2014 has started, and a new year means a new chance to update our homes. Let’s see 14 Home Trends For 2014.
1. Radiant Orchid
Pantone’s color of the year is one of the most striking 2014 home trends. Radiant Orchid takes pink and purple and transforms them into an effusive blooming of ethereal warmth and confidence. Rooms that feature this color will spark creativity and feel embracing to those who enter. Transforming a bedroom or bathroom with this color would recharge that whole area of your home, whether you use wallpaper, paint, or pieces of art that incorporate it.
2. Drama and Glamour
It’s hard to get much more glamorous than paying homage to Old Hollywood in part of your living space. This means using black and white as the accent colors, hearkening back to the iconic pairing of a white shirt with a black dress jacket, giving you a classic, crisp look. Black frames, white matting and black-and-white pictures — not just of Hollywood personalities but of the foggy streets of San Francisco, bridges, cityscapes, and portraits. Furniture should match these colors in upholstery, and have Art Deco curves and corners. Pick out your decorative pieces one at a time, finding the vintage images you need to take your guests back in time.
3. Copper
Copper for everyone! Copper lighting, furniture, copper in living room, kitchen, bathroom… Everywhere!
Have you ever noticed how boring your gutters are? Are you tired of that same natural rock on your hearth? Replace that rock with copper cladding, and run it all the way up to the ceiling, tearing out that stone and brick. Remove those siding or aluminum gutters and put copper instead. If you have an exterior balcony, consider a copper winding staircase to bring guests down into your backyard in style.
4. Petrified wood
While you don’t want this stony substance as a major theme, having an end table next to your couch that, instead of the standard wood or leather, is a single piece of petrified wood, gives you an instant conversation starter. A little goes a long way, but these are dramatic pieces to have in your home.
5. Blending Metallics
There’s nothing that says that just because you have silver metallic accents in a space that you can’t also mix in golds, pewters and other colors and textures. Blending a bright gold with a brushed nickel or pewter actually works harmoniously, particularly if you have natural wood colors at work as well.
6. Black and White Stripes
The era of earth tones has mercifully come to an end. Using the dramatic alternation of black and white stripes in drapes, cornices or along the entire surface of the wall gives a bedroom some dramatic flair, particularly if you match the linens to the striping pattern. Choosing an ottoman or beanbag chair with black and white, even in a different pattern, continues the fun of the design.
7. Indigo Tribe, ethnic beauty.
Table runners of handwoven Hmong cotton, stark photographs of feathers, elegant tapestries rich in indigo and black, and smaller decorative pieces bring this rich hue nestled between purple and blue into your home. Its beauty rivals that of Radiant Orchid, although its energy is slightly more subtle.
8. One-of-a-kind pieces
The drive for the unique remains a powerful force in home design. Instead of trying to make your home look like the inside of a Restoration Hardware catalog, the idea now is to find pieces that no one else has. Rolling through small art galleries, wandering through “Third Monday” bazaars and perusing the offerings on eBay are just three ways to find that small sculpture, that oddly wonderful print, or that Queen Anne chair that none of your friends have…yet.
9. Mixing different materials as wood and plastic.
Blending materials has been a successful trend before, but this goes a bit deeper than blending glass and metal in modern furniture pieces. Instead, think about wood and plastic. This sort of hybrid construction, whether in small furniture or artistic pieces, gives your home more an eclectic feel.
10. Flower Power
The flourishing patterns instantly create a visual energy in a room, add flower power to your home’s decor with flirty florals .
11. Global Craft
Finding a Haitian Tree of Life to hang on your wall or a handmade Nativity set made of banana fiber gives you the chance to make your spaces unique.
12. Op Art
The psychedelic swirls of color that define Op Art are coming back in as one of the more creative 2014 home trends. Whether it’s a chaise with a mind-numbing patterns of lines and colors or wall hangings that yank your guests’ eyes toward the center of the room, Op Art offers a tremendous opportunity to make a statement.
13. Ethnic Patterned Tiles
Leave those boring backsplashes behind: these tiles bring the air of Asia or Africa into your bathroom or kitchen. The patterns range from the beautiful to the mesmerizing.
14. Mix Trends
Don’t be afraid to blend trends – perhaps not more than two in the same room, and not at random. Plan an organic blending of these trends that gives your home a breath of fresh air. The most important opinion about your home decor is your own, so be brave and create!
Via Barbara Groen, Dorothy Draper, vtwonen, HGTV, Kohler, PaperCITY, Vintage Style Magazine
