Tomie Raines

9 Creative and Colorful Home Design Trends for 2018

Home design trends for 2018

A chic and modern look is essential whether you’re enticing homebuyers or just moving in to your dream home. If you’re making home renovations or just looking for new decor, keep these latest trends in mind to get a chic new look. With a variety of creative and intriguing 2018 home design trends to start the year, you can update your home with cutting edge style that also shows your personality.

9 Home Design Trends You’ll Love In 2018

1. Powerful Pigments

2018 home design trends bring a refreshing explosion of color. Jewel tones with powerful pigmentation and a little darkness have become especially popular, adding a mix of mystery and coziness to any room. If you’re making an important home update or adding a focal point, these bold colors will help draw attention to it.

Pantone’s color of the year, Ultra Violet, set the stage for bold colors, and others like emerald and jungle green, sapphire blue and even ruby red were quick to follow. Use these colors sparingly to make them pop, such as on an accent walls, furniture upholstery, pillows, drapes or kitchenware.

2. Pale Pastels

If jewel tones are too heavy or the thought of painting over a dark wall is daunting, pale pastels offer a lighter alternative. “Millennial pink” of 2017 remains a popular choice, and designers have made it their own with subtle shifts towards lilac, lavender, and mint.

This 2018 home design trend gives homeowners plenty of freedom to experiment, without the regret that can arise from a mistaken love of darker colors. Pastel colors are easier to blend into the decor, though be careful not to overuse them and make the room look washed out.

3. Touchable Textures

Textures create visual interest and depth in a space, expressing the design through another sense. With a number of interesting textures at the top of the 2018 home design trends list, now is the perfect time to start really feeling your design.

Your textures should match the mood and motif of the room. For earthy, natural spaces, add wicker or woven elements such as a wicker chair or a woven lampshade or basket. If your style is more geometric or artsy, use luxurious velvet to make a strong statement and add warmth.

4. Artisan Accents

With the rise of Pinterest and Instagram, DIY has become more than a hobby; it’s an artform. Unique, custom-made accent elements, whether made by you, a local artist, or just fitting the look, are a great way to put your signature on your design.

Artisan accents can be as simple as adding a velvet fringe to a pastel pillow, or they can be focal points, like a hand-woven basket lampshade. Remember; all good things in moderation. Keep your design chic and consistent, and be careful not to stray into kitsch.

5. Matching Metals

Stainless steel and silver have fallen out in favor of warmer metals like copper and brass. It’s no accident that these metals tend to fit in better with bolder colors and cozier rooms, while stainless steel and silver fit better with bygone blacks, whites, and grays.

Designers are using brass and copper in traditional ways such as in knobs, curtain rods, sinks and lamps as well as new, creative ways like in mirrors, end tables, and vases. If these interesting alloys speak to you, don’t be afraid to get creative.

6. Fascinating Furniture Finishes

Dark woods are another 2018 home design trend elevating the most modern spaces. Mahogany, ebony, blackwood, rosewood, walnut and other smokey wood varieties give homeowners a wide spectrum of rich, dark browns, blacks, reds, and grays to add character and depth.

You don’t have to buy completely new furniture if you want to use this design trend. A carefully selected and applied dark finish will give your lighter furniture a completely new look.

7. Prints That Pop

With bold colors and creative decor elements, 2018 home design trends make an ideal set-up for showcasing eye-catching prints. With hundreds of popular prints and endless ways to use them, you can make any print work with your style and space.

For a light and uplifting feel, try floral pastel prints on an accent wall. Botanical or animal prints will set off a rainforest theme. Pineapple print dish towels will add a cheery touch to your kitchen, and asymmetric abstract prints on a blanket or pillow will add chaotic contrast to a geometric theme.

8. Earthy Elements

If you’re refinishing your fireplace, floors, countertops or conducting other DIY home projects, keep natural elements in mind. 2018 home design trends lean towards surfaces like marble, granite, and sandstone in lieu of brick, concrete, or linoleum. These surfaces also tend to age better and will add more value to your home.

9. Memorable Motifs

With technology ever-present in so many parts of our lives, it’s little surprise that many current homeowners seek some peace in home designs inspired by natural landscapes. There are many ways to use 2018 home design trends to create a personalized motif that is also refreshing and natural.

Create a remote getaway with a jungle theme using palm tree prints and leafy plants in wicker pots. Bring a geometric theme down to earth with marble, dark woods, and a carefully placed orchid or potted bonsai. Red marble, sandstone, or clay accents with potted herbs will revitalize a sunny Tuscan-themed kitchen. A lampshade with a grassy fringe, an Indonesian ikat blanket, and a blackwood table with a terracotta bowl will bring an exotic globe-trotting theme to your living room.


There are many ways to use the home design trends of 2018 to show off your personality and create a modern look. If a room in your home is crying out for an update, now is the perfect time to make a space that inspires you.