Design Trends In and Out for 2021

The dramatic shift in design trends during the past 12 months resulted from Americans’ pandemic free time, including bingeing an HGTV show or two, says Realtor.com. Some of the design trends noted prior to the pandemic might be fading, so Realtor.com revisited them to see if they remain popular. The open floor plan seemed great until families were forced to work and school in the same room. Designers and clients have begun placing comfort and functionality at the forefront of home design, rather than trendiness. One designer says the pandemic spurred a strong need for multifunctional spaces and pieces of furniture, along with maintenance-free design.

“People want to be more comfortable, more relaxed, more like a vacation-at-your-home type of vibe,” she says.

So what’s in and what’s out? This is what the search stats—and a select group of interior designers—had to say.

What’s old is new again, and this midcentury mainstay, which had fallen out of favor, has made a big comeback.

Terrazzo floors are ubiquitous in public schools, hospitals, airports, and other high-traffic buildings. The speckled flooring was also very popular in custom homes from the 1950s and 1960s but fell out of fashion in the 1970s.

Now, one of its main draws is that it’s environmentally friendly as it can be made with recycled materials. Terrazzo is made of crushed glass, stone fragments, or other organic materials embedded in concrete or resin. Then it’s polished until smooth.

But terrazzo isn’t cheap—depending on the materials and complexity of the design, it can cost more than granite or marble. Terrazzo floors can range from $25 to $90 per square foot, according to the home improvement website Home Advisor.

Still, the material has grown in popularity thanks to its extreme durability, and designers have gone beyond the floor and are experimenting with terrazzo furniture, bathroom walls, and countertops.

“It’s tough as nails,” says Justin Riordan, founder of the Spade and Archer Design Agency, a home staging company with locations in Portland, OR; Seattle; and Los Angeles. “You put it down once, wax it once a year and it lasts for freaking ever.”

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