There is really only one interior design principle that I religiously follow – design is personal.
Ignoring my own tastes in favor of someone else’s – even a design professional’s – will leave me living in a space that feels foreign and uncomfortable. A space that I might admire from afar, but don’t really want to live in. A space that I will likely be eager to change.
That doesn’t mean I don’t occasionally need some inspiration.
Fortunately, the design experts have spoken! … identifying the top interior design trends in 2024.
Following we’ll review this year’s top trends in interior design beginning with my favorite, personalization.
And, of course, we’ll highlight the role that slipcovers can play in helping you achieve on-trend interior design in 2024.
In this article: 2024 Trend: Personalized Design • How slipcovers can help you get the look 2024 Trend: Quiet luxury • How slipcovers can help you get the look 2024 Trend: Textural depth, warm palettes, and sustainable materials • How slipcovers can help you get the look Conclusion
2024 Trend: Personalized Design
In 2024 not being on trend is, well – on trend!
Conveniently for me, personalization happens to be a top interior design trend in 2024.
“Creating warm, personalized spaces will be bigger than ever in the coming year,” writes design and lifestyle expert Amanda Lauren in her January 2024 Forbes article, “12 Interior Design Trends We’ll See In 2024,” echoing similar findings by Vogue contributor, Elise Taylor, and House Beautiful senior market and partnerships editor, Medgina Saint-Elien.
No more designs “’copied from Instagram and Pinterest,’” says LA-based designer, Jake Arnold, according to Taylor’s January 2024 article, “The Interior Design Trends to Know in 2024—And What’s on Its Way Out.” “’There will be an emphasis on unique finds and curated spaces rather than replicating what you see from others online.’”
Likewise, Saint-Elien notes that “2024 will be a year of putting decor with character and stories first,” describing a trend toward “personalized eclectism [sic]” in her December 2023 article, “12 Interior Design Trends You’ll See Everywhere in 2024, According to Experts.”
Following design trends while ignoring your personal taste is a mistake … and not just in 2024.
Interior design trends come and go … often quickly.
Investing in expensive items that will soon be out of date is financially unwise. Additionally, in splurging on a current fad just because it appears on Instagram or Pinterest, you may find yourself investing in pieces that are not only costly but that make such a bold statement that you tire of them quickly.
Moreover, notes Scottsdale, Arizona based interior design firm, Janet Brooks Design, trends are “cookie cutter” and if you strive to keep up with the latest trends rather than to find your signature style you will not only be forsaking uniqueness you will also be jumping on a “trend wagon” that is “frustrating, time consuming, and costly” … and hard to get off.
On the other hand, observes Taylor, design that reflects your tastes, your story, and how you live is timeless.
Creating personalized spaces in 2024 is all about mixing old pieces with new pieces, the experts say. This might mean integrating family heirlooms with newly purchased pieces or it might entail a little prudent shopping for new-to-you antique and vintage pieces that add soul and warmth to your existing décor. The idea is to incorporate a certain number of timeless pieces with newer furniture and furnishings.
But overall, and always, personalization is about living authentically in a space that resonates with and reflects you and your family.
How slipcovers can help you get the look
Complement your existing heirlooms, newly purchased vintage pieces, or custom-made statement pieces by updating your upholstered furniture with slipcovers.
Your family couch is not likely to claim the role of timeless piece – that role is reserved for well-crafted wood furniture and furnishings that can stand the test of time over decades or even centuries. Yes, there are antique upholstered pieces, but they do not serve functionality … nor authenticity – what family today sees their reflection in an antique Louis XV-style settee sofa?
However, while the family couch is not likely to be your room’s one-of-a-kind focal point, a worn or dated sofa can certainly detract from the piece or pieces that are.
Lest you turn personalization into just another expensive and ephemeral trend to chase, the key is moderation.
Slipcovers can help you refresh your upholstery ensuring that it complements a few well-chosen heirloom, vintage, or bespoke pieces.
At a reasonable cost and without sacrificing function and comfort, slipcovers can help you achieve a warm and personalized design.
2024 Trend: Quiet luxury
Classically shaped furniture with a sophisticated style.
This trend complements the trend toward personalization as it also revolves around the idea of building a room around classic, investment pieces.
Discussing quiet luxury, Saint-Elien quotes Jen Samson of Jen Samson Design writing, “’Clients will lean more towards comfortable, lived-in furniture rather than smooth clean, and sterile looks.’”
Taylor predicts an emphasis on pieces with “classic shapes and silhouettes” exemplified by sophisticated rather than “flashier luxury brands” while Lauren describes quiet luxury as “[m]ore about style” than brand, emphasizing that it is a huge trend and an aesthetic that is “here to stay.”
How does quiet luxury manifest in interior design? “Think dark woods, luxurious soft textures, and traditionally shaped furniture that can evolve through the decades with re-upholstery,” writes Taylor.
How slipcovers can help you get the look
Using slipcovers to achieve the quiet luxury look will be all about fabric choice. While many slipcovers are fabricated from stretchable microfibers, to evoke quiet luxury you will most likely want a heavier, more substantial fabric. Something with drape.
My new favorite site, The Slipcover Maker, recommends “medium to heavy weight, natural fiber fabrics that are durable, washable and have long lasting design appeal.” While Karen, the site’s owner, often creates her custom-made replacement slipcovers from denim, cotton canvas, hemp, and linen fabrics, she also recommends cotton matelassé and polyester velvet as good fabric choices for home décor.
Cotton matelassé is known for its quilted appearance – the term “matelassé” being from the French word “matlasser” which means “to quilt.” Cotton matelassé is heavily used in home décor and typically gets better and softer over time with laundering. In fact, tumble drying will enhance the texture of the quilted effect, giving your matelassé slipcover more character each time it’s washed and dried. That sounds luxurious.
The very name velvet evokes luxury. Polyester velvet, known for its soft texture and lustrous appearance, is a type of fabric that combines the luxuriousness of velvet with the affordability and ease of care of polyester. Polyester velvet also offers enhanced durability and wrinkle resistance, but its standout feature is its deep, plush texture.
In as much as quiet luxury is about “style” the style of the slipcover you choose will be as important as choice of fabric. You will want a style that tends toward a classic and tailored look. Stay away from floral prints and ruffles.
Ruffles are out! in 2024 anyway.
A soft and heavy-weight slipcover will lend itself to achieving the cozy aspect of quiet luxury.
As for Taylor’s observation about, “traditionally shaped furniture that can evolve through the decades with re-upholstery,” its worth remembering that the typical lifespan of a sofa is 7 to 15 years so expecting a heavily-used upholstered piece like the family couch to last for decades might be unrealistic. That said the lifespan of a sofa can be extended with ready-made slipcovers at a fraction of the cost of reupholstery.
And quiet luxury’s classic silhouette? That traditional shape? That will make it all the easier to find a ready-made slipcover that fits.
2024 Trend: Textural depth, warm palettes, and sustainable materials
Comfort is as comfort does.
There is a unifying theme running through the top interior design trends in 2024, and that theme is comfort, whether it be expressing your and your family’s authentic self through cherished or bespoke pieces or embracing luxury with a classic style that doesn’t just look good but is warm and inviting.
“’We’ve all had it with stage set interiors, with wafer-thin bricks and uncomfortable furniture designed to look good only in an image,’” writes Taylor quoting Vicky Charles of Charles & Co.
Textural depth and the use of warm colors in 2024 interior design serve to amplify 2024’s pervasive comfort-first aesthetic. In the same spirit, increasing acceptance of innovative and sustainable materials is consistent with a move away from generic, mass-produced furniture which, at best, lacks character and at worst, falls apart quickly.
Textural depth. Quoting Alexis Pew of Kaminski + Pew, Saint-Elien spots a trend toward creating inviting living rooms by creating “’Warm, textural spaces with natural materials in moodier, earthy color palettes.’” Taylor also notes a trend toward mono-colored rooms that use mixed textures to provide depth.
Warm palettes. The experts all note a move away from bright whites and grays in 2024.
- Saint-Elien sees chocolate neutrals, creams, rusts, and muted greens alongside bold colors like chartreuse as 2024’s color palette.
- Taylor predicts that the “latte colors” and cherry red seen in fashion design in 2023 will spill over into interior design in 2024.
- For elevating a space in 2024, Lauren chooses muted tones like dusty rose, plum, and burgundy.
Sustainable materials. Saint-Elien, in particular, draws attention to increasing use and acceptance of innovative materials – naming seaweed fibers, Japanese shikkui plaster, and mycelium (yeah, Star Trek: Discovery!) – which emphasize sustainability. Taylor likewise notes the move toward sustainability and away from “fast furniture.”
How slipcovers can help you get the look
Textural depth. Cover your upholstered furniture with slipcovers that contrast with the other textures and materials in your living room. Or choose a blend of different fabrics in complementary colors but contrasting textures for different pieces – choose one type of fabric for your sofa, another for your ottoman, a third for your armchair. Add yet more texture with pillows and throws.
In my article, "Dressing Your Furniture: What Are The Different Types Of Slipcovers?" blankets and throws are proposed as a simple form of couch cover. Mixing and matching the patterns and fabrics used to cover your couch’s seat or individual cushions or draping more than one blanket, quilt, or throw over the entire sofa affords an ideal opportunity for mixing textures and creating depth.
Warm palettes. Slipcovering is all about being able to change the look of your room easily and affordably.
Like painting, slipcovers allow you to change the palette of your room to reflect 2024’s trendiest colors … and 2025’s … and 2026’s when the time comes. Plus slipcovers are a lot less messy than paint.
Sustainable materials. There is growing pressure on the textile industry to improve the sustainability of products and product manufacturing, but the industry still has quite a way to go.
In the meantime, while we await the mass-marketing of sustainably sourced and manufactured textiles, I propose that there is something inherently sustainable about slipcovering, the act of refurbishing a piece of furniture rather than replacing it.
Further, if you have a slipcover custom-made by someone like Karen at The Slipcover Maker, it may be possible to source a sustainable fabric.
It is worth noting several examples of encouraging progress in textile sustainability: the creation of Fibersheds; the emergence of innovative, sustainability focused home goods brands like ettitude; and the recent granting of multi-million-dollar funding to the North Carolina Sustainable Textiles Innovation Engine and its research advancing the recycling of waste materials into new textile fibers.
Fibersheds. Ten years ago, weaver and natural dyer Rebecca Burgess created a model for a regional textile economy, known as a Fibershed, where clothing would be made solely from fibers produced and manufactured within the North Central California bioregion. Like the idea of a watershed, but for textiles, this regional clothing supply chain model aims to promote sustainability by sourcing and producing textiles locally. It's part of a broader movement towards localism and conscious consumerism that benefits the environment, local economies, and community relationships.
Conclusion
Authenticity, classic style, and comfort are all in for 2024.
And out?
“Instagram-ready rooms with their loud statement couches and neon signs,” writes Taylor.
So too are boucle and wicker (both of which I missed in 2023 … not really a surprise).
But then, as I said in the beginning, there is really only one interior design principle that I religiously follow – interior design is personal.
I do value comfort and sustainability, but there is plenty of room for personal expression in those qualities.
So, if 2024 is about “making homes cozier,” as writes Lauren, then I say great!
And if, as Saint-Elien writes, 2024 is about embracing “a living room you can actually enjoy without worrying about accidental wine stains,” I say better!
And lastly I say, go buy a slipcover.
Design trends come and go.
But slipcovering can help you and your home grow together even as style changes (to paraphrase Saint-Elien).
With that thought in mind, we’d love to hear about your slipcover-based interior design ideas and achievements. Please share them in the comments below!
