Home renovation and design platform, Houzz.co.uk has identified the top emerging interior design trends based on the latest search insights* from its community of homeowners, home design enthusiasts and renovation professionals. The trends reflect a focus on durable surfaces, creating a seamless transition between indoors and out, hotel-worthy luxurious bedrooms and practicality, with newly coined terms ‘bootility’ and ‘lootility’ cropping up in searches. The report also highlighted an increase in homeowners carving out dedicated spaces, from elevated TV rooms to reading nooks and saunas. 

Elevated TV rooms 

A place to curl up and relax after a long day is at the top of homeowners' wish lists, with searches for ‘snug’ up by almost half and ‘corner sofas’ up by a quarter in searches compared with the previous year. TV and films are clearly on the agenda for these cosy spaces, with searches for ‘TV room’ and ‘cinema’ both up significantly. In our 2022 trend predictions, our professional community anticipated the rise of media storage units which is certainly coming through in searches on Houzz, with ‘media wall’ and ‘TV wall’ jumping 2.5x and 1.5x, respectively. 

• Media wall - 187%
• TV wall - 63%
• Snug - 48%
• TV Room - 46%
• Cinema - 30%
• Corner sofas - 24%

Indoor-outdoor spaces 

Creating a seamless transition between indoors and out is an enduring trend and homeowners on Houzz continue to seek out ways to blur the line between their home and garden, with searches for ‘outdoor kitchen’ and ‘outdoor fireplace’ both seeing a rise in interest. ‘Sunrooms’ and ‘orangeries’ are also proving popular as homeowners look to find ways they can enjoy their gardens year-round. Similarly, homeowners are using large swathes of glass to look out onto the garden, in particular ‘Crittal-style’ glazing which saw an almost 3x increase in searches or ‘sliding doors’ which edged up in searches this year.

• Crittal-style - 199%
• Sunroom - 56%
• Outdoor kitchens - 56%
• Orangerie - 35%
• Sliding door - 21%
• Outdoor fireplace - 18%

Thinking practically 

Practicality is key for homeowners on Houzz, with the search terms ‘larder’, ‘boot room’, ‘utility room’, ‘laundry’ and ‘American fridge freezer’ all rising significantly, and newly coined terms ‘bootility’ and ‘lootility’ featuring for the first time. As energy prices rise, it’s perhaps unsurprising that homeowners are seeking out alternatives, with searches for ‘solar panels’ spiking, up by 2x this year compared with the previous year and ‘heat pump’ featuring on the most searched terms for the first time. With dog ownership on the rise, homeowners are increasingly seeking solutions to ensure muddy paws aren’t traipsed through the house, with searches for ‘dog shower’ up 1.5x this year.

• Solar panels - 100%
• American fridge freezer - 79%
• Dog shower - 51%
• Larder - 37%
• Boot room - 36%
• Utility room - 27%
• Laundry - 20%

Surfaces that last 

Speaking of practicality, it looks like surfaces are also a focus for renovating homeowners with more durable materials rising in searches on Houzz. Flooring options ‘resin’, ‘cork’ and ‘luxury vinyl tile’ have all seen significant jumps, with resin in particular up by almost 2x. The plastering techniques ‘tadelakt’ and ‘microcement’, have also been growing in popularity as alternatives to tiles, with designers on Houzz predicting a move away from grey tones to earthier shades. For worktops, quartz continues to be popular, holding steady in searches, but for those seeking a natural stone option, ‘granite’ is rising in interest, up by more than a third in searches on Houzz.

• Resin flooring - 97%
• Tadelakt - 87%
• Microcement - 78%
• Cork flooring - 44%
• Lvt - 39%
• Granite - 36%

Luxurious bedrooms

Another of our predictions for 2022, creating a luxurious bedroom suite seems to be a priority for homeowners, as Houzz searches increasingly include associated terms like ‘headboard’, ‘built-in wardrobes’, ‘ensuite’ and ‘dressing room’. Navy is certainly the colour of choice, up an impressive 3x. And to create that boutique hotel feel, homeowners are turning to panelling, with searches for ‘bedroom panelling’ shooting up on Houzz.  

• Navy bedrooms - 218%
• Bedroom panelling - 200%
• Hotel bedroom - 63%
• Headboard - 33%
• Built-in wardrobes - 32%
• Ensuite - 25%
• Dressing room - 23%

Dedicated spaces 

As well as TV rooms, people are looking to carve out other dedicated activity spaces in the home with searches on Houzz for ‘games room’, ‘indoor pool’, ‘playroom’ and ‘reading nook’ all up by more than 1.5x. Wellness continues to be a focus and it looks like homeowners are searching for at-home options, with searches for ‘sauna’ creeping up on Houzz.

• Games room - 71%
• Indoor pool - 57%
• Playroom - 50%
• Reading nook - 50%
• Sauna - 21%

You can read the full report by clicking on this link.

*Source: Data reflects year-over-year growth in UK-based searches on Houzz from January-March 2022 versus January-March 2021.