Every era has its own design aesthetic. In the 1970s, interiors followed fashion, embracing a riot of colour and pattern, from orange and yellow kitchen cabinetry to bold geometric and floral fabrics in deep purple, magenta and lime green.
For those of us who lived through them, the ’80s were equally memorable, with big shoulders, bigger earrings and layers of pastel shirts and pushed-up jacket sleeves translating into dollops of pale pinks, peach and mint green interiors teamed with soft grey, or shiny splashes of electric blue, black and red contrasted with polished chrome or brass.
Love it or hate it, they were bold statements where the personality of the home owners came shining through.
But what will interior design in the 2020s be remembered for? Quite possibly, it’s beige.
Under the influence
Sarah Marriott, director of SJS Interior Design, says whether it’s quiet luxury or Byron Bay boho, social media accounts are flooded with interiors in shades of cream and caramel – and not much else.
“The viral trends for a beige and white land of cream-on-cream, it’s what influencers are showing, especially in Byron [Bay],” she says.
And home owners are homing in on what they see as a fail-safe palette.
“It’s natural for clients to see that as what is trending. Even Temu and fast furniture ‘click and deliver’ options, it’s all cream and boucle.”
Interior designer and stylist Jono Fleming agrees that the warm greys of the past few years have given way to a palette that starts with warm whites and ends with chocolate brown. He says while it’s a harmonious look, it also risked being lifeless.
He recently lamented the lack of chroma in an Instagram post, referring to brown as beige “with better PR”.
Finding your own style
Fleming regularly visits clients’ homes to offer advice on ways to bring their personality into a space. While beige seems the stylish option to some, he says that doesn’t mean it creates the sense of sanctuary or connection that many crave.
“After doing 80 consults [last year] and going into people’s homes, those who have gone with beige will say, ‘it still doesn’t look like me’,” he says.
He argues that there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with a warm white and beige palette but on its own it can leave rooms lacking.
“Beige is really a safety net for people who don’t have the design skills to put colour in. They say: ‘Beige is what I like and it’s my taste because you cannot go wrong. It blends together and it all looks cohesive.’”
It’s a position backed up by paint sales. Lauren Treloar, colour and design manager at Dulux, says their range of interior whites are still their most sought-after colours.
“Whites are our most popular colours but we are seeing continued preference for warm, comforting colours like whites and neutrals,” she says. “There is the quiet luxury trend which is still very popular. People are really favouring understated sophistication over flashier, louder design.”
The resale factor
Matthew Carvalho, Sydney-based real estate agent for Ray White, says home owners who deny the power of beige may also pay dearly come sale time.
“No one has a problem with white,” he says. “Sometimes I go into houses, particularly old period homes, and they have mustard or dark red on the walls.
“It might have looked great back in the day, with the heavy timber on the door frame, but some of those darker colours can be quite polarising for a buyer, particularly if it has been done some time ago.”
Carvalho suggests whatever you spend on painting your property warm white prior to selling will pay you back tenfold at auction.
“So a $10,000 paint job adds $100,000 to the price,” he says.
If you do plan to go with colourful interiors before selling, Carvalho says expert design advice is worthwhile to ensure the palette doesn’t put buyers off.
“I would not paint it a colour unless you had good advice from a design professional,” he says.
Beyond neutral
Marriott says some clients are fearful of stepping outside the warm white palette because they struggle to imagine how it will look, and think it will be harder than living with a neutral colour.
“A lot of people think colour will date but it doesn’t date at all,” she says. “If you really hate it you can paint it again. We can put [room schemes] into AI or we do 3D designs and sketches – it’s quick and easy process now.”
While Instagram posts might show a picture-perfect home, she says the “cut-and-paste” approach to styling can fall flat.
“The perfect homes influencers are showing, they’re not real life,” she says. “Boho is fine if you are in the Byron hinterland but often the house tells you its style.”
Fleming suspects some of the trepidation about stepping outside the cream and caramel palette is underlined by concerns about resale.
“Of course real estate agents will say that is not the best approach – adding too many personal touches to a renovation – and ‘you have to go neutral to sell’ is the vibe,” he says. “From a design perspective, everything is going to date anyway. Eventually, whatever the plain white wave that is in today, in five to 10 years, probably even five years, it is going to date.”
Even if you would rather keep your walls white, he says you can create a sense of warmth and connection by adding personal touches such as something from your travels, a multicoloured rug or an artwork you love, which can help provide the palette for the rest of the room.
While beige will be with us for some time yet, it is not static. Fleming says the emerging style is less about Instagram-worthy quiet luxury and more idiosyncratic.
“People are sourcing furniture on Facebook Marketplace and vintage stores to add personality – it’s become a trend which is an ‘anti-trend’ trend. Beige is going to evolve.”
Robyn Willis is a property reporter and the former lifestyle editor for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.From our partners
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