By Niki Schafer Interior Designs, Oxfordshire

What Are The Interior Design Trends For 2019? 

With the promise of spring around the corner, the sun breaking through grey clouds, evenings getting longer and gardens popping with new shoots, this is the most exciting time for an interior designer and home owner alike to make plans for the home by introducing new colours and giving rooms a fresh look. 

Taking inspiration from the changing season in the UK is a great place to start when introducing colour to your home, and this season’s pretty shades of feminine pink, vibrant coral, lemon and fresh green would make any home feel rejuvenated and fresh. 

As an interior designer styling luxury homes in London, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire for more than 10 years now, there are many interior design trends that I have seen come and go, some come back into fashion, and thrown out again just as fast. My top tip therefore when taking on the challenge of styling your home with trending colours, patterns and interior styles is to choose with your heart for the love of them and not what other people may be putting in their homes or what is currently in design magazines. Your home should always visually represent you and your style, blending this with fashionable design trends is fun but may not ultimately create your perfect place to relax. 

Creating the style and look of your home or just an individual room should fill you with excitement! Love the challenge of a blank canvas, get creative and try new style aesthetics. Treat each room as an exciting design journey, there are so many different ways to create a wonderful space.

Inspiration for me comes from a host of influences, one of the most exciting being the many styles, textures, designs and colours to be found when travelling. Let me show you how you can integrate this years interior design trends and seasonal colour palettes into your home and by borrowing elements of different country style aesthetics to approach a personalised interior design for a stunning home.

Borrow The Style Aesthetics Of The Scandinavian

For me it’s always a thrill to discover something new or different that appeals to my personal aesthetic, whether it’s a distinctly Scandinavian or Danish piece of furniture, with elegant features and simple lines that work fabulously in a minimalistic living room with stripped back parquet flooring or an open fireplace against lush green plants on display.

The Scandie Style is a strong contender for many people’s interior design trend, these are my top 4 reasons:

1. The ‘stripped back minimal’ style that uses simple plain coloured walls with hints of vibrant coloured accessories or furniture.
2. The promise of your home feeling more comforting to you and your family, the holy grail of Hygge epitomised.
3. Tactile soft furnishings used throughout the home with sheep skin rugs, reindeer hides, throws, blankets and cushions.  
4. Bringing the outside in with potted plants on stands, widow sills, sideboards and even hanging from ceilings.

How To Bring The Heat Of South America To Your Home Decor

Get inspired by the vibrancy of South America with its heat, passion to celebrate an array of festivities with flair, bold colours and powerful imagery. Just think of Mardi Gras in Brazil, that lasts for days with exciting displays of fabulous costumes and headdresses, and bring the heat of the carnival into your home by choosing exotic palm wall murals, solid block coloured accessories that represent the beautiful birds and deep blues of the Atlantic Ocean.  

We wrote about how one of our clients returned to the UK from living in Brazil for 10 years and wanted to capture the essence of this vibrant country into his home, it was featured in the Self Build Magazine to help other people emulate a similar style from their travels.

Our top tips to capture the essence of a country or city into your home decor:

1. Incorporate sentimental objects that come from the country 
2. Incorporate artwork that you have bought from the country or that visually represents the place, this helps to quickly bring together the design aesthetics of the room 
3. Think about two to three colours you particular like and how you want to incorporate them, they can be painted onto walls, used in wallpaper, window dressing, lighting or accessories within the room. By using colour throughout the room it helps to collectively bring the design together.  
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The Best Way To Start Your Interior Design Project

Create several Pinterest boards for each room you intend on redecorating, take a look at mine for some ideas if you’d like some suggestions to get started. Think about what elements of this year’s interior design trends you would like to introduce and then find other elements that have inspired you in the past. Maybe you have travelled to a different country that particularly resonated with you. Find examples from that country and pin them to your board for design inspiration later. 

I like to ask my clients about their cultural roots and heritage, having worked with many people from different countries I am always fascinated how we can blend different styles together to create something truly unique to them maybe from their childhood, their family, favourite cities they have travelled to and so forth.

Give it a try! Write down a few places you have visited that you loved and think of what you’d like to use to influence your own interior design ideas. Maybe the vibrant colours of Spain, the intricate tiling of Morocco or the stunning blue of the mediterranean sea. 

Personally I’m deeply influenced by a number of countries I have travelled to. The clean, simple style aesthetics of Scandinavia really speaks to me. The bare pine floors and beautifully designed and constructed furniture completely spark my imagination and I enjoy seeing how I can bring that style into the rooms I create. You may have heard of some of the famous designers such as Denmark’s Arne Jacobsen, you’ll certainly have seen his designs, but there are many more to discover. I can highly recommend discovering Denmark where there are a host of museums and design shows to inspire you.

Architectural Design Trends From Germany

Staying in Europe, you may not immediately think of Germany, but remember its where the highly influential Bauhaus Movement was founded in the 1930’s with their modernist aesthetic which still informs many of today’s interior design trends, including one of my favourite recent architectural design trends for pre-fabricated yet high quality buildings, such as Huf Haus. These buildings are both incredible to look at while being quick and efficient to construct, ergonomically pleasing, environmentally friendly and fuel efficient.

A Love For Indoor And Outdoor Space

I love the use of bold vibrant colours from India, vintage wooden screens from Japan, intricate tiling methods from the souks of Marrakech and peaceful garden designs of the Chinese, in fact the love of interior design and outdoor living spaces helped to bring alive the collaboration for The Henley House and Garden Show, now successfully in it’s third year brings together a huge variety of interior designers, landscape gardeners, sculptures and more, taking place 2 and 3 March 2019 in Henley, Oxfordshire.

Travel really does broaden the mind and if you’re beginning to embark on your own home decorating projects, you should let your travels inspire your interior design and home decor, it’ll bring a whole new experience when travelling in the future and reliving past holiday experiences if you can recreate a little slice of your global travels to inspire your interior style. 

Give Niki Schafer Interior Designs a call to discuss your home decor projects and arrange your home design consultation via niki@nsid.co.uk.