Interior Design and DIY in 2020

Interior design and DIY has gone through something of a resurgence during lockdown hasn’t it?  Just look at Instagram and its is flooded with images of people revamping their homes. We have begun preening like never before.

Why has the DIY trend and home renovation increased so much in 2020?

I think it is basically because we want something to do, something to look forward to and right now, our homes have become our pet projects. They seem to be calling us, to revitalize and redesign them, in a way that perhaps that has never been seen before. We want homes that give us a feeling of safety, existence, and life.  All of us have been spending more time at home perhaps than we ever have so it makes sense that we have been noticing all those jobs that we have been meaning to do for years.  It makes sense that we are sick of looking at the tired decoration in our homes or perhaps outdated interior design.

I know we have gone totally crazy with the diy trend and indeed with a complete renovation project this year. For 10 years we have been planning to remove a wall and now as I type it has come down!  The builders are here and in just a week or so we will have the family space in the back of our house that we have dreamed of for so long.

I also think that whilst money is an issue for many this year, they have more time to get on to the DIY trend and some have saved money that they would have ordinarily spent on holidays or going out so in fact there isn’t much to spend money on apart from your home this year.  But what the key trends for 2020?

The trend is soft and bright

Over the past decade we have seen a dominance of furniture in neutrals in the home, but also, straight lines. This has been labelled the minimalist, postmodern design trend that has been adopted by most family homes. However, in lockdown, the cold leather sofa has been the living room companion we could do without. We want softer, more vibrant sofas now. So go onto a website like Swyft and take a look at the options. They have the most modern sofas, so they show the trends. The blue velvet winged sofa is back, but so is the 80s red sofa with its glitz and charm. The green sofa has made a huge comeback, now that we love to have more plants in the home as well. They have both 2-seater and 3-seater options.  We have gone for a red wing backed chair in our lounge room although this is one that was reclaimed and recovered.  Then in our new family space it is all about the brights…  We have gone with super bright yellow.  Not very practical with the kids, but cheerful and we all need some cheer right?

Covering walls

I have also seen a huge trend in people using artwork rather than having those minimalist plain walls.  The reason why artwork is making a comeback in interior design is that people don’t want to stare at their minimalist walls anymore. They don’t want to have white or grey walls, with no soul, they want to have walls which sing.

So artwork has made a huge return, as more and more people want their family homes to showcase their own loves. Paintings, portraits, and sketches should be placed all around the home.   Children’s rooms definitely seem to be a place for colourful artwork.  We tend to have their own artwork on the walls in their bedrooms and in the family room and then in the living room we are looking for more of a statement artwork like a landscape painting. Exotic artwork is also popular, such as tribal or ancestral works.

Outdoor Living

This, for us, has been the biggest transformation in 2020.  We are lucky to have a garden, but actually before lockdown we didn’t even use it that much.  Now we are always in the garden.  We have realised that in order to get through this winter with potential lockdowns always looming we needed to make the garden somewhere we could use even in the winter.  We have created a seating area with a fire pit for this.

If you have a patio or even a balcony it can be your family’s ideal place to hang out. Now that the lockdown has shown us how important our gardens are, taking the time to think about how you can best utilise that outside space is not going to be something you will regret.  Some other ideas to make an outdoor space somewhere you want to hang out are:

An egg chair is a brilliant idea, great for those that want to read in peace.

A beanbag chair in the shade is a nice little nap-inducing place or perhaps a hammock hanging outside, for those that want to sleep while listening to birdsong.

I also really recommend getting some lighting for the garden especially if you do plan to be out there in the darker months.  For the spring and summer LED solar lamps are a great option.

What have you been doing with your house in 2020? Let us know any great ideas you have in the comments.