It doesn’t matter if your business advises on personal finance or personal finesse, the Outside In trend offers many opportunities for savvy brands.

As climate change forces us indoors, more and more people are exploring ways to recreate the outdoor experience without all its headaches. The Outside In trend incorporates elements of fantasy, abstraction, and facsimile to reimagine nature as we wish it to be.

The Outside In trend takes a lot of clues from biophilic design but interprets nature through radically different lenses. Where biophilic architecture focuses on natural elements that have contributed to our evolutionary survival, Outside In does not limit itself to such literal definitions of nature, nor does it stick to notions of realism. Rather, it often incorporates elements of fantasy, abstraction, or facsimile.

Layers that hide as much as they reveal or that distort as much as they delineate. Floral fantasies that explode on walls, opening us to a different world. Even the comfort of an oversized sofa is enhanced by the peaceful purr of a feline friend (imagined or otherwise). Milan Design Week exposed our cultural appetite for escapism.

Classicism in home decor has returned. But the truth is, it never really left.

If dopamine dressing is a serotonin suit of armor, dopamine décor is a full dose of medicative merriment. It goes beyond the vibrant colors of its fashion sibling to combine multiple sensory experiences into a daily environment of good vibes. The biggest takeaway from this trend is how personal it is.

Forecasting requires constant horizon scanning, looking for clues that could signal the next big thing. I’ve identified 22 trends that will rule the home industry in the year ahead.

Curves, bubbles, squiggles, and blobs—these are the design elements we need right now. Recent design fairs had Curve Appeal to spare, indicating this trend isn’t going away soon.

Pieces that look like balloon art, techniques that make steel puff, and a new riff on blown glass. This is the kind of inflation we want to see.

Call them blobs, orbs, curves, or cells, Bubble Mania is taking over home decor. From inflatables to rounded edges, bubbles are today’s hottest design trend.

From transparent glass to translucent resins, gauzy textiles to perforated screens, today’s home decor reflects a new age of Romanticism.

From rusty reds to vibrant yellows, deep greens to tranquil blues, the September fairs welcomed us with a rich rainbow emerging from the gloom of the past 18 months. Here are the prominent trends to look for in 2022.

How does a goopy candle signal societal change? When its very existence is a Promethean act. The blobby shapes reflect us—both our hopes and our insecurities. And they're not alone.