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When it comes to expressing personal style at home, nothing holds a candle to the dream team that is color, texture and finish. The choices you make for walls, cabinets, countertops, floors and more are the visual vocabulary used to tell your story. Here’s a look at the trending shifts in color and finish as 2024 rolls into 2025, according to Lynsy Anderson, director of interior design for Royal Flooring.
Warming Up
“Overall, we have moved from cool grays and whites to the warm side of neutrals with more color,” Anderson said. For cabinets and walls, she sees “mixing some lighter, brighter hues, but always bringing in a warming feature or texture to a space, such as a warm wood tone with colors like blue and green. Even whites are warmer now.” Metal finishes shine in gold tones and make a bold statement in both matte and shiny black versus the long-popular nickel and stainless finishes. Texture, “something with dimension or a tactile nature,” is a must-have, Anderson said.
Earth Tones
“The black-and-white trend has dominated for a while, so it’s refreshing to see a good neutral,” Anderson said of what she calls a noticeable shift toward warmer hues like deep green, burgundy, terracotta, ivories and browns. “People are adding rich, deep, but still neutral, jewel tones because you can use them throughout the house in tile, cabinets, paint.” These bold hues go hand in hand with the trend of saturating a room (think floor to ceiling) with color. “People are getting away from accent walls,” Anderson said. “Today, it’s more about enveloping the whole space in color.”
Rich Woods
“Bringing sophistication and warmth to your space is as easy as adding darker wood tones like walnut, dark oak or mahogany,” Anderson said. “You can absolutely mix light and dark, but tone-on-tone is the new timeless look.” Think minimal contrast from floors to cabinets with a medium stain that offers warmth but is still light enough to hide dirt. “A couple years ago people wanted a dark kitchen island with lighter floors (or the opposite),” Anderson said. “Now those elements blend together for a very rich, classic look. Modern European style is taking over the farmhouse trend.”
Natural Materials
“From bathroom vanities and kitchen countertops to furniture and decorative accessories, marble, quartzite and travertine make strong statements,” Anderson said.. “And I’m here for it.” Carrara marbles, she said, are very popular right now because they pair well with richer hues. “People are moving away from gray and white stone and toward creams, beiges, browns and ivories.” She noted that a mix of natural stone, quartz and porcelain lookalikes may be more functional — but still beautiful — for your lifestyle. “I see limestone on fireplaces; marbles and quartzites for a unique look on countertops and backsplashes in kitchens and baths,” she said. With stone, there’s an embracing of natural veining. “It adds character that can’t be mimicked and gives you something no one else will ever have,” she said.
“Stucco is making a huge comeback on exteriors, fireplaces, kitchen hoods and other larger statement pieces,” Anderson said. And — brace yourself, farmhouse style-devotees: “Reeded wood and reeded marble are definitely the new shiplap. It fits with the rise of European style.”
Playful
“Classic tiles are undergoing a fun transformation,” Anderson said. “Stripes and geometric patterns are trendy.” She nods to checkerboard tiles, traditionally in black and white, appearing in other combos such as brown and beige. “The checkerboard is coming back with a vengeance. I see it everywhere.” she said. “From small 4-by-4-inch tiles on a range hood or a shower wall to 24-by-24-inch tiles in an open entryway or dining room.” The trend, she said, when executed in coordinating neutrals, “adds fun color and pattern to something you see every day without being overwhelming, busy or difficult to decorate around.”
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