Move over fruit-inspired décor, rose gold accessories and all-white interiors - autumn 2018 brings with it new trends that speak to sophistication and global influences. Whether you’re planning a new build or updating your existing home, here are key looks to help you stay on-trend as the weather gets cooler.

Transform your home with moody shades

Rich colours such as deep purple, emerald, plums and burgundy take centre stage this autumn. This palette of darker hues will warm up your home as the temperature drops: use them on walls across your living space and bedrooms, or invest in quality pieces of furniture such as a couch, armchair or headboard and use them as statement pieces. For a softer touch, add a textured throw, pillow or small ottoman in one of the key shades to add a sense of newness to your home.

Don’t be afraid to play around with this darker palette to find what works best for your home; use only one moody shade and thread it through your home, or playfully add touches of emerald, plum, burgundy or deep purple across multiple spaces. If you have more minimalistic or classic tastes, use grey and navy to complement the moody shades, or if you prefer something more contemporary use small pops of mustard as an accent to provide a burst of colour.


Image (left): Dulux colour trends 2018 

Go dark with your furniture

Give in to the dark side as furniture moves away from bleached woods and lighter Scandi-inspired shades this autumn. A nod to 70s glamour, darker tones create a luxe, timeless look in the home. Introduce key pieces such as an entrance table, sideboard, dining room table or wishbone-inspired chairs in vintage shapes to your living spaces, and pair it with soft textures and copper or gold accessories.

Features such as panelling and parquet add further richness to the rich dark stains, and highlight the natural beauty of the wood used. Place your dark wood pieces against grey walls for the maximum effect.



Say hello to two-tone cabinetry in the kitchen

While all-black kitchens continue to dominate throughout 2018, we’re seeing dual-toned kitchen cabinets return as an impactful micro-trend. Interesting colour and material combinations using wood stains, paint and laminate offer refreshing ways to add interest in your home’s loved space.

If your tastes run more traditional, pair varnished wood with white for the doors of your kitchen units, or lean on white fail-safe soothing shades such as mint or duck egg blue as your accent shade. For a paired down but ultra-contemporary option, team up two neutral shades such as cream, white, taupe or light grey. For those looking to create a more daring look, use pops of colour such as red, electric blue or apple green as your accent shade and team it up with a neutral such as grey, white or a wood varnish shade. Placing your accent shade on the top cabinet doors draws one to an eye-level focal point and can be very useful in adding more depth and making a kitchen appear larger.


Image (centre): Trendir.com
Image (right): Kitchen Design Ideas

Neon returns in small doses

Cheap and cheerful neon lights, a popular trend for the last three years, gives way to a more sophisticated neon interiors trend this autumn. Yes, it still relies on 80s neon colours – but now it’s been interpreted in a more contemporary and unexpectedly playful way. Invest in a small neon perspex side table and add it to an otherwise neutral room, or paint the tips of your dining room chairs in a surprising neon hue. For those looking to achieve a bolder look, pull through this trend within a monochromatic space – for example, add a neon mohair throw to your black and white lounge or bedroom.

The trick here is to add neon shades in small doses, and ensure your key neon item doesn’t compete with another focal point.



Mix up the new hot metals

Silver remains one of the key metallic shades for 2018, but it’s brass and industrial gold that truly shine this autumn. Brass and industrial gold accessories warm up interiors as the weather gets colder – look out for kitchenware, lighting as well as living room and bedroom décor accessories to update your space. Experiment mixing these two metallic colours with smaller hints of silver within the same space; contrary to the design rules about metals we’ve been taught, the effect is beautiful.

You could even take it a step further by playing with matte and shiny, rough and smooth, embossed and plain metal textures – group them together to highlight the contrast and add interest.