Good agents are aware of trends; great agents know how to use them to their sellers’ advantage. Knowing what’s coming down the pipe regarding style, design, and technology will help sellers make thoughtful upgrades and improvements with strong returns on investment. While some interior design trends come and go (bye, granite countertops 👋), our picks are so amazing they might just become staples. In our roundup of our favorite interior design trends, I identify what buyers are looking for, how these trends can increase a home’s value, and how to advise sellers to capitalize on what’s in vogue.
1. Rich, Warm Colors
The clinical whites and cold, boring, pale grays of the past five years are out, and a warm color palette is in. Buyers are looking for comfortable and nurturing spaces—where they can recharge and rejuvenate. Designers are seeing recent interior design trends bringing in natural creams, taupes, browns, and khaki. Deep, calming grays, blues, and greens are also trending.
Before you question whether paint colors can actually affect the sales price of a home, Zillow has done the research for us. In a recent study, paint color meant the difference in thousands of dollars in a home’s final sale price. The data is clear: homes with richer, warmer colors on their walls are getting higher prices.
- Kitchens painted a luxurious “charcoal gray” increased the price by $2,512.
- A “pewter gray” increased it by $2,553.
- The same is true in living rooms and bedrooms, where deep tones increased the price by $1,800.
- In contrast, buyers paid $600 less for a stark white kitchen.
How to Advise Sellers
- Agents should advise sellers to walk the line of keeping the palette neutral so that it appeals to a broad swath of people but also using a color scheme that is warm, radiant, and rich.
- Before your sellers paint, suggest using a color visualizer tool. Several high-end artificial intelligence (AI) products are for sale, but the free Sherwin-Williams tool is a great option to see how a color will look in a particular space.
2. Tell a Story as an Interior Design Trend
The conventional wisdom is that sellers should pare down anything personal so buyers can visualize themselves in a home. However, the current interior design trend is for your home to tell your story. The days of boring and sterile are out; creative and captivating are in. You don’t have to use neutrals when your life story is anything but bland! Use color, decorate with unique objects and books, focus on an overall theme, and, like in the photo above, don’t be afraid of bold light fixtures.
- Homeowners are making more personal design choices, especially when it comes to appliances, lighting fixtures, tilework, and built-ins.
- Buyers might need help visualizing changes if the choices are too bold. A tool like Redfin Redesign can help buyers see past paint colors and flooring and see a room as it could be.
How to Advise Sellers
- Sellers should continue to pare down the personal photographs and clear out the clutter (buyers might want a story, but not the story that your kids play hockey).
- Sellers who want to follow interior decorating trends should do it, but pick just a few statement choices. For example, a French-inspired range that recalls their recent trip to Europe is a great way to express this current design trend. But be careful not to go overboard with overly unique personal taste.
- Remind sellers that if they install a light fixture or draperies, these items will be conveyed with the property. If the seller wants to take that French range with them, it must be clear and in writing to buyers from the outset that it’s not part of the sale price.
3. Let Sustainability Guide Your Choices
We’re all looking for ways to reduce our environmental impact, and the latest trends in interior design help us do just that. If a property has gorgeous wood floors, imagine explaining that they are beautiful and made from highly sustainable bamboo. Buyers appreciate form, function, and good stewardship of the earth.
- Building materials are a great start: consider bamboo, cork, concrete, and trendy hempcrete.
- We also love seeing recycled plastics, steel, and reclaimed wood used creatively.
- Don’t forget big-ticket items, such as solar panels, geothermal heating and cooling systems, and efficient windows.
- We’re seeing seaweed have a moment—entire homes are being built out of seaweed.
How to Advise Sellers
- Sellers should research before installing these more expensive features. Solar panels, for example, are not allowed in certain communities, and leases can be challenging to transfer.
- If a homeowner likes the aesthetic of some of these recent house trends, they should go for it. The advantage of sustainable materials is that they are beautiful alternatives to conventional ones and can even positively impact our planet.
4. Bring the Natural World Inside
Being en vogue is not just using sustainable materials but also celebrating the natural world. New interior design trends are all about bringing nature inside. In fact, plants are more than just a trend; they can actually help sell a house. The natural greenery splashes make a space feel inviting, cozy, and livable—and even inspire buyers to picture themselves (and their plants) right at home. How are designers capitalizing on this interior design trend?
- Big windows that let in lots of natural light.
- Plenty of potted plants and flowers.
- Using colors and wallpaper inspired by nature (think big florals and botanical prints).
How to Advise Sellers
- Use potted plants for staging, but strategically. Buyers don’t want to navigate through a jungle.
- If a plant dies, get rid of it. No dead plants are allowed in showings.
- Remind sellers that nature-inspired wallpaper might be beautiful (and trendy), but if buyers don’t love the print, they think about all the work and mess it will take to remove it. Consider a peel-and-stick wallpaper. It gives you that wow factor but can be easily removed if the buyers are wowed in the wrong way.
5. Make Your Home Smarter
We’re excited to see all of the ways tech is making our lives easier and our homes more functional in 2024. Smart home technology is so widely adopted that buyers expect homes to have some basic tools. Here are our favorite new “must-have” developments for smart homes:
- Touchless devices (doorbells, faucets, dispensers, thermostats) that reduce the need to touch germy surfaces.
- AI functionality through Alexa and Siri can turn on lights, play music, lock doors, raise and lower shades, arm your security system, and even start your coffee pot. (Siri still can’t sell houses, don’t worry.)
- Water and air filtration systems that help homeowners feel healthiest by breathing the cleanest air and drinking the purest water.
How to Advise Sellers
- When considering whether a piece of technology will increase a home’s value, sellers should ask themselves if it increases safety, adds convenience, provides efficiency that leads to savings, and whether it will convey with the home.
- Marketing a property as being “smart” means calling attention to the details. Some of the cleverest uses of technology are seamlessly integrated into the home’s fabric. Ensure you are pointing out all of the examples of tech at work in the listing description, at the open house, and to potential buyers at showings.
- At the closing table, sellers must turn over all their keys, including the virtual ones. All codes and passwords must be reset and given to the new homeowners.
6. Create a Home Centered on Wellness
Buyers don’t just want a house—they want a home where they can live their best lives. A house that prioritizes wellness has authentic spaces and brings the natural world in. Homesellers can further appeal to this interior design trend by:
- Offering flex spaces that could work as an office—or a yoga studio.
- Making bathrooms a calming sanctuary with soaking tubs and natural light.
- Having plenty of storage for a calm, organized space.
- Incorporating spa elements like ice baths, steam showers, and saunas.
How to Advise Agents
- Sellers shouldn’t splash out for some spa-like elements if they won’t use them. They are an investment in health but also a real financial investment.
- Be sure to market these elements in a home and incorporate them into the listing description. If a property is a place of calm and space for wellness, make sure that’s the focus.
7. Ways to Incorporate 2024 Design Trends
What if your listing isn’t en vogue but you still want to capitalize on 2024’s interior design trends? The answer is simple, easy, and inexpensive: virtual home staging. The image of a staged bedroom above via Rooomy shows how easy it is to incorporate new interior trends into your staging.
- We have a complete guide to virtual staging, including providers we recommend, best practices, and a complete cost breakdown. We are also excited about some new providers that brilliantly utilize AI.
- If virtual staging isn’t your cup of tea, check out our ultimate staging guide, including a DIY shopping list. Invest in some trendy items, and you can deck out each of your listings throughout 2024.
- Regardless of the type of home you’re selling, there are plenty of ways to make these trends work for your marketing, your listing photos, and, ultimately, the buyers.
Bringing It All Together
Interior design trends come and go. Some (bouclé?) are probably already on their way out. But the trends in our 2024 round-up go a long way in making a property more attractive to buyers, more marketable, and possibly even more valuable. I would never advise a seller to chase a trend, but if they want to paint before listing, a rich charcoal gray is a color to choose!
Seeing any other trends out there? Any predictions for 2024? What are buyers looking for, and how are sellers adapting? Let us know in the comments!