Home Design Trends for 2024

As we usher in a new year, 2024 home design trends are top of mind. Uncovering what's hot – and what's not – can directly influence how quickly a home sells on today's market and, more importantly, how much higher the final sales price will be with the right design elements for your sellers.

Navigating the subjective world of home design can be as nuanced as the clients you serve. Helping homeowners make aesthetic choices that resonate personally and enhance their properties' marketability is the goal. When assessing what choices to make, the question designers will fall back on is, "What makes sense for the home and the future homeowner?"

The newest trends for 2024

This year, you'll see a trend toward warm, earthy, and welcoming spaces. After being locked inside our homes for two years, people want to be a little bit cozier in their spaces.

Kitchens remain the heart of the home

The quintessential white kitchen with its white shaker cabinets – a long-revered staple for remodels – is ceding ground to its warmer counterpart: wood kitchens.

But these are not the wood kitchens of yesterday. These spaces are being reinvented with modern twists that make them fresh and welcoming. The kitchens of 2024 are not just cooking spaces but often a central gathering place in a home.

Another big trend for higher-end homes adding newer spaces are pantries that are as big as kitchens and even second kitchens. These are "back of the house" spaces designed for baking or meal preparation – highly functional, utilitarian spaces to work and store multiple appliances – and still have the "pretty kitchen" up front.

A new canvas of colors

This year bids goodbye to the gray tones and the clinical feel of white, welcoming instead earthy browns and the liveliness of greens. You'll see a huge push towards these colors as their hues reflect our natural world, fostering a serene and comfortable ambiance to every space in a home. We're moving away from the vibrant colors that pop to softer tones. It's no surprise, for example, that the color of the year is "Peach Fuzz."

Illuminating your space

This year's emerging trend in lighting is flush mount fixtures, replacing the ubiquitous can lighting. Flush mount lights create a more intimate glow and feel. That's not suggesting that everyone replace all their can fixtures, but again, this notes a trend towards a warm and welcoming feel.

Pendants will always be a thing; the same is true with chandeliers. You will also see more tubular flush mount light fixtures and more sconces. Table lamps and floor lamps are also becoming more common.

Spending as much time as we have in our homes made us realize that the bright natural morning light is welcome, but at night, we like to have things toned down as we wind down and relax. The right fixtures can do that – they can completely change a room's feel.

Mixing finishes

Today, designers are now leaning into mixing materials. You no longer must have one finish throughout your whole home: every fixture doesn't have to be brass. You can now use polished nickel or throw in black as finishes. There is a movement towards eclecticism.

People are attracted to a home that feels warm and welcoming. What can detract from that is when everything is so matchy-matchy. It's kind of like bedding in a bag. You go to a big box store, grab your bedding-in-a-bag, and everything matches: your pillow covers, sheets, and comforter – everything is all curated for you. Sure, it looks great. But does it have that kind of lived-in layered look? Does it say "warm and cozy"?

Flooring fashions

Flooring choices are all about how you are going to use each space. Cool and trendy, take a back seat to what's practical. If you have several dogs or kids, LVP (luxury vinyl plank) is the perfect solution because you get the wood look. Still, you don't have to worry about its cleanability or durability.

Today, flooring is swaying towards natural wood tones: timeless, elegant, functional, and warm. You are seeing a little less gray. Natural tones bring a bit of nature indoors. We also are seeing the beginning of a future trend in flooring: a renaissance of darker hardwoods, suggesting a swing back to more classic, rich, deep tones.

You also will see a comeback for stone flooring – including slate – but with a fresh twist: It's travertine, honed, and large format. Yet it's not overkill, being used sparingly in mudrooms or entryways.

Consistency is key

The cornerstone of any home design process is being true to the home's character. Whether it's an elegant Colonial, ornate Victorian, or has the clean lines of a Mid-century modern, interior improvements should complement the type of home, not clash with it. Design consistency creates harmony.

A fresh set of eyes

It's hard for homeowners who have lived in their homes for 20 years to see it any other way. When a designer comes into the remodeling process, they put a fresh set of eyes on every space. Their overarching goal is to make it a home that will be loved.

Design trends are great because they put new ideas into your head. It would be boring if we all loved the same things, right? Looking for the right design elements that appeal to more buyers is what sellers want to embrace — not just adding something because it is trendy, but because it can make someone fall in love with their home.

Demographics and budgets matter

Real estate agents understand that demographics and budget are essential components of the design process. You must look at the local neighborhood and nearby homes. Real estate is local, and so is design. In some places, designers can push the envelope, like in Los Angeles or San Francisco, where people trend a bit younger, want a cool space, and welcome more edgy elements. Designing for an established neighborhood requires a designer to be more conservative.

Designers also look at what's going on in the neighborhood. What does the neighborhood tell us? Is it a young, hip beach area? You can push it a little bit and perhaps throw in some hip light fixtures, but make it something that can be easily changed.

Design also is tremendously influenced by the budget allotted. For example, for a pre-sale renovation, budgeting is a vital element addressed on the front end with you, the agent, and the homeowner, considering the desired ROI and the options available.

The key to success is finding the best product at the best price. Agents are happy because they're selling something they are proud of – a revitalized home with a beautiful new bathroom, fully remodeled kitchen, or whatever that special space is. It can't look like the house that someone flipped down the street and reaps of Home Depot. Homes that have a designer look and use higher-end products stand out against the rest.

Trends are great, but…

While it's fun to look at home design trends as they curate fresh ideas in our heads, staying true to the home and making a home one's own space is vital. The best design trends for a home being prepared for sale are the ones that turn the home into one that the next buyer will love.

Rebecca Denis is Senior Interior Designer for Revive Real Estate, partnering with real estate professionals to provide the funding, guidance, design and contractor needed to get strategic pre-sale renovations done fast and for maximum value. A "Street of Dreams'' designer for homes in Portland, OR and Vancouver, WA, and with a Bachelor of Science degree in Interior Design, for more than a decade, Denis has been a leading home designer.

Thank you to Revive for sponsoring this article on RE Technology!

Related reading

• Home Trends: What's In (and Out) for 2024
• Research-backed Remodeling Ideas that Net a Higher Sales Price