There’s a new relaxed mood taking hold in interiors. Cupboards are curved, colour palettes are grounded and patchwork — homespun or otherwise — is making a comeback. Elsewhere, fun is being had with bespoke embroidery on pieces that tell stories about their owners. Read on for the hottest home trends to try this year and beyond.

There comes a point in every cool designer’s career when they dabble in drapery. Last year the curtain-raiser was Lee Broom’s Overture wallpaper collection for Calico (from £560 a panel, calicowallpaper.com). This season, Gergei Erdei has partnered with Porta Romana to launch a lighting and furniture collection influenced by Roman palazzos: stars of the show are the Teatro wall light (from £3,200) and console table in marble (from £23,500, portaromana.com).

A white two-lamp wall sconce with a decorative draped centerpiece, resembling folded fabric.

Teatro light by Gergei Erdei x Porta Romana

Or there’s Yaniv Chen’s Drapery Table, a magnificent take on the trend, carved from a single block of marble (from £16,000, lemonfurniture.co). Bravo to these sultans of swag. KB

2. Beyond the quiltA shelving unit with various items, including candles, books, and jars, against a green and white plaid wallpaper, next to a wall hanging with geometric shapes in orange and yellow.

Checkered Patchwork wallpaper by Mind the Gap; and Nest Design’s Amberley wall hanging

Lucy Bathurst, the founder of Nest Design, is celebrated for sourcing textiles, including vintage fabrics, with “character and soul” and transforming them into curtains and wall hangings that are functional domestic objects and works of art. She features in every smart decorator’s little black book (you may have seen her work in Heckfield Place, Hampshire, or Chiltern Firehouse, London), but has been a strictly below-the-radar specialist. We reckon 2026 is her year to shine, so take a look at the Amberley wall hanging in her studio, made from natural linen with velvet inserts (£3,840, nestdesign.co.uk). Meanwhile, get the wall-to-wall patchwork look with Missoni wallpaper (£207 per roll, janeclayton.co.uk) or Mind the Gap’s Checkered Patchwork version (£219 for three rolls, mindtheg.uk). The classic quilt has also had a modern makeover at Pemberton Qwilts, whose designer, Emily Campbell, takes inspiration from Anni Albers, Gustav Klimt and Ellsworth Kelly. Think trad-wife needlework skills plus cool contemporary compositions. We’re adding Pemberton’s Kuba Meander quilt to our lust list (£4,590, abask.com). KB

• How surplus designer fabrics became the height of fashion

3. Embroidery goes sew luxeTwo orange velvet armchairs with embroidered flowers on their backs.

A reupholstered chair by Casamento

Blinds! Lamps! Chairs! Vases! Nothing is safe from the needle of an embroiderer. Uncommon Ancestor weaves personal stories into jewellery trays (£395) and stools (from £3,060, uncommonancestor.com). After you share your life and loves with the brand, hand-drawn sketches are transformed into intricate embroidery in its Soho studio. The design set’s go-to, the Cape Town-based Casamento works on reupholstery projects as well as its own range of pieces (casamento.co.za), while the ceramicist Caroline Harrius, based in Stockholm, dreams up floral and abstract motifs on her vases with cotton thread (from £1,750, carolineharrius.com). After something softer? Try Lora Avedian’s cushions, embellished with ribbon, braid and deadstock materials using hand and machine embroidery (£430, abask.com) or contact the brand for private commissions such as blinds (loraavedian.com). PMD

4. Get down to earth with the new neutralsCollage of a brown and blue plaid blanket and a rustic wooden hutch with plates.

Melin Tregwynt’s Welsh blanket from Toast; and Little Greene paint in Sweet Treat

For the past few years, partly due to the pandemic, there has been a trend for bursts of audacious colour — think chartreuse walls and jewel-toned sofas — but say sayonara to that because neutrals are taking the floor once again. “Increasingly people want their homes to feel grounded, to create a sense of refuge,” says Alex Glover, founder of the master decorators Austin James. It’s less 50 shades of grey and more earth tones with oomph.

• Beige decor in vogue? About time, says Kelly Hoppen

A home office with olive green walls, a wooden desk, and a light gray rug.

Farrow & Ball’s Cardamom on the walls

“Soft browns deliver more warmth than a grey shade, so are a perfect choice for rooms without too much light, and can easily be layered with pretty prints and linens on your upholstery and curtains,”says Joa Studholme, colour curator at Farrow & Ball. Contenders for your walls are Farrow & Ball’s Jitney, Claybrook’s Tuscan Artichoke and Little Greene’s Light Bronze Green and Sweet Treat. Meanwhile 90 per cent of what Toast sells fits the bill — we love the Melin Tregwynt Welsh blanket in Rust (£215, toa.st). PMD

5. Under the seaA plate and a bowl with coral illustrations on the left and a white coral sculpture on the right.

The new Natures Marines collection by Hermès; and faux coral, £153, coxandcox.co.uk

We’re feeling The Little Mermaid nostalgia this spring (not for the live-action movie but the Eighties Disney animation). Take a deep dive with Hermès, whose new porcelain tableware collection, Natures Marines, features hand-drawn sea-plant motifs including coral and seaweed by the illustrator Katie Scott — pieces range from soup spoons to serving platters (from £130, from April, hermes.com). Or channel your inner beachcomber and collect shells and faux coral from Cox & Cox (from £30, coxandcox.co.uk) or a sublime plaster shell uplighter by Rose Uniacke (from £1,020, roseuniacke.com). All together now: “Under the sea / Darling it’s better / Down where it’s wetter.” KB

6. De Stijl got it?Collage of a colorful stool and a striped rug.

Colour pops from Uncommon Projects x Sophie Smallhorn; and a rug by Studio Peake x Christopher Farr

Most unexpected trend of 2026? The homages to the Dutch art movement De Stijl, known for abstract geometric compositions in primary colours. Turning up on our design radar in the form of rugs and furniture, this is the perfect antidote if you’re over florals and not ready for beige. Check out the Element, the new rug collection from Studio Peake and Christopher Farr (£1,100 per sq m, studiopeakeworkshop.com). Another source of colour joy is the Combination Table, a modular plywood form that comes to us courtesy of the artist Sophie Smallhorn’s collaboration with Uncommon Projects (from £375, uncommonprojects.co.uk). We say: so stijlish. KB

7. Curve appealA concealed fridge by Matilda Goad with its door open, revealing organized food inside.

Matilda Goad’s fridge by Blockhouse Build

In the kitchens and bedrooms of some of the most coveted homes, rigid edges are receding in favour of something softer and more sculptural. Matilda Goad’s chunky, retro-inspired fridge by Blockhouse Build is a favourite on the mood boards of many, while the pedigree interior architect and designer Pierre Yovanovitch is a perennial fan of organic curves, usually rendered in wood. “It automatically makes a space appear more considered,” says the interior designer Oliver Lyttelton, who is currently working on curved cabinetry for an office space where the hours are long and the pressure is tough. “The fluidity is calming,” he continues, stressing the need for proper craftsmanship. “It’s not something you can cut corners on — sleekness is key, so there’s no room for error.” PMD

• Curvy creations: the most desirable designs of the moment

8. Say hello to turals (aka tile murals)Collage of a person washing hands above a sink with a wall decoration that reads "I WISH MY WIFE WAS THIS DIRTY" and three blue and white illustrated tiles depicting human figures and goats.

Tiles by Joe Sweeney; and Izabela Wilk

Murals have been headline news in interiors for some time now, while handmade tiles have become a flex for those fluent in design. Now the two are converging as designers such as Hollie Bowden are using them as hybrid works that we’re calling “turals”. For her new kitchen, she commissioned the artist Joe Sweeney (from £1,500, joesweeney.co.uk) for a splashback of mustard yellow tiles that read “Clean me”.

A kitchen with a stainless steel counter, a square sink, white and beige marbled tiles on the wall, and wooden shelves above holding dishes and decorative items.

Tiles by Studio Lucy McMillan

Or be inspired by the work of Lucy McMillan, who hand-rolls her tiles and often creates them using a blend of clays (oberystudio.com), and the artist Izabela Wilk, known as Devils Claws, whose designs are inspired by literature, mythology and folklore (from £200 per sq m, devilsclaws.bigcartel.com). PMD