year will also see many people turning their rooms into multi-purpose spaces, such as combining a living room with a home office.

Brass Hardware:

For many people, brass hardware screams ‘the 80s.’ Interestingly, it’s been making a comeback for the last few years. This may be related to last decade’s trend of tonal gray rooms: brass added some much-needed contrast and warmth to those otherwise cool spaces. One newly popular brass finish is “living finish,” which starts out bright and patinas naturally over time.

Wallpaper:

Wallpaper has been back for four or five years now and is still going strong. Lately, I see a lot of wallpapered ceilings and bathrooms. The one area of the house where it’s still considered “too dated” for wallpaper is the kitchen.

The trendiest patterns include botanicals, geometrics with metallic colors, textured wallpapers, and trompe-l'œil wallpaper (such as faux bois or faux tiled patterns). Some people also frame wallpaper panels and display them as pieces of artwork.

If you’ve been wanting to redecorate but have worried that your love for color, brass, antiques, or wallpaper dates you, fear not. Now is the perfect time to capitalize on those looks, so reintroduce them into your home to your heart’s content.

Is one of your new year resolutions to update your home for 2021? You can make the process easier and smoother by enlisting the help of a professional interior designer. To schedule a free consultation with us, call our Dallas office at 214-232-9501 or send an email to info@chambersinteriors.com.

The Ultimate Guide to Styling Your Home Office / December 10, 2020 by Margaret Chambers

The shelving and cabinetry in this home office we designed in north Dallas add lots of helpful storage space.

This year, many of us have found ourselves working from home for the first time, and wanting to design—or redesign—our home office spaces. The best home offices are not just ergonomic and well-organized, but beautiful, too. Read on for some designer tips for home offices, based on things I’ve learned while designing offices for my clients in Dallas.

Pick the Best Room for Your Home Office

The first step to designing a home office is also the most important: choosing the right location. Managing a healthy work-life balance can be a challenge, so it’s crucial to designate a spot that you only use for work. Of course, not everyone has a spare room available. Some other areas for home offices that you might not have considered include the landing, the kitchen, or under the stairs. To create a strong divide between your work and living area within one room, consider using a decorative screen or sliding door to separate the two.

Large windows, such as the ones in this Oak Cliff home office, fill the room with light and promote alertness.

If you put your home office in a corner, choose the corner closest to the window. When you begin to tire of looking at the computer screen, you’ll be glad to have somewhere else to rest your eyes on for a moment. Speaking of eye strain, make sure to install a bright bulb in your lamp for task lighting.

Plan Your Color Scheme

Paint color psychology plays an important role in home office design. Blues, greens, and purples are cool colors that promote relaxation. Since blue is the sleepiest of them all, I don’t recommend it for offices. On the other hand, green is a nice medium between restful and alert, giving the room a refreshing feeling.

Pastel yellow, pink, burnt orange, or dark red can be gently energizing, but bright orange, neon yellow, or fire engine red paint colors will be too overwhelming for most offices. Neutrals such as whites, beiges and tans are popular choices for both commercial and home offices. That said, since this is your personal space and not a cubicle, feel free to include bold accent colors in your décor for more personality.

We used a lot of colorful artwork in this Dallas high-rise home office. The white walls give the eye places to rest.

Shop for Space-Saving Organizational Aids

You’ll definitely want some organizational aids and storage, but don’t buy anything you won’t use. Identify everything you need to perform your job well at home before you shop for office supplies. For example, if you only use one pen, there’s no need to get a pen cup. To save on desk space, consider installing floating shelves on the wall or using a vertical file folder.

A universal design problem for home offices is managing cords. Thankfully, there are products on the market for this exact issue, including desk grommets, cable clips, and cord covers. Power strips can be mounted to the underside or backside of your desk to keep them out of sight.

If you’re going to splurge on only one piece of furniture, it should be your office chair. Ergonomic desk chairs will have a curved back that is firm, rather than cushy, for the best support.

This home we designed had modern architecture, so we made sure that the home office was modern in style, too.

Coordinate Your Office’s Décor With the Rest of Your Home

Generally, a home office should be in stylistic harmony with the rest of the house. For example, an antique writing desk is a great choice for an office in a traditional house, while the furniture in a midcentury modern office should be simple and streamlined. If you’re a plant lover, bring cheer to your space with some potted plants. Art lovers should adorn the wall behind their desks with a gallery of artwork or a stunning patterned wallpaper.

Depending on your line of work, you may need to invite clients into your home office. Include some comfortable seating for guests if you do. Otherwise, you should avoid putting a cozy sofa or reading chair in your office. The temptation to take a nap may become too difficult to resist!

These additional chairs we added offer visitors a comfortable place to sit when they stop by.

When you love your home office, you’ll be more motivated to spend time in it, and keep the area tidy, too. Hopefully, with these suggestions in mind, you can tackle your home office design project with confidence.

The photos in this article are just a few examples from the Chambers Interiors design portfolio. As you can see, our design team has a lot of experience with home offices. If you’re interested in hiring us to design an office that goes perfectly with your Dallas home’s architecture, email us at info@chambersinteriors.com or give us a call at 214-651-7665.

Margaret Chambers and her team lead one of Dallas' top award-winning residential interior design firms.