Trend forecast

Interior Design trends to watch out for in 2016! For those of you yearning to make dynamic edits in your homes, here are key insights that will help you achieve perfection.

Colour it right

It’s all about the right shade! In 2016 we will see tones of copper and leaf green sashay into our homes. Poetic and earthy, such colours also bring with them  complementary and contrasting tones. We will see light tans to greys and in contrasts, shades of citrus and a particular shade of pink called pagoda. For those of you renovating or making new homes, I suggest using high contrast. Use earthy tone for base walls and floors. Make them pop with accessories and soft finishes. ‘Matchy-Matchy’ interiors and colour-blocked walls are going to feel very passé this year.

Multifunctional  Coffee Table Ottoman by White by Meher

Pagoda (pink) Drink Table by Lounge by Nyla

Mix it up

Furniture forms in 2016 are varied. Since different eras have defined our homes we stand at the forefront of new innovations – your mid-century modern console, or your 1920s cabinet are still in vogue, but with a difference. This is the use of mixed materials. Where before there was wood on wood, we will now see wood on brass, on plastics, on stone and so on.



The other change you will see next year is that furniture will become multifunctional, and trend towards multiform pieces to save space. If a single object can have more than one use, then its on trend. Your stools should be seats or table, your coffee tables should break apart to become smaller, or many  tables or stools.

Citrus Console by Lounge by Nyla

Mixed Material Tray Table by Aurum

Mixed Material Island Table by Aurum

On-trend shades

The biggest trend to watch out for in fabric is shading (also called balayage or ombré) yes, you may have had this done to your hair in the past, but that’s the interesting thing about interior design - a lot of interior and fabric trends come from the fashion world. Way to go? Curtains. Start with a basic white fabric, like raw silk or khaddar and get it dyed in two colours that morph into one another at the forty per cent line. My personal favourite is high contrast balayage, like taking a grey earthy tone and morphing it with pagoda. The same rule applies for furniture fabrics – shaded and speckled fabrics. Digital prints are here to stay, but backgrounds will also see touches of balayage.

Leaf Green Chair by White by Meher

Balayage Chair in leaf green by Esque

Multiform Multifunctional Coffee Table Stools by Kohr by Arsalan A Khan

It’s all in the details

This year, the more detailing the better. Some tips:

• Move beyond the conventional: look up and wonder why your ceiling is white, then paint it in one of the high contrast colours of 2016. For grey walls, go for a citrus lime ceiling.

• Now, install some brass lights from the ceiling and some plain white square spot lights on your walls at around eight feet as you don’t want to waste any art space.

• What next? Furniture: fun multifunctional. Get a white and grey ombré sofa, which pulls apart to become smaller. Invest in a coffee table that can be used as extra seating, this could mean an ottoman with various trays, or something that pulls apart and becomes stools. Cushions can be in crazy digital art prints.

• Apart from the TV unit, find a cabinet that can hide your clutter and add character to the room. This has to be a statement piece.

• Curtains – Ombré! Check!

• Last touches! Rugs and Accessories, vivid and high contrast to other furnishings in the room. Mini-Trend: Lampshades with silk outside and inside. Printed on the outside? Then keep it plain inside.

• Make it comfortable!

There you have it, trends that will make any home feel welcoming and stylish. Happy planning everyone!