This season’s interiors take a decidedly more personal, bespoke approach to the classic look of luxury.
By Jackie Glass
Many of you have heard of the quiet luxury trend in fashion, but interior designers are also jumping on this sustainable design style. But what exactly does quiet luxury mean for homeowners?
I’m always aware of how design and fashion are intrinsically related, and this season is no exception to that rule. Whether it’s fashion or interiors, the key is to invest in classic pieces. In design, these can include woven textures and knits, deep rich wood tones and what’s called “latte” tonal influences, particularly in fabrics. With a changing season upon us, I thought it would be fun to do a fall 2024 roundup of all that we are going to see over the next months.
Let’s start with something that I think is really important. This is definitely a pivot in design from the past years from all that is modern: It’s the return of, or the reinterpretation of, all our old but loved furniture.
This can include furniture pieces like your mahogany dining room suite as well as upholstered goods. As a designer, I’m working more and more with clients’ furniture and weaving the new pieces skillfully in, so both can happily coexist in an overall setting.
More and more, my clients are asking for a re-sculpting of their loved pieces so that they can continue to enjoy their comfort. Hey, I am all for it! Refreshing a stain colour on a dining room set or a reupholstered do-over gives new life and many more years of enjoyment.
We all have pieces in our home that speak to us, and to repurpose them in a thoughtful way makes sense. It also hones a designer’s skillset to make sure the flow and sequence is there. I firmly believe a home should be filled with things that mean something to you. After all, it’s your home and the years spent building memories should not be discarded.
Interestingly but not surprisingly, auction houses are having a resurgence. Designers have been sourcing there for years, but now a savvy homeowner can also access and find some amazing items.
For example, vintage lighting is making a huge comeback. The important key here is to deftly mix new with old.
Chic cabinets are back for displaying prized collectibles. They definitely make a statement in a room, because they’re unexpected. We still love a good built-in, of course, but antique or vintage cabinets displaying towels or sculptures definitely are having a moment. Beloved pieces being used in a home make the home.
Travertine’s dramatic stone textures are also being seen again – not only for countertops but also as columns, to showcase sculptural and even cubed end or coffee tables. Major furniture companies have been promoting travertine for over a year. Think Restoration Hardware!
We all love the soft champagne gold finishes for cabinet hardware and light fixtures, but there is a renewed interest in mixing finishes, so expect to see silver again co-existing happily with warmer tones.
This was a surprise for me. Wait for it: Dark wood panelling is back. Who knew? I started seeing this last year, and to be honest, I was not liking it and wondered how many of my clients would. But traditional details like this play gorgeously with contemporary pieces. The juxtaposition of modern and traditional is truly beautiful to see. It does take a sure hand to balance this, but when it works, it is magic.
Not all is traditional – so do not despair if your design instinct leads to a more modern aesthetic. Contemporary design is still bold and adventurous, but happily, there has been a recent development towards utilizing recycled materials to create bespoke collectibles and furniture pieces.
With all this attention to the past, I was surprised to see the comeback of glass block! So popular in the ’70s, it’s now being seen as furniture or even for flooring. What’s old is new again!
As the seasons change, one impactful thing we can do is to add colour. Nothing refreshes a room faster than a coat of paint. But this time, we are seeing richer, deeper colours than in past seasons.
As in fashion, brown has had a major role in design this year. Rich, saturated velvets and satin-finished walls are haute rigueur.
Coral, red, and persimmon tones are runners-up, and actually pair beautifully with deeper browns. Consider Benjamin Moore’s HC-71 Hasbrouck Brown, HC-183 Country Redwood or CC-64 Bonaparte.
Wallpaper saw a resurgence a few years ago and is still widely favoured, but textured wall treatments are becoming popular again. Creating depth on walls using plaster is definitely on the upswing. We’re employing faux-finish artists on job projects to recreate beautiful soft, moody textures. However, the newest finishes are more neutral in tone than the brighter and mixed colours used in past years.
And finally, lighting is becoming even more sophisticated. “Colour tuning” is a term being used in this industry: Simply put, it refers to changing the intensity and colour of light to create certain effects. It can be manipulated to simulate natural light when it’s dark outside, and is often used to highlight the artwork in a home. This is an integral part of a renovation when lighting and sound systems are being installed.
This season, interior design is more adventurous than ever. Rules are being bent to create bespoke interiors.
A homeowner should love their home. They should have an emotional response to their home, and they should repurpose items that they love. It doesn’t get any simpler or more exciting than that!
