Updated for 2022. Link here.

2021 Design and Color Trends 

Always my favorite blog post, this year, corralling color and interior design trends into a coherent POV is tempered by my acknowledgement of the distressing state of the world and the relative insignificance of this task. But not wanting to add to this year’s sense of aberration I’m forging ahead with it.

Like most years in the past, this year’s trends are a combination of those newly emerging with those already ongoing.  Some also take a relatively fresh idea from the recent past and morph it into something just a squosh different.

Last year, pre-Covid, I forecasted the new trend in warm, saturated paint colors like russet, bronze, burnt orange and the like. I saw this as the need for colors which seem to offer a warm embrace. Those colors took off like a bang in 2020, helping to lead the design-o-sphere away from all things grey.

2021 Color trend: Pink!

Yes, yes, it’s been around for quite a while now. But haven’t we seen the love affair with pink take on different incarnations? From millennium pink, to Pantone’s Rose Quartz, to Benjamin Moore’s 2020 COTY, First Light, the nature of the pink seems different every year. This year the pink can be described as shell pink, that lovely combination of pink and orange, sometimes mixed with a whiff of adobe, creating color that’s extremely cozy and peachy.

2021 Color trend: Olive Green

Green’s been trending for a number of years. For me it’s a favorite, always in vogue, always appealing, invigorating and satiating. This year I see it being all about olive green. Seriously earthy and from the physical world, olive combines with so many other colors well, like lavender, mustard and pink. See the kitchen above which sports olive green cabinets and many of the other design trends I write about today.

2021 Design and Color Trend: Mustard yellow cabinetry

This one appeared very early in 2020, maybe even late 2019, but it’s starting to catch on. It’s not for everyone but it’s eminently intriguing if one can secure just the right muted gold. It’s quite stunning.

2021 Design Trend: Terrazzo

From ancient times to now, from expansive public flooring to residential bathrooms, this beautiful material employs a natural aggregate like marble chips, suspended in a medium. It is durable and lovely. New production techniques allow the chips to float in epoxy. You’ll see poured terrazzo floors, slabs and tiles in an extraordinary array of colors.

2021 Design and Color Trend: Wood and painted cabinets mixed in the kitchen

I wrote about light wood kitchen cabinets with white stone countertops in 2019. Now we see the wood cabinets, often white oak, mixed with painted cabinetry. One might see a painted island base with natural oak cabinets or the reverse. Also seen are upper and lower cabinets treated this way. I see these most effective if the wood is below and the paint color is white.

2021 Design Trend: Marble slab backsplash with a thin shelf above

I’m a huge fan of this look. Obviously it won’t work with upper cabinets. We’re seeing more and more dramatic marbles used with tons of movement and color. This is an expensive and elegant alternative to tiles for a backsplash. Marble is porous and needs to be sealed regularly. Over time it usually shows the scars of wear and you’ve got to embrace the patina created or the imperfections will drive you mad.

2021 Design Trend: Bedside sconces WITH bedside table lamps!

I’ve been seeing this for about a year. Is it about function or form? The sconce can send light exactly where you need it to read. Do two lighting fixtures look cool or redundant? You decide…

The final 4 trends relate to residential exteriors.

2021 Design Trend: Mixing many different siding types on one facade

This has been a growing trend for a while. You’ll see board and batten mixed with clapboard and shakes. This can be vinyl, cement board or wood. One must take special care to put each shape on the appropriate section of the exterior and not let it get too busy with many different colors.

2021 Design Trend: Color Blocking 

I wrote about this in last year’s paint color and interior design trends. I see this trend having a long trajectory. It’s best using a limited palette and being judicious about placement. The architecture has to be right for it to use this treatment. A home that is a single monolith won’t lend itself to it. You need blocks of physical mass to color block!

2021 Design and Color Trend: When trim and accent colors match the body color 

This was very common during colonial times and returns now. It’s a sedate, elegant paint treatment for some home styles. Sometimes even the front door color falls in line with the rest.

2021 Design and Color trend: Modern farmhouse color scheme of white house with black windows is everywhere.

Now being used on every imaginable architectural style.

This doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon!