Many thanks to Evelyn Long for her article, 2026 in Review: Spooky and Spectacular Trends We’ve Seen This Year. Be sure to read Evelyn’s bio at the bottom.
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Looking back at 2026’s interior design landscape reveals a wild ride. Some trends cast a spell on living spaces and turned ordinary rooms into showstoppers. Others haunted hallways like unwelcome ghosts. This year brought spectacular hits worth keeping and spooky misses ready for exorcism. Even better, 2027 is creeping up with frighteningly good trends that promise to refresh your home.
Spectacular Trends Worth Celebrating
This year gave us some truly transformative design moments. The trends that resonated most were those that encouraged homeowners to be bold and embrace statement-making choices rather than play it safe.
Immersive Scenic Murals
Image Source: Casart Coverings Wave Mural | Sea Life Collection
The explosion of scenic murals in 2026 creates mood and adds dimension that plain painted walls simply can’t match. These spell-binding scenery installations became the defining choice for homeowners who wanted to make a real impact. Think floor-to-ceiling forests in dining rooms or dramatic ocean waves wrapping around a bedroom. Large-scale immersive wall coverings create stunning focal points and instantly elevate your room’s atmosphere.
The easiest way to embrace this spectacular trend is with removable and reusable murals that make application easy. When you want to swap out your look next season, you can do it without calling in professionals. Look for options like this wave mural that bring a sense of movement and energy to any space. Images with a defined color palette are often easier to style around than those with many colors, but your personal taste should take precedence over playing it safe.
Nature-Inspired Design
Sprouting from the crypt of sterile minimalism came biophilic design, a spectacular trend that brought life back into our homes. This is the practice of incorporating natural elements into interior spaces. It goes beyond putting a fiddle leaf fig in the corner. This approach integrates natural elements, textures and colors into the core of your home’s aesthetic.
You can use this trend effectively by incorporating as much natural light as possible, adding features like living walls to bring nature indoors, and choosing earthy color palettes. Think exposed wood beams, stone accent features, rattan furniture and plenty of greenery creating layers of organic texture. The result is a calming sanctuary that feels connected to the outdoors even when you’re several floors up in an apartment building.
Color-Drenched Rooms
This trend took over living rooms and bedrooms across the country in 2026. Color drenching means painting the walls, trim, doors and sometimes even the ceiling the same color or varying shades of the same hue. The technique creates a cocoon-like and immersive environment. Surprisingly, it can also make rooms feel larger, because it eliminates boundary lines.
However, enjoying this trend without overwhelming your space requires some strategy. Here’s how to make it work:
- Start with a smaller room, like a powder room or office, to test the waters.
- Vary the paint finishes, such as eggshell for walls and semi-gloss for trim, to create subtle dimension.
- Choose a color that you genuinely love, since you’ll be surrounded by it.
- Paint one wall first and live with it for a few days to see how it feels at different times of day.
Spooky Misses to Leave Behind
Not every trend deserves a second life. Some design choices from 2026 need to be banished to the decorating graveyard where they belong.
The Ghost of Word Art Past
Generic “Live, Laugh, Love” signs and mass-produced word art are the true ghosts of design past that need exorcising from your home. This trend feels tired because it lacks personality and makes your space feel like a big-box catalog rather than a curated home. Interior designers have made it clear that they’re tired of seeing instructions rather than intent hanging on walls.
Here’s how to replace this spooky miss with something spectacular:
- Swap out typography for vintage sketches or flea market finds that tell a personal story.
- Hang framed textiles or tapestries to add visual weight and texture.
- If you love words, try framing a meaningful handwritten letter or an original poem instead of a mass-produced sign.
Lonely Accent Walls
The single random accent wall has become a bit of a decor zombie. It refuses to fully die but looks increasingly out of place in contemporary spaces. Painting just one wall can make a room feel disjointed, choppy and unfinished. The problem is that it creates visual confusion rather than cohesion.
Modern design favors committing to a look rather than dipping a single toe in. Instead of a lonely accent wall, go all-in with the color drenching mentioned above or use bold wallpaper on all four walls for a cohesive and wrapped look that feels intentional.
Frankenstein Floral Clashes
The grandmillennial trend of floral-on-floral-on-floral went a little too far this year. Layering too many competing floral patterns on the sofa, pillows, curtains and walls creates a room that can feel chaotic and dizzying rather than charming. When every surface blooms with a different rose or peony print, the eye has nowhere to rest.
Rooms heavily saturated with multiple clashing patterns are losing their luster as people crave airier and crisper interiors. Use florals with a lighter and more thoughtful hand. Choose one statement floral piece and let it shine against calmer backgrounds.
Frighteningly Good Trends for Next Year
As 2027 creeps closer, some exciting trends are emerging from the shadows. These fresh approaches promise to breathe new life into tired spaces.
The 2027 Color Coven
Next year is set to continue the trend of moving away from cool, flat colors toward bold, alluring shades or rich, earthy neutrals. The shift toward pigment-heavy hues and earthy neutrals for 2027 includes predictions from russet to lilac, along with maize and deep green, creating unexpected combinations.
Color drenching is likely here to stay for 2027, but modern color blocking offers an alternative. This technique uses defined geometric shapes filled with two or more contrasting colors to highlight your home’s unique architectural features. Paint one wall in deep navy and the adjacent wall in warm terracotta to draw attention to an interesting corner or alcove.
Bold and Classic Stripes
Image Source: Casart Coverings Neutral Stripes in Casart Spoonflower Shop
Beetlejuice would approve of this crossover trend from the runway that’s set to make its way into home design. Stripes are having a major moment, especially stripes-on-stripes or asymmetric stripe combinations. These patterns offer a crisp and tailored look that provides structure to a room and acts as the perfect antidote to the chaotic florals we’re leaving behind.
The key to using this trend effectively is blending wide and thin stripes and incorporating warm, earthy neutrals in stripes of different sizes. Look for patterns with tones touching on oxblood, russet, maize, tobacco and clay. This kind of neutral stripes combo with warm tones on your walls creates a sophisticated structure without feeling too formal.
Bewitching Tapestry and Embroidery Details
Image Source: Casart Coverings Peacock Damask Design
Expect a shift toward highly textured and tactile decor details, like tapestries and heavy embroidery. This upcoming trend emphasizes craftsmanship and artistry along with artisanal touches that add layers of warmth, history and sophistication to a room.
You can embrace this idea by swapping out flat, printed throw pillows for embroidered ones, or by hanging a large, dramatic tapestry over your bed or sofa instead of standard framed art. To get a similar effect without fabric, consider this removable wallpaper with intricate damask-like patterns in rich and opulent shades for maximum impact.
Wrapping Up Your Decor Magic
Trends come and go like seasonal spirits, but the most important aspect of design is creating a space that feels uniquely yours. Embrace the upcoming 2027 trends with confidence and adapt them to your personal style. Your home should be your spectacular sanctuary, not a haunted house of design regrets.
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Additional posts & resources:
- Create a Haunted House and 11 Other Fun Halloween Activities
- Chic & Natural Halloween Decor for your Home
- Design Trends over the years
- 5 Fantastical Garden-Inspired Designs for Every Room
- Romanticizing Your Home with Soft Textures and Lighting
Many thanks to Evelyn for her insightful article.
About the author:
Evelyn Long is an interior design expert who uses emerging trends to help every homeowner discover their perfect style. Her work, regularly published in the National Association of Realtors, I+S, and DecorMatters, offers readers actionable tips for blending the latest looks with their personal taste. As editor in chief of Renovated Magazine, Evelyn is committed to making great design accessible and tailored to every individual.
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