2023 Interior Design Trends — What’s In and What’s Out? (No, Thanks. You Can Keep Your Lists.)

Do you ever read all of the lists that various publications, bloggers, and “influencers” put out at the beginning of each year? I’m talking about the lists of “what’s in and what’s out” where they tell us what we should be putting in our homes in the new year in order to stay current, and what we need to get rid of lest we find ourselves living in embarrassingly outdated homes with *gasp* gray walls and floating shelves in 2023. How dreadful! 😀

These lists are ubiquitous every year. Every single home decor publication that I follow has their own list. Many bloggers, “influencers” (have I ever discussed how much I hate that word?), designers, decorators, and home decor YouTubers have their own list. Every November or December, I get at least one email from some publication (never the big ones, always small ones) wanting my input on what I think will be “in” and “out” for the next year. (Those emails get deleted without response.)

But the funny thing is that as you look at these lists, they so often contradict each other. That makes me wonder who, exactly, is making these lists? Why should we listen to them? Who appointed them authorities on what we should want and shouldn’t want in our homes? And what is the real purpose of these lists?

I can’t help but think that the entire purpose of these lists is to keep us constantly dissatisfied with what we have, and always longing for more, better, and different. When we hear that something we have is now outdated or “on its way out” in 2023, the trap is to be discontent with our homes, and keep us in a constant state of consumerism.

Of course, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with spending your hard-earned money on your home, and updating things as you see fit. We all know that I have absolutely no problem redoing things in my home. 😀 But I really hope that none of us are doing so because we’ve read a list from these publications/bloggers/influencers, and think, “Oh, well, if Vogue says my chairs that I bought last January are outdated, I guess I need to replace them!“

Here are a few examples that had me rolling my eyes with this year’s lists:

According to Vogue, earth tones (especially browns and pinks) are in, and Insider says that shades of gray are out. So I guess those who spent the last five years ridding their homes of all of the browns, and swapping those out for the “in” colors of gray and more gray now need to switch everything back to earth tones and browns. If your kitchen looks anything like this, well….how embarrassing for you.

But if you plan to paint your gray kitchen to rid your home of the dreadfully outdated grays and make it current in 2023, just don’t paint it white! According to The Kitchn, all white kitchens are out. So if your kitchen looks like the one below, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s just soooo 1900-2022. But we’re done with this now, so get out your paint brush.

Also out, according to Vogue, is gold and bronze hardware. “Out with the unlacquered brass hardware,” they say. So if you just spent $2300 on your Perrin and Rowe Georgian era bridge kitchen faucet in unlacquered brass, it’s time to swap that out for something in the silver/nickel family.

But wait! Your fancy brass faucet might be okay because Buzzfeed tells us that gold accents are IN for 2023, and Good Housekeeping agrees. In fact, interior designer Susan Hayward says, “We will, hopefully, never see brushed nickel again.” So you’ll have to make a judgment call on your $2300 Perrin and Rowe unlacquered brass kitchen faucet. Vogue seems to be at odds with Buzzfeed, Good Housekeeping, and Susan Hayward.

Now I know you’re on the edge of your seat wondering what Architectural Digest has to say about what we should do with our homes in 2023, right? Rest assured, I have that vital info for you. According to AD, you’ll simply need to get rid of your modern minimalist kitchens, open floor plans, TV-centered living rooms, greige interiors, chesterfield sofas, and bouclé furniture.

The Kitchn is also telling us that bouclé furniture is out. So if you’ve seen the recent advertisement from McGee & Co. for their Magda Teddy Bear Boucle Lounge Chair that costs $2400, it’s a trap! Don’t fall for it!

Obviously, I’m being facetious. If you love bouclé, fill your house with it. Upholster your walls with it. Make curtains out of it. I can’t have bouclé in my house because I have a cat, and she would lay claim to it the minute it came through the front door, and it would be her new scratching post within minutes of its arrival. But I think it’s a perfectly nice chair, and on this cold day, I sure would love to grab a blanket, a cup of hot chocolate, and a good book, and make myself comfortable in that chair! Doesn’t it look like it would feel like a warm hug?

So do what you want. Fill your house with gold and brass…or polished nickel, if that’s your thing. Wrap your furniture in bouclé. Paint your cabinets white, gray, or hot pink. Do whatever the heck you want to do in your house. Just whatever you do, don’t let these people influence you and make you think that the things you love are “out” and you need to get rid of them and buy more “in” stuff to replace them. Because next year, they’ll tell you that all the new things you bought to be “in” in 2023 have been overplayed and are now “out” for 2024, so it’s time to replace them with the newest “in” thing. It’s a vicious cycle, and that’s the real trap.

It’s your home. Do what you love. I have personally lived with the same color cabinets in my kitchen for the better part of the last 11 years. The kitchen in our condo was painted Behr Hallowed Hush, and after a brief detour with green cabinets in this house, my current kitchen is now that same beloved Behr Hallowed Hush, and I can’t see myself getting tired of it any time soon.

I personally think that starting now, in 2023, what needs to be “out” from this point forward are all of these lists telling us “Interior Design Trends to Know in 2023—And What’s on Its Way Out”. No, thanks, Vogue and all the rest. You can keep your lists.