Sheffield School of Interior Design Distance Education

Special Report: Design Trends for 2004

One of the most exciting things about being in the world of interior design is how quickly trends shift and change; keeping up with the latest styles is a challenge for any designer, so with our January issue of Designer Monthly, we're offering you an insider's view into what's coming up for the new year.

We've interviewed three of the hottest designers from the U.S. and Canada to get you the latest on everything from the function of rooms to lighting.

The most notable trend is actually something that's hard to pin down as a trend, because it's about taking into account each client's own preferences.

"If I had to choose one sweeping general trend it would be the move towards personal style and away from, well, trends," Darren Henault, who runs Darren Henault Interiors in New York City, said. "We've done the mid-century thing to death, we've all seen enough '40's French for a lifetime. Article after article in every magazine comments on the personal touch or style of the occupant of the home they're highlighting. It's no longer about a design statement as much as it is about the personality of the homeowner."

Victor js Liberatore of Victor Liberatore Interior Design in Baltimore, Maryland, agrees, saying, "The trend is towards self-expression in residential interiors, where anything goes."

Liberatore also points out that trends are inextricably tied to the economy. "Trends are effected by, and affect the economy. The economy swings with it, or in the opposite direction, based on the economic spending power and age groups."

One economically-tied trend Liz Watkinson, who runs Fifth Business with Susan Pollock in Toronto, sees is one toward the old adage that "less is more."

"With so many people downsizing, efficient use of space is a priority," she said. "Clever storage ideas, expandable and multi-functional furniture and accessories are hot items."

All the designers we interviewed agreed that one strong, continuing trend in terms of the function of rooms is toward having a "Great Room" which combines the functions of living room, family room, and sometimes also library and play room, all in one.

"For the past decade less urban clients have wanted huge kitchens that incorporate a family room. This results in one enormous room that functions for the entire family, basically making the rest of the house other than bedrooms and bathrooms unnecessary," Darren Henault said. "Who uses a formal dining and living room any more? In the past four or five years my urban clients have been incorporating maid's rooms into a kitchen renovation to create a large eat-in kitchen with the same function. Upholstered seating, televisions, big farm tables; all of these have been high on client's lists for their new kitchens."

Liz Watkinson points out that this doesn't mean the end of the formal dining room. It's more about commingling functions of rooms, with people realizing they can bring the open, multi-use feeling of an urban loft space to any style of home.

The "emergence of a Great Room, amalgamating the formal living room and family room" is a trend she's been seeing lately. "Also, formal dining rooms are not requested very often," she said. "With the emphasis on cooking with both partners participating, and entertaining at home, kitchens are larger in size, better equipped, more elegant and open to the great room/dining. There is less of a distinction between areas. Islands in the kitchen are very popular, with bar stools. The home office is an essential component of most homes."

Victor Liberatore agrees, saying that living rooms have "given way" to the family room/great room.

"In some new custom construction for Contemporary Homes, in the Mid-Atlantic region, the living room no longer exists. Lifestyles have become more casual and family oriented," he said.

"This has led to the creation of another room in the home, the "media room," where "the space has been relegated to a more specific function: movies and entertaining," Liberatore said.

Henault also sees trends developing with other rooms, as well, with extra rooms in existing homes being transformed into libraries, dining rooms, or media rooms.

"Clients who do entertain formally often want a separate dining room — however, they want to be able to use the room themselves when not entertaining. The rooms get filled with books and comfortable seating and a large library table doubles as a dining table." Henault said.

For many clients, the creation of a dressing room is now paramount.

"Suddenly everyone, male and female, is tearing out their multiple small closets and useless hallways and creating large open spaces that you can walk through from the bathroom to the bedroom. The walls are lined with beautiful paneled closet doors and the center of this new space may incorporate a dresser, vanity or dressing table complete with lighting and mirror," Henault said.

Color is such an important element to consider in design trends that we're also presenting to you a Special Report just on Color for the New Year. But in brief, the designers we spoke to said that earth tones are still in full force — perhaps even to the point of being on their way out soon.

"Earth tones, earth tones, earth tones," Darren Henault said when asked about color trends. "No more beige and no more shocking pink. There will always be designers who fall on either end of the spectrum; however, I see the colors in the showrooms being rich, warm earth tones.

Liz Watkinson had a surprisingly similar response. "Earth tones," she said when asked. "Rusts, rusts, rusts, gold, gold and orange/melon are very predominant in the new fabric introductions. However, our clients are not yet on that bandwagon. We don't blame them, we hope it is a short-lived trend."

For Victor Liberatore, color is too dependent on location to make it easy to pigeonhole into a trend. "I personally do not follow color trends and let them influence my work. Color temperatures vary immensely, depending whether I'm working in Maryland or Miami," he said. "But as a side bar: Black and Lime Green."

Lighting is another area of design that often follows trends, and this year several designers are pleased to report that recessed lighting, or track lighting, is clearly on the way out. The designers are in agreement that for the most part, track lighting is "passé" as Liz Watkinson put it, unless it's suspended by a wire. Using halogen bulbs for task lighting remains popular.

Darren Henault was even more adamant about lighting. "Except for tract homes, recessed "canned" lights are finally disappearing. If ceiling lighting is necessary the new sophisticated fixtures are so clean and sleek as to be rendered almost invisible."

Finally, while it may not indicate a trend, in his design work, Henault recommends looking at the whole picture when designing a room, or an entire home. He stresses the importance of thinking in terms of three dimensions, and of considering all the senses involved.

"Think about the sound the drapery will make the first day of spring when you open the windows for the first time. Will you hear the crisp crackle of silk taffeta or did you just use glazed cotton which will make no sound at all? When you sit up in bed at night to read are you leaning against wood, metal, fabric? When you sit on your sofa do you fall back into it and feel enveloped like in an old favorite sweater or does it make you feel formal like a tailored suit?"

All the designers we interviewed kept returning to the same point, that personal style and individual taste are gaining in precedence over trends dictated by style magazines.

"It's all about the individual," Henault said. "People want their homes to be gracious — places where the way they live is maximized. It's less about what other people think about your home and more about how you yourself live in your home."

–Sarah Van Arsdale

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