The Hottest Home Décor Trends For 2019 According To Interiors Icon Pallavi Dean

3 min read

Want to get a head start on your interiors for the New Year? Here are the hottest home décor trends for 2019 according to award-winning architect and designer Pallavi Dean, founder of the Dubai-based interior design firm Roar (formerly known as Pallavi Dean Interiors).

Home with heart
It’s an age-old saying we know, but we firmly believe “the home is where the heart is”. Whether we’re designing with a client in mind or for our own families, it’s important to keep things personal: your home should say more about you than anyone else. Style your home with little mementos from your life, your travels, and other thing that are important to you. We like to create little “montages” – selecting and grouping together a variety of objects for visual interest. Play with proportion, colour, and types of objects, setting the collection against a picture or perhaps putting it under a glass dome bell jar – the effect can be brilliant and the process is great fun.

Photo: Design director of Roar, Agata Kurzela’s downtown Dubai apartment

The nature of wellbeing
We like to feel connected to nature, and no more so than within the home. Biophilic design – a fancy term meaning to design with natural elements such as natural light, views, vegetation – has been shown to reduce stress, enhance creativity, clarity of thought and overall wellbeing. Within the home, this could mean simple changes such as bringing in a variety of plants, perhaps opting for lighter blinds or curtains to bring more natural light in, and burning natural oils over artificial home fragrance.

Sustainable and the handmade
Say goodbye to this year’s brief trend of 1970s homespun décor (please no more macramé), and welcome in items made by hand using sustainable materials like jute, rice paper, bamboo and clay. These materials have strong grounding elements to them and bringing them into the home can help make you feel more in touch with the earth and nature. Kick-off the trend with a timeless rice paper lantern (major style points if investing in Noguchi) or if you’ve always wanted to start collecting, why not ceramics? We love local ceramicist Michael Rice’s Raku (an ancient Japanese technique) vessels.

Michael Rice White Raku ‘Binary’

Material connection
Overly designed rooms with only one look date very quickly. Not everything needs to be the same (wood colour, wall colour, style etc.) as a room like this can seem cold, distant and without personality. Break free and mix up materials and textures. If you’re unsure on how to do this, bring on an interior designer (we know a good one) or enlist the design services of your favourite interiors retailer.

Marina Arcade apartment: Roar plays with material, texture and a varied colour palette to create a home with irrestible emotional appeal

Burst of colour
Around this time of year there is always much talk of that great interiors trend barometer: the Pantone Colour of the Year. You may remember 2018 was the year of Ultra Violet, but for 2019 it’s Living Coral. The Pantone Colour Institute describe this colour as a “coral hue with a golden undertone” – louder than pink but softer than red. Bring the hue into your home by switching out cushions, tabletop accessories, or for the more brave, create a feature wall.

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