One of my favourite things about the new year is the fact that it affords us all the excuse to give our homes a little bit of a makeover. I’m still planning to wallpaper my sewing room – I know, I said I’d do it in January but January is about to go, and it’s still not done… We did end up buying a fridge/freezer though, so the money on getting someone in to paint and wallpaper (because I’m a little too dangerous and clumsy, not to mention busy, to do it myself) is gone. So it’s out with the old and in with the new, as I’ve been doing some research online to see what unique and stylish design trends are set to dominate 2016.
There’s certainly a lot of inspiration out there from modernist appliance firms like Verismart, to more outlandish concepts from afar, so I’ve made a quick list of design ideas to inspire you too!
Vintage chic
Any visitor to my blog will quickly guess that I love vintage things. But it’s not just vintage swing dresses that I want to celebrate, as our interiors can always get a touch of class and glamour by a visit to the past. Ben’s not a big fan of vintage usually, but I can get away with it in interiors usually – he even let me pick up a few cocktail glasses from Mister Bee’s!
There are many chic interiors shops in the Yorkshire area that are great for this kind of thing. In particular, Malton’s Interiors at Nine to Eleven supply a great range of classic interior styles with big comfy sofas and lots of weird and wonderful home accessories that give the perfect opportunity for your personality to shine through!
Modernist style
But whilst it can be a lot of fun revisiting the past, you wouldn’t necessarily want your home to look like a museum. So I always like to keep an eye out on the current modern trends that seem to be be showing an endless love for the Scandinavian trend of keeping things simple, sharp and having beautiful clean white walls.
This trend works particularly well in conjunction with sleek and slimline heating appliances from the likes of Yorkshire’s verismartheating.com that keeps the aesthetic of clean lines in your home. Such technology is also highly energy-efficient which keeps in line with those clever Scandinavians and their cutting-edge style. We’re hoping to get one of these soon for the kitchen. As I mentioned earlier, we’ve got the new fridge but haven’t got the old, integrated one out yet. Once we do, it’s all change because the fridge will move to a different wall, from which we will need to remove the standard radiator and fit a slimmer, taller one, then we’re installing a larder unit – very excited about this!
Mix it up
However, like most things, I find that interior decor works best when you mix things up so that you have the latest electric radiators to heat your home, but then contrast it with some lovely shabby-chic furniture. I’m a little obsessed with IKEA and their stunning minimalist designs right now – I know, how can I mesh vintage and modern?! This “countryside home in the woods” may be an option… It’s the kind of thinking that has led Elle Decor to predict that mixed materials will be a big look for interiors in 2016.
This is especially handy for me as I seem to collect a collection of hand-me-downs and vintage shop finds that truly redefines the word ‘eclectic’. So whether you’re looking to indulge in your secret love of Victoriana retro stylings, or want to come up to the present with the likes of Verismart, it seems that if we mix it up with confidence, then we should all have a very on-trend 2016!
I used to really love tweaking and fussing over the interior design of my room when I was in high school and through college. Now that I have a whole place though I’m a bit at a loss though. I tried decorating my kitchen in 1950’s style but it just ended up looking more shabby chic to me than anything else and with the open floor plan of our place it just didn’t look right so scratch that. I love that you are thinking of wall papering your sewing room. I thought of wall papering an accent wall in the bedroom to give it a more vintage feel. I hope you post pics when it’s done!
Hey Sian, Very Nice. I like vintage chic.