From art-deco revivals to 70s vibes, from pastel colors to palettes of the 80s, Milan Design Week has heralded in the strongest and most interesting trends that are to mark the year 2020. Along with fresh interior designs, we see vintage aesthetic making updated comebacks for eclectic combinations that revolutionize the way employees and homeowners interact with their office and residential space. So, what has the next year got for us?

Maximalism

The minimalism that has heavily influenced interior design trends over the past decade seems to be fading away. Whether it’s a reaction to severe plainness that many homes and offices suffered from or acceptance of more fulfilled furnishing, more and more clients are following suit. When introducing transitional and eclectic styles into your space, interior designers are trying to give you much more freedom for considering decorative objects that are anything but standard or streamlined. Since you’re free to follow your instinct, your choices become much easier. The only key to getting maximalism right is to maintain a well-thought edit and visual consistency, to prevent your efforts from appearing over stimulating.

Sustainable offices

While sustainable building techniques have become a standard, in 2020 we should see more efforts to make the inside of commercial spaces more sustainable. This certainly involves designs that both use sustainable materials and promote a healthier way of working and living. Companies are increasingly opting for eco-friendly furniture and designs, even if the initial costs are a bit higher. What started as a shy movement, now becomes a fully-fledged trend, as biophilic design becomes more accepted, especially in startup companies.

Retro and industrial lighting

The industrial and retro styles became fashionable in 2019. However, the trend will continue in 2020 with changes that include more elegant materials, more varied tones, and adaptable design. Apart from purely aesthetic consideration, a new generation of multifunctional industrial lighting fixtures focuses on adaptability, allowing easier inclusion to your new disposition of workstations and rearrangement of the floor-plan. Designed with maximum light output, industrial lighting systems not only provide great comfort but increase the safety and efficiency of the workplace.

Integrated living space

An open plan that incorporates the living room, dining room, and kitchen is a viable answer to modern life’s dynamic. Socializing while cooking is a trend that has given birth to many creative and stylish solutions. For example, a project by Studio Truly Truly is based on an open hub-like design of living kitchen that uses bright yellow metro tiles, surfaces, and columns, supported by stainless steel volumes. Nothing short of a highly stylized home heart, this surreal kitchen dominates the comfy sitting zone, vibrant dining area, and even a minimalist working office space. Such living space distribution is often helpful for families where parents can keep an eye on the kids while preparing food.

Community and wellness

By now there’s a huge understanding that the environment in which we spend 8 hours a day has a huge effect on our well being. Outside the home, the office is the place where people spend most of their time. So, we’re happy to see more offices designed to promote the sense of community, wellness and healthier lifestyle. This concept ranges from using décor to the inclusion of meditation areas, climbing walls, and spaces for massage therapy. On the other hand, more and more areas are designed to promote relaxation and fun. While large companies pioneered this trend in 2019, in 2020 we should hope to see smaller companies embrace it, too.

Biophilic design

With gaining popularity over the last 12 months, biophilic designs seem to have developed strong roots, pardon the pun. It goes hand-in-hand with creating a sustainable work environment, as more and more businesses are looking to bring inspiration from nature to the workplace. Through the idea that happier and healthier offices are more productive, we should hope to see more vertical gardens, moss walls, natural décor, and hanging plants. Indoor gardens of edibles, as a visual connection with natural cycles, should also break ground.

Living and working

Due to dynamic modern lifestyle requirements, architects and designers often have to tackle challenging and complex spatial distribution. The traditional separation of common areas, kitchens and bathrooms no longer works, and the once-popular nook as a part-time home office isn’t enough anymore. Combining work with pleasure and relaxation, and merging the private life of inhabitants with more public open programs, designers are creating exciting mixed-use spaces or hybrid homes. Using wooden panels, levels, and surfaces to conceal the different functional ones, IDIN Architects have created an interior that works as a home, office, and library. At first glance, the interior looks spacious, but the home is relatively small.

Conclusion

Many of the trends conceived this year are expected to take a full swing in 2020 with bigger or smaller alterations. A recurring theme, however, is a tendency to take original and pioneering solutions to the next level by making them more suitable for widespread application.