Cool grays and walls of white are out, and earthy neutrals mixed with pops of color are in, according to some top stagers.
“Anything warm is on the rise” in interior design, Kiel Wuellner, senior creative director at Vesta Home, the nation’s largest staging company, said. “Browns and camel have replaced the ‘50 shades of gray’ trend.”
Overall he expected 2025, like 2024, to be a transition year, with once-popular cool tones still present but warmer hues gaining influence.
Burgundy and “rusty tones” are also increasingly popular, Wuellner said. He feels a personal pull towards muted greens and blues, always paired with camel or taupe. He predicted that jewel tones will also show up (though, personally, he’s not a big fan) and that mixed styles — high with low and modern with traditional — will also gain popularity.
Vesta Senior Designer Xandro Aventajado agreed that jewel tones would continue to be popular and recommended pairing them with “warm metallic accents, creating a look that’s both bold and timeless.”
He’s “currently in love” with warm, deep gray-blues because of their versatility and sophistication but would like to see more earthy purples like aubergine and plum come onto the scene, as well.
Overall, Aventajado said, there’s a trend toward keeping spaces “lived-in yet elevated, with more saturated hues adding sophistication.”
Apparel runway shows provide early alerts on what other colors and textures might soon be coming to interior design, the designers said.
“I feel like interior trends play off fashion trends, and chocolate suede is having such a moment right now,” said Christina Slater, Vesta’s New York creative director. She predicted both chocolate and deep olive would sweep staging motifs this year, with warm neutrals like creams and beiges sticking around from last year as well. She also advocated for soft fabrics like mohair and velvet in rich colors like Merlot and navy.
Vesta’s Northern California Design Director Taylor Sassa agreed with the brown and olive trend and said to expect burnt orange to become a focus as well. She also expected to see less in the way of boho-inspired tassels and more rooms that are streamlined and modern yet mixed with antiques.
Hard-edged modern on its own is too cold for today’s taste, according to Tracy McLaughlin of the Agency, who specializes in advising her clients in Marin and Aspen on how to prepare their high-end homes for sale through remodeling and staging. The desire for warmth is manifesting itself in everything from a return of moldings and millwork to slightly curved sofas, as well as black and brass light fixtures and hardware, she said. White oak herringbone floors are “a real smash.”
“If you put that in a house, it’ll immediately make it look like new construction,” she said.
Slater said the “viral red” trend, where red pops up unexpectedly in an otherwise neutral room, would be sticking around because it’s fun and timeless, while still feeling high-end. Any unexpected color could stand in for red.
“You can never go wrong with the juxtaposition of complementary colors with a twist,” she said, or go all the way and “drench” an entire room from ceiling to walls and doors in just one eye-catching tone.
McLaughlin recently put that theory to work at a $9 million Marin listing, where she did the library all in a glossy green so it stood out in the marketing photos next to the rest of the house, decorated in neutrals.
More color may be coming to the bedroom, too. The “white tight sheets and layers that make you feel like you are at a four-star hotel every night” will likely be sticking around, Slater said, but she would like to see more beiges, pinstripes and other subtle patterns make their way to the forefront.
Overall, the designers agreed it was time to mix things up.
“Take chances,” Wuellner said. “Interiors should reflect the owner, while also complementing the home’s architecture and finishes.”
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