7 Home Trends You Love Right Now (But You’ll Hate in a Year)

There's a never-ending cycle in home design and fashion: Once-popular styles fall out of favor, and then circle back again in a few years. That’s what makes following home trends so tricky. You turn to trusted sources for inspiration, leaving confident and full of new, imaginative ways to dress your interiors—only for the look you once loved to be labeled 'outdated.'

Sorting through the noise of endless scroll-worthy interiors online can be hard. How do you decipher between a timeless upgrade or a fleeting trend—especially when a look goes viral and suddenly everyone’s calling it the new 'it' style.

Our design experts share exactly how to navigate this dilemma, along with the trends they suggest avoiding now—even if they're currently flooding your feed.

1. Highly Niche Styles

"Relying on aesthetic-boxing often leads to burnout and big design regrets later on," says decor expert Jenny Jing Zhu. She explains that although niche styles like dark academia, mob wife glam, and cottagecore offer instant visual cues and strong moods—which tend to go viral fast—these styles can end up constraining your design vision in the long-run.

“Social media thrives on trends that double as identities,” Zhu says. “These aesthetics make for beautiful Instagram and Tik Tok posts, but these hyper-themed looks are hard to maintain in real homes – especially as your lifestyle, space needs, or mood changes.”

"Real life is less curated," she adds. "Design should evolve with you; your home should reflect your story, not a trending label."

2. Fast Furniture

"Style should never come at the expense of quality; the pieces you live with every day should feel good, function well, and last through more than just a single season. That’s what turns a house into a home," she says.

3. Overusing Neutrals

When it comes to color, neutral hues (especially cool grays) have been gaining traction in the design world for several years. But, warmer, cozier palettes are much likelier to win out in the long run, says home expert Danielle DeBoe Harper.

"Beige, taupe, and earthy neutrals with fewer sterile, all-white or all-beige rooms and more contrast, depth, and natural warmth," will soon reign, Harper says. And if you love gray, she encourages using a designer approach to prevent your space from feeling flat. "Balance your color with inviting accents, since classic neutrals benefit from layered textures, wood tones, and pops of color," she suggests.

4. Color Blocking

Color blocking in key areas like kitchen cabinetry can feel playful or bold, but will also likely fade out of style, Harper predicts. Since this design approach may disrupt the overall flow of a space, you do risk dating your kitchen fast if you pick the wrong color scheme. Now, trend forecasts show that design professionals will favor more tone-on-tone, cohesive palettes that tend to offer a sense of calm, visual harmony, and longevity. "These statement-making types of choices are excellent for expressing where you are today, but they don’t always represent where you’ll be tomorrow," Harper says, so it's crucial to be thoughtful with your color scheme before committing.

5. Fantasy-Inspired or Overly Themed Patterns

While design should spark joy and imagination no matter your style, Zhu says too much of a theme can limit how your space grows with you. So while fantasy-core styles adorned with celestial-inspired decor, glittery textiles, and mushroom motifs might be magical and expressive, these overly trend-driven spaces aren't always sustainable.

When you let trend-led motifs dominate, it leaves you with little room for flexibility or longevity, Zhu explains. "Magic is most meaningful when it’s layered with comfort and intention," she says.

6. Faux Finishes and Materials

Artificial wood, marble, and stone—though more budget-friendly and convenient—are definitely on their way out too, explains interior designer Meredith McKenzie. "There's an irreplaceable, timeless appeal to choosing authentic, durable and sustainable materials, like marble countertops in a bath, hardwood floors stained in a walnut finish for the whole house, and natural stone fireplaces or mud room floors," she says.

"These finishes age gracefully and hold their value, so not only are you protecting your investment but you're also choosing quality upgrades that won’t feel outdated a few years down the line,” McKenzie explains.

7. Loud, Unplanned Accent Walls

Accent walls might still be having a moment, but McKenzie says they're evolving too. "High-contrast, purely decorative accent walls are a thing of the past," she says, noting that this approach can often make a space feel loud or disconnected. While accent walls can still highlight a feature or add subtle drama, McKenzie encourages rethinking the concept altogether.

"Instead of painting just one wall, consider wallpapering your entire space (including your fifth wall: the ceiling)," she says. "Or, combine wallpaper with a color-drenched feature wall with built-ins (like in a butler’s pantry or study), and finish the look with matching trim, baseboards, and doors in the same hue."

Just be sure you choose a hue that complements your wallpaper motifs, McKenzie cautions. "These ideas feel more elevated and are far more likely to stand the test of time," she says.