Don’t Get Too Comfortable: Interior Architecture Trends Set to Take Over in 2023

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Like life, architecture and design appear to be in a state of flux, undergoing a period of intense and long-term change. After many years of significant disruption, people are understandably hesitant about getting “too comfortable,” knowing that the long-term damage of the pandemic on our society and economy is only just beginning to be realized. However, as we carefully recover from our collective trauma and begin to understand and ultimately accept the shifts and changes we expect to experience for years, if not decades, to come, it is reassuring to notice that there appears to be a thread of optimism and support being woven into our conscious outlook.

Its well understood that in times of deep uncertainty, creative industries undoubtedly become the backbone of society, propping us up emotionally through art, design, architecture, music and media that speak to us, reflect our concerns and lift us through humor and joy. The spaces we occupy play a pivotal role in this emotional support, and the emerging trends appearing for 2023 speak to that reinforcing role.

Biophilia, but Make It Wild

Fort 137 by Daniel Joseph Chenin, Ltd. Las Vegas, NV, United States | Popular and Jury Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Residential Interiors (>3000 sq ft)

Biophilia has become a principal feature in our spaces. Through thorough research, we have come to understand the value of nature in our built environments. The plant life we incorporate not only helps to remove pollution and toxins from our homes and offices but simply the presence of plants in our spaces improves our overall well-being.
This year biophilia is going nowhere. However, what is changing is the way we present our biophilia.

Living walls, curated flower arrangements and perfectly perforated monsteras are falling out of favor, and designers are letting out their wild side. Many designers are opting for interior gardens, ditching pots and letting plant life grow unencumbered in the home, bringing a sense of untethered unruliness. Additionally, an increase in desert-style garden spaces, creating rugged and dominating environments using plant life that doesn’t fit the typical handsome plant category, is becoming increasingly popular, indicating a shift in preferences.

Distinctively Mellow

Anji Sight-viewing Platform and Tea House by Hatch Architects, Anji County, Huzhou, China

A trend that emerged slowly over the last year is set for an all-out takeover this year as we divert from cool to warm. It’s evident that consumers are seeking warmth and comfort in their spaces to support their post-pandemic emotional state, and in a quest for tranquillity, they are opting for tones that adopt warm orange and beige undertones while drastically avoiding anything in the spectrum of cool blues and greys.

Warm naturals are everywhere, and we’re not taking the harsh mustards or garish terracotta of years past. The welcome renaissance is evolving spaces into comforting, safe environments using colors inspired by nature, including Verona greens, clay taupes, organic linens and nuanced sandy tones, each layered with various complimentary shades to create textured and welcoming abodes.

Hand-Painted Embellishment

B.C. Glacial Water New Retail Store by X+LIVING, Nanjing, China | Jury Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Commercial Firm

Brushstrokes that would make a Post-Impressionist blush. A desire for handmade, artisan craftsmanship has been on the rise across design sectors for a while, but it appears that 2023 will be a year we also welcome back hand-painted features and accessories. Much of what we are beginning to see are hand-painted ceramics and wall finishes adopting the hand-painted aesthetic. Large brushstrokes using bold colors are optimistic, while cartoonish figures and illustrations show up repeatedly. This jovial trend sees designers and consumers be more playful, stepping away from the confines of serious lifelike artistic endeavors or photography and embracing the freedom of fantasy and imagination through form and color.

Au Natural

Residence W by fws_work, Taoyuan City, Taiwan Photographs by Suiyu Studio | Popular Choice Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Residential – Apartment

Residence W by fws_work, Taoyuan City, Taiwan Photographs by Suiyu Studio | Popular Choice Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Apartment

Organic is the new black! Alongside the warm and neutral tones appropriated from nature, designers and their clients are likely to take things even further in the coming year, steering towards products and materials that are organic in nature and stripped of all synthetic elements.

Mushrooms, linens, coffee grounds, corn husks and algae — no, it’s not what your vegan friends had for lunch; these are just a few of the raw ingredients that many designers are harvesting to create surfaces, textiles, accessories, artworks, lighting and furniture. In our growing obsession with the source of our products, the interior design world is responding to the climate and manufacturing crises by reframing its relationship with nature and establishing new ways of exploring and executing groundbreaking design without the carbon footprint or human rights issues. As the development of organic products continues to surge, we are likely to see an influx of these sustainable, conscious products in schemes across all industries.

The Modern Maximalist

Taoxichuan Hotel by AIM Architecture, Jingdezhen, China

Extreme maximalism had a moment in the sun post-pandemic, most likely as a direct response to the restrictions we faced. Many designers and consumers wanted freedom and expressed this in aesthetics by making bold, vivid choices combining clashing clouds, patterns and textures in spaces that encourage sensory overload. In 2023 however, we expect to see this particular trend fall away slightly but without a complete return to stark minimalism

The layering of sculptural silhouettes is becoming more apparent, rather than an excess of prints and patterns that, while on-trend one season, does not have the longevity of some slightly more conventional choices. With financial worries affecting many businesses and individuals, styles that will last through the long term are the choice of a rational, cautious mind. As a compromise, designers are using form and color through their objet d’art and surface textures to create vivacious environments that hold cultural and historical significance, using single feature pieces that command attention and set a room apart to curate similar narratives for discussion within a space while making it more widely palatable than the extreme maximalism of the past year.

Nostalgic Revival

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Finally, in times of unrest, we naturally look into the past for familiar comforts, and this has become noticeable in the furniture pieces that are being chosen that many clients and designers are choosing to revive old and vintage items that are reminiscent of the items that were in their family homes where they grew up. While there is a degree of “upcycling” involved, this is not the quaint chalk paint upcycling you know but more revival and restoration of beautiful items back to their original condition. This nostalgic era feels comfortable, familiar and safe, something we all want to feel in the coming year.

Architizer's A+Product Awards is open for submissions, with the Extended Entry Deadline fast approaching on Friday, February 23rd. Get your products in front of the AEC industry’s most renowned designers by submitting today.