The Shutters Department

1. Earthy Tones

Warm, luxurious and relaxing to be around, earth tones provide a rustic feel to any living space. We’re now seeing more and more designers and homeowners alike recreate the feeling of late-afternoon sun, fallen autumn leaves and beachside sunsets with items as simple as a feature wall painted clay red.

These tones and colours can be easily complimented with spring green fawns and wheat weaved baskets or add a further rustic touch with driftwood pieces, stones, and wool blankets or throws.

2. All-Black Kitchens

Darkness is taking over the kitchen: colours that come in names like midnight, dim, taupe, and charcoal and maybe a touch of chrome to break it up a little. The effect is certainly alluring and exudes style and class.

Shying away from the clinical and sometimes sterile feel of traditionally bright-coloured kitchens, all-black kitchens create an instant ambience and a point of difference. It’s the textures that do the talking here, from granite bench tops and African Blackwood dining tables, to glossy tiled splash walls.

Add a bright-coloured fabric chair, classic silver wear, patterned napkins and ceiling lampshades to break things up a little.

3. Luxury Textures

Terrazzo, an ancient material that’s been resurrected and improved for the modern day is trending all over style magazines and the blogosphere and with good reason–the speckled light-show Terrazo puts on is a clash of recycled glass and mineral elements that awaken the senses.

Coarse fibers are the other big trend we’re seeing, as texture starts to rival colour in determining the mood of an interior and of course, natural, earthy materials are at the forefront of the texture trend, particularly dark wood, which looks sublime undressed and seamlessly blends the outdoors with your interior living space.

4. Plantation Shutters

It’s said that windows are the eyes of the home, but you certainly want to be keeping the eyes of the world out. Pair this with a trend towards eco-friendliness and rustic interiors, the most functional way to adorn your windows is easily plantation shutters.

Plantation shutters give you full control of a room’s temperature and ambience. If the desire is to create a sense of PM in the AM or just add a little more privacy to a bedroom or bathroom, plantation shutters will fit snuggly into the frame and seal out the light.

5. Homewares

Once upon a time, decluttering the home and making it look less like a museum of past trips to the antiques store was the idea, but in 2018, mix-matching homewares with eclectic vintage pieces is the way to bring a room to life.

Following a focus on minimalism and discretion in 2017, you can now go wild on a room with scattered pillows across the lounge, showcasing handmade cups and plates, mismatched pastel dining chairs, furry rugs and metallic vases.

6. Clean Lines

When thinking shape and form, 2018 is all about clean lines and enhancing the architectural bones of the home. Start with the windows: install plantation shutters or dramatic floor-length curtains. Utilise bare space on walls with squared showpiece mirrors, strong abstract paintings emphasising lines and ornamental pieces with robust geometric lines.

Take advantage of the structural elements of your living space: expose wooden beams in high ceilings, scathed brickwork and ventilation pipes. Capitalise on the natural lines of the home this year.

7. Cosy Nooks

Book shelves and mini-libraries, bay windows, luxurious couches and recliners, and comfy touches like throw pillows and wool blankets–this year is about taking the home and turning it into your place of rest and respite from the daily grind and moving away from the high-tech automation and supersized home entertainment systems of 2017.

Sometimes a cosy nook is all in the lighting. Create a low-light ambience with a mix of textured lamp shades, low-wattage bulbs, heavy drapery and watch how your space becomes an enclosed circle of comfort.

8.  Making it Your Own

When you’re deciding on contemporary-looking decor, don’t forget to add a touch of you. Add something totally a unique to your living space, whether it’s a fixed centrepiece in the garden or taking over a wall with a one-of-a-kind mural or collage, let your home reflect your personality and give it a touch no other home will have.

Consider the style of your home, and whether it evokes a feeling or embodies a particular era. Be bold with your decorating style and push towards trends that reflect your personality.

Dan Field is cofounder at The Shutters Department. He’s passionate about using technology to make the complex simple and is on a mission to make DIY plantations shutters cheap and easy for everyone.