A sassy little obituary column for interiors we pretended to love.
The Year of the Snake, 2025, witnessed various departures – from waving POTUS Joe Biden towards America’s status chamber, to witnessing Coldplay-loving HR manager Kristin Cabot stand down after one moment on Jumbotron too long, it’s been a turbulent year behind the headlines.
Home style underwent a similar ‘2025 rooting out’ process, too. This was the year where people stopped nodding politely at obscure design choices and took matters into their own hands. Some trends suffered a traumatic demise. Others died quietly. The result was the same - it’s no longer all about Instagram.
We want homes that feel like homes. There’s no need for Reels or Shorts where lodgings appear more spartan than a monk’s bedchamber, or more ‘upmarket’ than King Charles’ billiard pantry. Numerous other fads also burned themselves out – so, gather round, light something tasteful (we'd recommend French Vanilla), and join us for the 2025 eulogy.
Here lies the trends we sent off. Some with tears, most with a little kick.
The All-White House
You know the one. White sofa. White walls. White rug. White kitchen. White dog. White food. White flooring. It was all meant to be ‘clean’ and ‘timeless’. A bit like Yoko Ono’s photocopier.
Of course, while it once looked different and chic, after everyone had jumped on that bandwagon, society took a turn towards banal blanket conformity. Throw in a lack of practicality – Would you dare drink red wine for fear of permanent staining? Could you really justify giving your child a chocolate biscuit? Would inviting guests lead to nuclear war? – alongside the underlying notion that you were just repeating trends of 40 years ago, and people finally admitted what white-on-white-on-white really is.
It’s cold. And the home should not be cold.
Some would call it characterless. Some called it an anxiety disorder with good lighting. As fresh colour pallets took hold throughout 2025, homes started to look warmer, fuller, and more textured. The beige brigade took a hit. The paint charts got braver. And the world rejoiced as someone, somewhere finally chose a sofa colour that doesn’t pride itself on displaying every molecule of a life well lived.
Bouclé Everything
Bouclé has seemingly had its’ era. From a fleeting moment on trend for those capturing a slice of the past, to a full-blown takeover by those who simply had to have it, as textured fabric characterized mostly by looped threads, it was charming at first.
Perhaps one bouclé chair entered the scene (i.e. – your home) and decided to stay, before it quickly became a plague like War of The World’s red weed. Perhaps you felt that it would be akin to keeping a posh sheep as a pet. But then one chair turned into a Bouclé stool, then a Bouclé headboards. Bouclé everything until your house looked like a luxury alpaca farm.
From our experience, Bouclé is basically a crumb storage system. A fabric clearly designed by someone who has never eaten anything in their life or had visitors of any kind. You may have enjoyed posh Cunard vibes to start, but the conscious thought of “you’ll never get that out” followed right on behind.
By 2025, we’d had enough. People started craving cleaner silhouettes and materials that don’t double as Velcro.
The “Open Shelving In the Kitchen” Delusion
Open shelves are stunning if you’re a museum or a showroom. Or if you own exactly six plates, all of which are handmade and blessed by a ceramicist called L. Ron Hubbard. Some see open shelving as the interior-design equivalent of claiming “I don’t know what stress is”.
The rest of society? Not so much.
Open shelving fast becomes a windowless view into your clutter. There’s now no door to hide behind. Plus, can you really substitute cereal boxes and mismatching mugs as décor? It’s our homes, for crying out loud. We are allowed to have clutter in the kitchen, rather than turning boxes and keepsakes into a form of curated shame. You may as well have a museum assistant on the threshold.
The year of our Lord, 2025, seemed to answer the trend follower’s prayers. A humble hero made a welcome return through both common sense and Instagram. Glorious, opaque or wooden, mess-hiding cupboards. We all breathed a sigh of relief. It’s almost like people remembered that kitchens are for cooking and living in, instead of publishing online content that auditions as the next lifestyle brand.
The Tiny “Statement” Chair That No One Can Sit On
Where to begin with this one. The decorative chair. Absolutely fine on an I Love Lucy set or gunning for a hallway or room that’s about impression over practicality – but anything else is just a waste of space; in one’s humble opinion.
That miniature, angular, uncomfortable little thing that exists purely to prove you’re design-led is not a chair. It’s a sculpture that hates you and everything you stand for. It’s what you buy when you want the room to feel editorial or for your guests to feel unwelcome. Life is not a centre spread in Home Beautiful. Life requires non-useless things to populate it.
2025 brough in a cultural shift where comfort regained the value of old. Deep cushions and proper armrests returned with the aplomb of a post-credits Marvel character. Furniture that behaves like furniture restored our faith in humanity, instead of punishing us for having spinal discs.
The Beige Baby Nursery
Look, I’m sorry, but the truth must be spoken. While a beige and grey and white nursery sure does look good after a filter or two on your phone, I don’t believe that a baby needs that contrast. They need joy and stimulation, with a corner dedicated for screaming.
We noticed that 2025 offered the pivotal moment where parents began quietly stepping away from the sad beige parade and reintroducing colour like it wasn’t a thoughtcrime.
We started seeing playful patterns, cheerful art, and primary colours. The horror! The happiness! A nursery is not a luxury spa. Let your son or daughter live. Informing them that their nursery was ‘in trend’ will not help them understand their installed aversion to joy as an adult.
Live, Laugh, Love
There was a time when putting a ‘Live, Laugh, Love’ sign in your home felt on-trend and warming. Then everyone did it. And not even in a cool way. Even more cringe arrived with neon examples and ‘powered by fairydust’ stickers – the latter of which appeared to be reserved solely for fly-tipping experts in Vauxhall Zafiras.
If your living room contains a glowing sign that says ‘It’s Wine O’Clock’, or any other kind of wall sigh(n), you’ve basically turned your house into a hen party Airbnb. Never fear, 2025 was the turning point where neon signs and wall stickers were replaced by actual art.
Those infernal Arches
Arches had a renaissance. They were elegant, soft, and gave the impression that you understood architecture. Paired with some intelligent sounding books, the situation radiated with smart vibes without screaming for attention that, perhaps, outstripped your interior ambitions.
Then, suddenly everyone was painting a half-arch behind the bed like it was mandatory, as if walls couldn’t just be walls anymore.
We noticed that the arch craze began to fade throughout 2025. Posted comments highlighted that people realised a painted arch doesn’t make your room any more designed than detonating a grenade in a pot of paint ala Mr Bean.
Curves are still in, but now we want them integrated properly, through furniture shapes, doorways, mirrors, and things with purpose.
The TikTok-Pantry With Matching Containers
Food comes in containers already. From the shop. Pre-packaged at the factory. It’s ready and yet, for a while, people were transferring rice, pasta, and chocolate into acrylic boxes like they were preparing for a royal inspection.
The TikTok pantry will always be a thing. It’s something that we can have control over, without too much effort. Showing off how we live is also an online performance that creates dopamine for the ultimate satisfaction. However, many of us became bored with making that a full-time haunt. Also, why spend £300 to make your 87p bag of oats look more expensive?
As 2025 threw its’ final shade, it seems that we opted for a quiet exit from that craze. Sure, we kept a few nice jars and still use them for the basics, but the madness of decanting biscuits into something that requires handwashing has ran out of steam.
The Overdone Modern-Farmhouse Look
Modern farmhouse began as cosy and rustic. Then it became a parody of itself. Shiplap everything. Barn doors everywhere. Random black metal accents. A vibe that screamed, “I live on a farm,” while you’re actually in Zone 4 with Deliveroo.
The trend finally loosened its grip as 2025 powered on, and people moved toward more regional, authentic influences. From this trend we gained an everlasting affair with touches of British heritage and warmer woods – so it hasn’t turned out too badly after all.
Everything Must Be A Statement
The biggest trend we waved goodbye to in 2025 was the idea that every single item must be a moment or sense of occasion.
Not every room needs to look like it’s been styled for a magazine shoot. Some corners can exist without a featured icon. Some furniture can be simple. Some walls can be quiet. Some homes can be lived in, loved in, and not constantly rearranged for content.
2025 brought back something radical; taste with restraint. Homes stopped trying so hard. People chose fewer pieces with more meaning. More comfort. More story. Less panic-buying viral items that look dated before the delivery even arrives.
As 2026 etched into our calendars, it felt like the end of performative interiors for appeasements’ sake. Bring it on. Long live actual homes with warm colours, real textures, fewer dictator trends, extra confidence to be ourselves, practical storage, and furniture that doesn’t punish us for having thighs.
This year, it’s all about you – not an algorithm. It's worth remembering that.