In 2026, one big looming question within design—and well outside of it—is how artificial intelligence will shape the future. But designers and other industry experts we spoke with seem certain that even as the powerful but still-unruly tech plays a yet larger role in our lives, homes will go in the opposite direction, becoming refuges that support connection not with screens or computer-generated thought, but with one another.
Some say that sentiment will be supported by a movement away from anything white, including Pantone’s 2026 color of the year, as well as sterile minimalism. In its place will come interiors that feel warmer, darker, and more expressive, ones that favor moody atmosphere over brightness and tactility over seamless finishes. Midcentury aesthetics might prevail, but not in the bleached Scandinavian or American style that has dominated in the past.
This emphasis on something warmer and more human-centered is matched by a broader rethinking of values, too: What is lost when technology is relied on too heavily? some are asking; sustainability is still a refrain, but now with a deeper consideration for the circularity of materials and the possibilities of re-use; others are questioning what inclusivity should mean going forward, casting a critical eye on tokenism and calling for more intention and accountability when elevating unheard voices in the design world.
Here’s what five design experts loved about 2025, what they’re definitely ready to let go of, and the trends they think will define 2026.
Mike McMahon—Mike McMahon Studio
Loved It: Ornamentation
After years of restraint, ornamentation is making its way back into architecture, says London architect Mike McMahon. This renewed interest reflects a desire for buildings that engage the senses. “Ornamentation is making a comeback, with designers turning to sculpted brickwork and patterned facades to bring buildings to life,” he says. “Our [installation] at the Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival and the fluted brick facade at Royalty Studios in Notting Hill both explore this renewed appetite for tactile, expressive surfaces.”
A proposed renovation of Royalty Studios in Notting Hill by Mike McMahon Studios features a “contemporary crown” with a fluted, tactile wall.
McMahon also sees a shift toward more low-impact, sustainable innovation among manufacturers and material suppliers. For his installation at U.K.’s Hampton Court, for example, the studio used Kenoteq’s K-Briq, a masonry unit made from more than 95 percent recycled construction waste.
McMahon says the K-Briq masonry units show “how circular materials can slot seamlessly into contemporary design.”
Hated It: AI Shortcuts
While AI is becoming increasingly visible across the design world, McMahon is wary of how quickly it’s being used as a substitute for architectural thinking. “Social media is flooded with AI-generated designs, and while the technology clearly has its place, its influence on architecture is more complicated,” he says. “When it’s used as a shortcut to ‘design’ buildings, the results tend to feel flat and soulless, missing the nuance, intuition, and humanity that real spaces need.”
In a story for Dwell, writer Leslie Horn Peterson used YardAI by Yardzen—an AI-powered landscape-design tool—to reimagine her own yard, with mixed results.
What’s Next: Second-Life Design
Looking ahead, McMahon sees circular thinking moving beyond materials and into the design intent of a project as a whole. “We’re increasingly designing projects with a first life and a second life built in,” he says. The studio’s Hampton Court garden is case in point. Initially conceived as a temporary installation, it has since been repurposed for Horatio’s Garden, a charity that builds gardens in spinal injury centers across the U.K.
Mike McMahon Studio’s installation at the Hampton Court festival was commissioned by Subaru to bring awareness to Britain and Ireland’s rapidly diminishing temperate rainforests.
Dima Srouji—architect and artist
Loved It: Ephemeral Materiality
For Palestinian architect and artist Dima Srouji, one of the most compelling shifts in art and design has been a turn toward the ephemeral. “There’s been a real attempt to capture the cosmic and the spiritual,” she says, pointing to an increased focus on air, movement, transparency, light, and even the presence of ghosts within material form. “This resonates deeply for me at the moment, especially in an unfolding genocide,” she says, referencing Israels ongoing attacks on Palestine. “There is an element of the surreal taking place in everyday life that you can see appearing in the world of art and design. It might be a form of escapism.”
“My favorite concept to think through has been the earthly relationship to the cosmic world—I love working with forms that function both as spiritual agents and reflect the dark world we live in today,” says artist Dima Srouji. “I find that wax in particular embodies this duality, it’s hot, dynamic, smells like church, and lights the darkness while itself a tool for potential destruction.” This work by Srouji is titled Phantom Votives.
Hated It: Tokenism
While visibility for global majority artists has increased, Srouji is critical of how often that visibility is handled. Her least favorite trend is the continued exploitation of artists for their personal narratives, particularly when those stories are treated as a form of cultural currency. “Supporting non-white artists is not inherently decolonial,” she says. “What matters is intention, accountability, and whether the work stands strong on its own terms.”
What’s Next: Solidarity with Palestine
Srouji anticipates a deepening of solidarity with Palestine across the art and design world. “Not as a temporary gesture but as a structural and ethical shift,” she explains. “This will hopefully expand into more critical conversations about land, memory, craft, and the politics of visibility and justice. Above all, I hope for all of us to be closer to a free Palestine. None of us are free until Palestine is free.”
“I’m looking forward to continuing to expand my work with artisans across Palestine by making replicas of looted archaeological artifacts from Gaza,” says Srouji. The work on the left is by the artist, titled Nativity Crib.
Hans Lorei—Hans Lorei Design
Loved It: Warmth Over Minimalism
After a long period dominated by pale palettes and extreme minimalism, designer and brand consultant Hans Lorei is seeing a renewed interest in interiors with depth and atmosphere. “There’s a return to warm, traditional, and classic design—think Ralph Lauren,” he says. “The Apple Store Aesthetic has exhausted a lot of folks and they are looking for something with more richness and character.”
One of the biggest trends he observed throughout 2025 was the move toward layered, moody interiors with very little use of white. “I am in full support of this on our projects,” he says. “I always want to feel something when I walk into a space and I believe it’s ok for some rooms to be darker.”
A Brooklyn home designed by Hans Lorei, who’s pictured here, showcases warmth and classic design sensibilities.
This apartment in Sydney by Studio Prineas features a moody palette of yellows, oranges, and reds. The dining area is furnished with an August Table by Australian design brand Jardan, a Cab Chair by Cassina, and blue Thonet Gmbh S 43 chairs. The yellow and red artworks are from Gemma Smith’s 2023 Plural series.
Hated It: Fake Greenery
While low maintenance interiors are always a win, Lorei has little patience for the growing reliance on artificial plants. With the right choices, he argues, real plants are far more rewarding than their synthetic counterparts. “I understand why people do it but I think the real thing usually looks a lot better,” he says. “People are scared of plants but a lot of them are actually really easy.”
This house in Brazil by São Paulo firm Arquipélago Arquitetos features lush interior courtyards that showcase the beauty of using real plants indoors.
What’s Next: The Analog Room
Lorei is seeing growing demand for spaces that deliberately step away from screens. “Analog spaces—dens, libraries, listening rooms, studies, whatever you want to call them—seem to be something everybody wants right now. It’s all about tech-free rooms.” In a world where we are inundated by constant digital noise, these analog spaces offer a valuable sense of retreat, says Lorei, and represent a broader shift toward interiors that prioritize human connection over constant digital connectivity.
A private residence in Brooklyn, New York, by Hans Lorei embraces a moody palette and seating areas that promote connection.
Sami Reiss—writer
Loved It: Modularity
For Sami Reiss, the writer behind Dwell’s Field Guide column and bestselling furniture Substack Snake, one of the most telling shifts of the past year has been a renewed enthusiasm for modular systems. “It’s not that recent a trend, but investing in a USM Haller, Mario Tsai’s X system, or Camaleonda allows consumers to own good work and keep it whether they are homeowners or not,” he says. “So many of us think that we’ll buy good furniture later, when we buy property, but with home prices so exorbitant, this might not happen. It’s been keeping individuals away from investment-grade design. That’s a shame.”
A vintage olive-green leather Camaleonda sofa by Mario Bellini for B&B Italia grounds this live/work apartment in a former shoe factory by Chan and Eayrs on London’s Shoreditch High Street. The modular sofa features an innovative system of cables, hooks, and rings and can be reconfigured as needed.
Hated It: Fear of Mistakes
For Reiss, the bad trends are essential in shaping the good. “Honestly I can’t get too negative,” he says. “All I want professionally is for people to roll the dice on furniture and buy things with a point of view. And to do this we need to make mistakes—so the bad trends are very necessary.”
With its squiggly arms and bold colors, Yrjö Kukkapuro’s Experiment chair isn’t for everyone.
What’s Next: Brazilian Modernism
Looking ahead, Reiss expects growing interest in archival Brazilian furniture. “The shapes and materials are a counter to the minimal, white and gray look that’s been dominant this decade and to the harsher steel USM styles as well,” he says. “It kind of feels like a more advanced continuation of Danish and American midcentury aesthetics, which themselves just feel like home to so many people.”
Italian-born Brazilian modernist architect Lina Bo Bardi embraced vernacular design traditions while pushing new forms forward. This group of chairs was created between the 1950s and 1980s.
Teresa Sarmiento—La Base Studio
Loved It: Meaningful Sustainability
For architect Teresa Sarmiento—cofounder of Argentinian architecture firm La Base Studio alongside Nicolás Tovo—architecture is less about responding to trends than being part of an ongoing dialogue with context, materials, and the way people live. In 2025, however, she loved seeing more engagement with intelligent sustainability. “It’s been encouraging to see a wider appreciation for material honesty, passive design, and landscape as a fundamental component of urban architecture,” she says. “These are principles we’ve been working with for many years. For us, sustainability and passive strategies aren’t trends, they’re simply how we work.”
La Base Studio has primarily used prefab construction for the past five years, including for this refuge in Bariloche, Argentina. In 2025, the studio developed a dry construction system based entirely on wood in collaboration with modular construction company Place, and Forestal Guaraní, a key forestry and wood products company in northern Argentina.
Hated It: Technology-Driven Design
In spite of her firm’s emphasis on mechanized production methods, Sarmiento is critical of architecture that relies too heavily technology to manufacture comfort or identity. “When design depends on devices rather than spatial intelligence and material logic, it tends to age quickly and lose its connection to place and people,” she says.
Architects Nicolás Tovo and Teresa Sarmiento created a greenery-filled oasis for their family in the heart of Buenos Aires—one that celebrates a connection to place.
What’s Next: Learning From the Past
“What’s often described as a future trend feels to us more like a return to architecture grounded in material intelligence and long-term resilience,” says Sarmiento. In 2026, she expects to see a renewed focus on modular systems that respond to context, cross-disciplinary thinking, and thoughtful interventions in overlooked urban sites.
La Base designed a hybrid prefab home for a walled-in lot in urban Argentina. Its kitchen and bedrooms were produced off-site and craned into place, with the living area opposite the kitchen wall constructed using traditional methods.
