As Americans continue to work from home and find hybrid opportunities, homes are becoming more personalized, with a focus on design elements that bring joy. Whether you want to renovate your home, need decorating inspiration, or are building your home from scratch—these are some of the biggest interior and exterior house design trends of 2026!
Interior Design Trends for 2026
2025 saw a decline of open-concept home design—and we foresee that continuing for 2026, with builders offering closed-concept home design and existing homeowners creating rooms with designated intentions. While some trends will feel familiar, you can expect a modern twist with sustainability and technology intertwined in home interior designs of 2026. Read more below!
Establish Distinct Rooms & Spaces
Trends from 2025 show that people are transitioning back to traditional floor plans and away from the once-popular open-concept layout—and this trend won’t slow down in 2026. Consider bonus room ideas and designate space for a home gym, craft room, home library, or home office, as keeping leisure and work spaces separated can help you stay productive and organized. If you don’t already have a dedicated space, consider converting a spare room into an office. Especially if you work from home, being able to leave work in your office at the end of the day by closing the door and entering rooms focused on relaxation can help encourage work-life balance.
Create Multi-Functional Areas
A lingering home design trend from the past few years, people needing their small living spaces to accommodate work, leisure, and family time often create multifunctional rooms. Multi-functional interior design allows you to make the most of your space and prioritize hobbies or values that are important for your lifestyle. Whether it’s utilizing a flex room, investing in space-saving furniture, or combining a guest room and home office, finding ways to design and use rooms for multiple purposes will continue to be an interior design trend into 2026.
Embrace Sustainability
Feel good about how you update your home in 2026 by using long-lasting, sustainable materials that are durable and easy to clean. Install natural materials for your bathroom or kitchen—such as countertops that can withstand daily wear and tear, like glass, metal, ceramic, or stone. Go green in the new year by investing in energy-saving technology. Opt for reusable containers, utilize recycled materials, restore or upcycle furniture and home decor—or shop for local and handmade products. Part of the charm behind this 2026 trend is embracing the imperfections and uniqueness of artisan craftsmanship, giving your home a more lived-in feel.
Stay Healthy with Wellness Rooms
The everlasting goal of staying healthy and keeping in shape will continue to trend into 2026. As part of the trend of giving rooms specific roles, some are choosing to build a home gym or home yoga space for movement and meditation. Though the initial investment can get pricey, a great way to save money in the new year is to cancel the gym membership and install any necessary equipment or machines. Use mirrors for placement checks during your workout and add speakers and soundproofing panels so you can listen to music without disturbing others. If you have the space and want to go above and beyond, other wellness trends of 2026 include adding a sauna or ice bath for post-workout routines!
Get Cozy with Hygge or Japandi Styles
If you desire a clean minimalist look that isn’t harsh or cold, a hygge or Japandi home style might be the right option for you. Hygge prioritizes cozy, comfy vibes through simple pleasures. Drawing from both Scandinavian and Japanese design—to blend form and function—Japandi focuses on tranquility, organization, and a connection to nature. The main features of Japandi and hygge decor include practical furniture with clean lines, natural materials, soft textures, and light, muted colors. Both of these styles go hand in hand with other home trends in 2026—like rounded wood furniture and warm neutral tones.
Use Warm Neutrals…
The neutral tones of past years have been based on cooler tones. As the 2025 Pantone color of mocha mousse suggested, and their 2026 color of the year of cloud dancer has confirmed—the current color trends in home decor will continue to bring more warmth, extra coziness, and relaxation to homes in 2026. Say goodbye to blueish grays and black, and say hello to mauves, reddish browns, and creams. These colors can emulate and pair well with the natural elements that will be found more commonly in homes in 2026.
…Or Try Bold Colors & Patterns
If you love color, you’ll be happy to know that the latest color trends in home decor are rich and bold! Create an accent wall with pops of color or patterned wallpaper. Spotlight colorful furniture within a room of neutrals or incorporate the growing color drenching trend throughout your home. Think about how you want to feel in the room when picking your room colors—reds, yellows, and oranges can brighten a room’s energy, while blues, greens, and violets can invoke calmness. For example, if you spend a lot of time in a home office, music room, or art studio, go for mood-boosting paint colors that will help inspire you. On the other hand, you may want a soothing, cool color for the paint in your bedroom to help you wind down.
Go Radical With a Retro Home Design
A continuing rise in ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s-inspired media and fashion styles brings an increase in retro-inspired interior design—and we don’t see that slowing down in January or beyond. 2026’s take on retro continues the emphasis on comfort and a rejection of stark spaces with hard lines. We’ll be seeing understated but dramatic and bold curved designs in custom floor plans in 2026. Retro in 2026 can also mean using a mixture of bright and muted colors, wood paneling, patterned wallpaper, wicker and curved furniture, and shag rugs. To pull off any of these decades-inspired looks in your home, look at incorporating antiques and vintage home decor ideas. Mix and match style elements of different decades—with the bold colors and patterns of the ’80s, the artful lighting of the ’60s, and the hallmark sleek and custom furniture from the ’50s.
Utilize Modern Technology
As technology continues to evolve, so do the ways you do everyday activities at home. Smart home technology can improve how people get chores done and even make it easier to be more sustainable. Connect your outlets, TV, and smart thermostat to your phone so you don’t have to worry about wasting energy when you aren’t home. Alternatively, you can swap bulbs out for LED lights to save energy or get a robot vacuum to get some cleaning done when you aren’t home.
Bring In Biophilic Design
Bring the outdoors in with biophilic design, a top home interior trend that will continue gaining ground in 2026. This home design style incorporates the natural world through the use of earthy colors, natural materials, good ventilation, and—most importantly—houseplants. Bringing nature into interior design creates a symbiotic relationship, helping to improve air quality, stress levels, cognitive health, and overall well-being. One of the best ways to implement a biophilic design is by decorating your home in the urban jungle home style. Go for door, window, and hall remodels and crate smooth arches to mimic natural pathways. Consider creating concrete accents through your home with shelving. Or grow an indoor smart garden so you can always have fresh produce and seasoning herbs or spices for meals!
Exterior Design Trends for 2026
Home improvement projects like building decks and painting front doors have been popular in recent years, as have DIY landscaping projects like creating backyard privacy and adding water features. If you are looking for ways to update or create your dream yard, here are some of the exterior design trends of 2026!
Make Energy-Saving Choices
Continuing on the idea of being more sustainable, people are turning to eco-friendly yard ideas that help save energy. Instead of leaving the sprinklers running all the time or using incandescent lighting, you’ll see more and more homes with solar-powered lighting, LED lighting, and water-saving technology like drip systems. Intentionally using lighter paint colors and energy-efficient windows that minimize heat absorption are other sustainable home improvements that can also add style.
Emphasize Natural Landscaping
The latest exterior home trends in landscaping come from a sustainability mindset. To assist in the biodiversity of plant and insect species, people are starting to let their yards grow the region’s native plants and build around the natural shape of the yard. No-grass yard ideas and natural landscaping offer numerous benefits—including attracting pollinators and birds that contribute to the overall health of the local ecosystem. Start natural landscaping in your front yard by first researching native shrubs, grasses, and flowers in your area, then start spreading the seeds. You’ll still need to do some maintenance on your yard, but native landscaping is one of the best low-maintenance landscaping methods and works great for small yards!
Bridge the Indoors & Outdoors
Outdoor living rooms and other outdoor living spaces have been a popular home design trend the past handful of years—and we don’t see that going anywhere else in 2026. Homeowners have the ability to entertain friends, family, and neighbors, all while being in the presence of nature. Make an indoor-outdoor space by using large glass doors and plenty of windows. Extend your interior color palette to the exterior space for a smooth transition. Install retractable or pocket walls—a popular feature in modern home design. Add shade ideas like a covered patio or pergola to extend the ceiling, or use backyard lighting like pendant or string lights to bring in some coziness, functionality, and privacy to your yard.
Upgrade Your Front Entrance
With enjoying outdoor spaces and hosting get-togethers a forever trend, vamping up the porch is a growing way to boost curb appeal. Just by having a decorated front porch, you can make guests or family members feel at home before even stepping inside. Create a cozy, welcoming front entrance by adding an outdoor rug or comfortable chairs with throw pillows to extend your outdoor living space and help set guests’ expectations for your home. Don’t have a front porch? Consider installing an awning or pergola for shade and paint your front door a bold color to draw attention and offer some shelter to your home’s entrance.
Paint Your Home Exterior a Welcoming Earth Tone…
Nature-inspired colors for home exteriors—like brown, beige, white, green, and umber—can make a home feel warm and homey, yet elegant. There are plenty of great on-trend earth tone color palettes to choose from. If you want to add contrast to your home, pair sage or forest green with creamy beige accents—or pair earthy colors with differing natural materials to meet multiple home exterior trends.
…Drench Your Home Exterior with a Bold Color…
Color drenching isn’t just an interior trend—it’s a rising exterior home trend in 2026, too! If you’re tired of neutrals or maintaining a white exterior, this is the home update for you. Make a statement with a charcoal or black home. Add drama with a burgundy, rich magenta, or blackberry-purple house. Have fun with an orange or dark teal house color. The options are endless!
…Or Go With the Modern Farmhouse Look
Though decreasing in popularity, modern farmhouse home exteriors continue to trend as they meld sleek, Modern design elements of mixing textures with vintage and rustic aesthetics. Whether you opt for a barndo design or traditional farmhouse, this style commonly includes a white exterior accented by a dark roof and trim along with natural materials like wood or galvanized steel. This mixture of different materials is expected to be a huge trend in 2026 exterior decorating.
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