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This time last year, the Clever editors were looking to 2018 with visions of wallpaper, high-gloss lacquer, and bold accent rugs dancing in their heads. Now, after 12 months have passed in a flurry of shiny paint and pattern mixing, inquiring minds (ahem, you guys) want to know what’s next. In search of answers, I asked a select few pros from across the design field for their predictions for the new year. What home decor trends can we expect to see more of in 2019? What shapes, techniques, and materials are they most excited about in their own work? And which colors are on track to become the next millennial pink—or hyper blue? Of course, only time will reveal what’s truly in store, but for now, tell us everything you know, experts—we’re all ears.…
1. The shop owners
According to Helena Barquet and Fabiana Faria, owners of New York City design shop Coming Soon, pastels will take a back seat to deeper, darker jewel tones in 2019. “Pastels have been so prevalent, and these days we’re seeing that richer colors are getting more interest when it comes to home accessories” says Helena. Also gaining popularity: home goods that stray from the abstract and instead resemble recognizable forms, such as animals or people. “There’s less of a pull toward the romantic and more of a desire for something concrete,” Helena says, pointing to Group Partner’s face pots and the shop’s ever-popular Bathing Lady as examples. “Maybe we’re not feeling as romantic these days—people are thinking, I just want to know what this is.”
2. The interior designer
Old-fashioned decorative accents—think fringe, cane furniture, and patterned lampshades—are top of mind for Keren Richter, cofounder of the interior design firm The White Arrow. “These elements feel fresh thanks to sophisticated new silhouettes, updated colors, and materials,” she says. Also up for a potential comeback: colored glass. “I’ve been studying Murano glass recently, and spec-ing a variety of vintage glass pendants, chandeliers, glassware, furniture, mirrors, and accessories. I love the delicateness, the transparent application of pale green and pink, and how the color and facets refract in the sunlight.”
3. The industrial designer
Product designer Stephen Burks of Stephen Burks Man Made sees textiles taking on new complexity and versatility. “We’re currently fascinated by textiles doing more in the home than just softly laying around,” he says. “Our clients—like Bolon, Dedar, and Luceplan—are utilizing advanced and experimental techniques like 3D knitting, upcycling, and textile printing to dramatic effect. Like Anni Albers’s prediction of textiles becoming architectural in The Pliable Plane and Professor Chuck Hoberman’s research into deployable surfaces at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, we imagine textiles in the home will begin to take on new atmospheric, structural, and technological possibilities in the very near future.”
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4. The ceramicist
“I see less of a focus on minimalism and more on excess—bright, bold, and out there,” says Montréal ceramicist Mérida Anderson, whose hand-thrown pieces merge playful shapes with vivid color. “I’m moving toward lusters and pearlescents, bright colors and weird pattern mixing.”
5. The rug maker
Designer Arati Rao, founder of handwoven rug line Tantuvi, predicts a surge in organic, nature-inspired forms, particularly in ceramics and textiles—items along the lines of Minh Singer’s geode-like dishware, Virginia Sin’s Rolling Hills table lamp, Raina Lee’s Moon Landings pieces, and Tantuvi’s own cotton rugs, designed to reflect the palette of the desert landscape in which they’re made.
6. The textile designer
Ellen Van Dusen, founder of Brooklyn-based fashion and home goods line Dusen Dusen, is seeing green for 2019. “Green is refreshing and a palette cleanser,” she says. “It’s a strong color but can also recede depending on the shade. It livens up spaces in a unique way.” The designer also foresees an uptick in all things oversize. “I’m thinking lamps, sculptures, objects in general,” she says. On her own decorative wish list: “I’ve been on the hunt for a big pencil forever. They make a six-foot-tall Ticonderoga No. 2 for display in art supply stores and I'm really trying to get my hands on one.”
