The Trend Curve™

The international authority on color and design trends in home furnishings

  • Home
  • The Trend Curve Blog
  • About Us
    • What We Do
    • Consulting
    • About Michelle Lamb
    • The Trend Curve Story
    • The Trend Curve Team
    • Life of a Trend
  • Contact
  • Members (now open to all)
    • *Member Homepage*
    • Member-Only Posts
    • The Trend Curve for Members
    • Trend Flash™
You are here: Home / Trend / What’s Next for Trend?

What’s Next for Trend?

March 31, 2020 By Michelle Lamb -

In the past couple of weeks, several people have asked me how I think trend will change in a COVID-19 world. This is an important question, given the vital role that trend plays in assortments.

Revol’s warm mid-tone palette

To begin with, I believe that the language used to communicate about products softens. Already, many companies have put excitement on the back burner in favor of calm-and-caring messaging. We are in this together. Let’s care for one another. Each of us must do what we can. Take a breath. These sentiments, featuring a complete lack of exclamation points, will become the new language of trend into the foreseeable future.

Next, color will reveal countertrends in consumer response to our Stay-at-Home experience. The majority of people will crave hues that promote relaxation. Easy-to-live-with mid-tones have been building for a while. Now COVID-19 becomes an accelerator that makes them the go-to personality for comfort. A smaller, yet significant group will look instead for distracting brights, utilizing balancing neutrals to ensure overall appeal in anxiety-free homes. Watch for emerging neon pops within neutral palettes that rely heavily on off-whites, incoming browns (especially light and middle values) and black.

Updated traditional décor from Century Furniture

The mood is right for edgy contemporary styles to back off. As that takes place, tradition, which has been building slowly for about two years, is poised to fill much of the void. Now that the market has learned to streamline these time-tested forms, use unexpected materials and adapt motifs to a more casual personality, tradition doesn’t look stodgy anymore. And because traditional style has been away for so long, it also feels fresh. Consumers will not even perceive that they are reaching for something familiar and dependable.

Interior scene featuring Instabilelab wallpaper
Interior scene featuring Instabilelab wallpaper
Jamie Hayon rug design for Nanimarquina
Jamie Hayon rug design for Nanimarquina

For the past 40 years, consumers have shown a preference for sophisticated décor. However, as a reaction to this crisis, they just want to be happy again, to laugh and to be playful. That’s why I’m banking of a revival of sophisticated whimsy. Designs will elicit a smile, not a laugh, be uplifting and perhaps even thought-provoking. They will be pivotal in setting a healing tone for home décor.

If you would like to know more of my thoughts on color and design trends, follow @trendcurve on Instagram and Michelle Lamb on LinkedIn.

Filed Under: Trend   Tagged With: Color, Traditional Design, Whimsy

Recent Posts

  • Fourth of July Influences on Décor and Food
  • Color Trends from Guimarães Home Fashion Week 2022
  • Trending at Maison & Objet: Valets
  • Embellishments Lit Up High Point
  • Green is a Rising Star

Posts by Category

Post Tags

Ambiente Americasmart Animal Skin Asian Style Black and White Ceramic Chelsea Flower Show Christmas Color Copper COVID-19 Design Details & Embellishments DMC Dogs Florals Functionality Geometrics Halloween Harvest High Point Furniture Market Key Items Kids Licensing Lighting Maison & Objet Marble Metals and Metallics Mixed Media Paper Pattern Shape Showtime Spring/Summer Sustainability Tabletop Textiles Texture Thanksgiving Toy Fair Transparency Trendcurveteam Valentine's Day White Wood Trends

Site Menu

  • Home
  • The Trend Curve™ Blog
  • Member Content (now open to all)
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Sign Up for Email Updates

  • Hidden

Connect With Us!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Contact Us

The Trend Curve™
16 Penumbra
Lake Forest, CA 92630

Phone: 949-662-1515
Fax: 952-893-1264
Contact us here

Copyright © 2022 · The Trend Curve™ · Trend Staff: Log in