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However, with so many keen design minds out there all wanting to put their own personal flair into how they design their homes, it’s no surprise that there’s a near endless list of must-try styles, color-schemes and decor themes to choose from. Should you go for a minimalist look that will give you plenty of head space to relax in, or maybe a busy, eclectic feel is more your style?
While the confines and boundaries of your own home can help to focus your attention on achievable changes to your home decor and interior design, it can still be difficult to know where to start. That’s why we have created The Living Cozy Index, your one-stop destination for the hottest trends and inspiration to get your creative juices flowing and breathe new life into the tired recesses of any home.
The best place to start on any design project is to source as much inspiration as possible, preferably from a range of diverse sources. This is where the interior design influencer can be an absolute God-send. Not only are they experts in their field, often with years of design experience under their belts, but they each bring to the table their own unique and personal style.
Therefore, as the first part of our Living Cozy Index, we wanted to shine a spotlight on some of the most successful influencers in interior design. So, prepare to be inspired, and check out these brilliant designers for yourself!
Instagram Followers: 2.8M
The most successful interior design influencer on Instagram is Bobby Berk, who has amassed an impressive 2.8 million followers on the platform. Bobby is most famous for appearing on Netflix’s Queer Eye as the design expert, but he is also a successful businessman in the interior design industry with his own lines of wallpaper, furniture and art and stores across the US, all while running his own full-service interior design company.
Instagram Followers: 1.5M
In second place, with 1.5 million followers, is Amber Lewis. Check out her Instagram for regular posts packed full of creative design ideas, including seasonal variations to suit your home all through the year. Aside from her successful Instagram presence, Amber runs her own online home decor shop as well as a full-service design studio.
Instagram Followers: 1.4M
In third place, with 1.4 million followers is Becki Owens, an interior designer from Southern California. Having featured in a variety of top-tier publications, from Wall Street Journal to Architectural Digest, she has become well-known for creating welcoming living spaces and clean, modern designs.
Now we turn our attention to the most talked-about design trends of 2021. These trends are the hottest design topic on the internet of the last twelve months and give us a good indication of the way popular style is moving in home decor.
Popularity score: 10
The most popular design trend of 2021 is Cottagecore, which received a popularity score of 10 in our index. Cottagecore celebrates the simpler things in life and seeks to emulate an idealized version of country living, with a focus on arts, crafts, and things like horticulture and home baking. This design trend started as a Gen Z fashion subculture and has exploded over the last couple of years to become a hugely popular source of inspiration for interior decor and design.
Popularity score: 9.35
In second place, with a popularity score of 9.35, are houseplants. With many of us having been confined to our homes over the last year or two, bringing the outside indoors has become a popular way of freshening up our living spaces. Bringing plants into our homes is a great way of injecting nature into your life, especially if you live in an urban environment or don’t own a garden or outdoor space.
Popularity score: 7.10
The third most popular interior design trend is Mid-Century Modern styling, which received a popularity score of 7.10. This design aesthetic was originally popularized in post-war America up until the late ’60s and draws inspiration from the forward-thinking Modernist movement. This style focuses more on the form of a design rather than its decoration, producing a clean, bold look that champions straight lines and exposed materials.
Having seen the design biggest trends of the year, we now take a look at the hottest up-and-coming trends that have risen in popularity the fastest over the last 12 months. These styles and trends are disrupting the established interior design landscape, breathing fresh ideas into homes all over the world. Keep an eye on these, because we’ve got a feeling we could be seeing a lot of them in the future.
Increase in Searches: ∞%
Twelve months ago, nobody was searching online for cluttercore, but now it’s the hottest up-and-coming trend of 2021, exploding onto the interior design scene out of absolute nowhere. Cluttercore is the celebration of things that are important to you, with a focus on displaying your much-loved items rather than storing them away. This often leads to walls crammed full of pictures, postcards, or open shelves, making your possessions an unforgotten part of your life which you can easily tap into at any time.
Increase in Searches: 451%
Grandmillennial style takes second place, with the number of searches increasing by 451% over the last twelve months. This style of home decor is a feast of nostalgia, featuring busy wallpapers, patterned textiles, and what might be considered “grandmother’s furniture”. If you enjoy floral prints, tea sets, and upholstery, this could be the style for you.
Increase in Searches: 272%
Maximalist interior design takes third place, with an increase in searches of 272% over the last year. This design trend is loud, bold, and busy, often featuring mixed patterns and materials tied together with a common color scheme. A maximalist home will also display collections of the owner’s favorite possessions or artworks, but unlike cluttercore, these will be curated and sectioned off for a more refined aesthetic.
The colors we used to decorate our homes are incredibly important. They can turn a room into a cozy snug or refreshing workspace and are an intrinsic part of setting the mood in your property. These are the colors that people search for the most in relation to interior design and decor on both Google and Instagram.
Popularity score: 9.42
The most popular color in interior design is white, with a popularity score of 9.42. This is to be expected as white is an excellent color to add light to a room and increase the feeling of spaciousness. White is a great choice for showcasing accents of other colors, as well as a tried and tested background for just about anything you want to hang on a wall.
Popularity score: 6.84
In second place, with a popularity score of 6.84, is green. Greens can come in a huge variety of shades and hues and can be used together as part of a theme, or as striking accents against a neutral backdrop. Being intrinsically tied to nature, green is rising in fashion at the same time as houseplants are experiencing a height of popularity, which indicates a shift away from harsh designer aesthetics to more comfortable tones and environments made not as show-homes, but as spaces to live in.
Popularity score: 6.26
Gray takes third place with a popularity score of 6.26. Similar to white, gray is a popular neutral background that pairs well with a huge variety of colors, while also offering an injection of style to fit the desired mood of the room.
While these colors might not be the biggest or most common options in interior design, they have the biggest rise in interest compared to the previous twelve months. This means we could be seeing far more of this niche hues our homes in the not too distant future.
Increase in Searches: 78.2%
Sage is the color that has experienced the sharpest increase in searches of 78.2%. Tying into the apparent rise in popularity of natural themes in home decor, sage is well paired with either a monochromatic palette or with muted shades of red, yellow, and pink. This cool color creates a refreshing yet calm environment and is an ideal pick for the kitchen, where cooks can often feel hot and flustered behind the stove.
Increase in Searches: 75.2%
In second place is beige, which saw interest in the color rise 75.2% compared to the previous year. While beige is often used as a term to describe something as tired or dull, it is experiencing something of a revival. This could in part be thanks to the rise in popularity of the grandmilliennial aesthetic, in which beige walls would provide an ideal backdrop for vintage furniture and floral patterns.
Increase in Searches: 59.4%
The color with the third biggest rise in interest was peach, which saw an increase in searches of 59.36%. Peach is a perfect color for creating a warm and soothing atmosphere and pairs well with gold and cyan, as well as other colors on the peach spectrum such as apricot or coral.
We wanted to find out what the biggest trends in interior design are in 2021. To do this, we first looked at the source of many people’s inspiration, influencers. We collected data on a large number of interior design influencers on Instagram and sorted them by the number of followers each had. We then selected the 30 influencers with the biggest followings and used InfluencerBay’s Instagram Money Calculator to uncover how much each influencer’s posts are worth. We then ranked them according to the and showcased the top ten.
Next, we turned our attention to trends in interior design and created a long list of trends to investigate. Using Google Keyword Planner, we recorded the total number of searches for each trend over the last 12 months and also compared this to data from the 12 months beforehand to calculate the percent change in searches. We then found out their popularity on social media, recording the number of posts on Instagram and views on TikTok for each. We used this data to calculate an overall popularity score for each trend and ranked them accordingly. Any trend with incomplete or low data was removed, leaving us with the top 25 trends of the last year.
After trends, we also wanted to find out which colors are the most popular in interior design, and which are rising in popularity the fastest. Again we used data from Google Keyword Planner and Instagram to calculate an overall popularity score for each, while also using search data from the preceding 12 months to calculate the change in search volumes for each color over time, revealing which ones have risen in popularity the most.
At Living Cozy, we're focused on helping you make more informed decisions about the brands and products they share their homes with. We curate expert guides along with brand founders, industry insiders and interior designers.
Here a are a few guides you might find useful:
