Toolbox: 5 Interior Design Trends for 2021

Learn how to reimagine high-end residential spaces with smart, bold, healthy, comforting, and sustainable products.

People are spending more and more time at home these days. Architects, lighting professionals, and interior designers are taking this unique opportunity to completely reimagine residences with smart, bold, and eco-friendly concepts and products.

High-end residential clients are gravitating toward spaces that celebrate the beauty of nature indoors — and the heart of the home outdoors. Designers are keeping these critical factors in mind to bring their client visions to life amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

While designers are not able to predict what might happen in 2021, they can look forward to a number of exciting interior and lighting design trends. Read about the trends below and learn how you can apply them to your high-end residential projects.

Editor’s note: Quotes from the article below originally appeared in Living Etc. You can read the article here.

2021 Interior Design Trends

1. Reusing, Up-Cycling, and Low-Maintenance Materials

“This year, reusing and up-cycling has been more on-trend than ever, especially with the COVID-19 situation we have all experienced and are still going through. We had already reached a tipping point where an increasing number of people wanted to change the way they consumed products and used objects. Lockdown gave us the opportunity to look at design in a different way, with the reusing and repurposing of furniture and accessories being a big focus.

We have to live alongside this virus now, which is impacting trends, but the main things I feel that will change will be how we maintain buildings and our homes, as well as the materials used, will be easier to clean and maintain.”

Kelly Hoppen, Founder, Kelly Hoppen Interiors

Fun Fact: More lighting manufacturers are introducing sustainable practices into their production processes. Luminii is proud to preserve the world it helps illuminate with a robust environmental sustainability policy, which includes recycling as many materials as possible during and after the product manufacturing process. Materials include aluminum extrusions scraps from saw offcuts, aluminum chips from the computer numerical control (CNC) machining process, copper wires, 2 and 4 conductor wires, and paperboard boxes from received goods.

Luminii’s team members, including Mason Barker, Vice President of Product Development, also reevaluate supply chains and distribution channels on a regular basis to cut down on transportation and fuel consumption. These efforts and more support our mission to foster a healthier and brighter future for everyone.

2. Sculptural Lighting and Strong Colors

“For 2020, living and workspaces are coming together in a clever, respectful way, with colors becoming jewel-like and stronger. There is also a move towards clean spaces but with organically-shaped art and craft, creating contrast and identity. Room for big plants to prosper, sculptural lighting, and large checkerboard flooring are also key trends.”

Kit Kemp, Founder & Creative Director, Firmdale Hotels

How to Apply this Trend to Residential Spaces: The revolutionary Senso Vesta Chandelier Collection from Luminii elevates high-end residential spaces in seconds. Inspired by sleek, striking shapes, the sculptural chandeliers deliver high performance, beautiful aesthetics, and a superior quality of light. Available in a variety of traditional, bold, and custom finishes, Senso Vesta enables designers to customize and shape spaces to their clients’ exact liking.

3. Sustainability and Diversity

“We tend to steer clear of ‘trends’ as, by definition, they are transient and forever changing. I’d like to think looking ahead to 2020/21 we will be shopping more responsibly — in sustainable terms, but also beyond this — by supporting and spotlighting different communities and independents. I really hope the interior design world evolves in this way and diversifies — permanently.”

Sophie Ashby, Founder, Studio Ashby

Trend in Action: Gwen Grossman, founder and principal of Gwen Grossman Lighting Design in Chicago, is breaking barriers for women across the lighting design and architecture industries. Read our interview with Grossman to learn how she is shaking up the field as a premier woman-owned lighting design firm, all while empowering other women to pursue their dreams and ambitions.

4. Nature and Escapism

“I imagine we will look at design with fresh eyes following the year of COVID, and in more ways than just adding space for social distancing, and eliminating buffets from our plans. We are looking at a world which has been turned upside down and wants nothing more than to escape into places full of fresh air, greenery, and beauty. Escapism at its best — there is nothing I enjoy more!

We have also been seeing a triumph of nature as it reclaimed our cities — while simultaneously masks, medical waste, and single-use plastic have their resurgence as we try and kill this bug. I hope from now on we all think twice as hard, and do five times more than we did before, in terms of sustainability, for we are in dire need of it.”

Bill Bensley, Founder, Bensley

How to Apply this Trend to High-End Residential Spaces: Create natural light settings indoors and support clients’ health, productivity, alertness, comfort, and overall well-being with VintageDim 2. The system’s Dynamic Color Tuning capabilities closely mimic light only found in nature, enabling architects, interior designers, and lighting designers to introduce natural light’s positive qualities indoors.

5. Cool Cocooning

“There has been a shift in what customers are looking for some time now — more ‘homely’ comfort seating with deep cushions and more curves generally — a place to lay down as much as to sit.

Comfort, cocooning, and creating one’s own world, whether it is La Dolce Vita of the Italians or the hygge of the Danes, is a key theme.”

James Mair, Founder, Viaduct

How to Apply this Trend to High-End Residential Spaces: As evidenced by the “Cool Cocooning” trend, humans are naturally drawn to comfort. Warm light promotes a space’s comfort level with its calming qualities, giving lighting designers a unique opportunity to capitalize on this trend. In addition to providing dynamic color tuning, VintageDim 2 by Luminii also delivers dim-to-warm features. With the system, designers can easily custom build dimming curves for residential spaces requiring a sense of calm, warmth, and comfort.

Apply These Trends to Residential Applications

Trends can be transient, but they do reflect a widespread change in taste and preferences. An increasing appetite for smart, bold, healthy, comforting, and sustainable spaces encourages designers to put people’s wellbeing first.

Residential applications provide the perfect opportunity to explore light’s physiological benefits and introduce them to clients who are spending more time indoors.

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