Trellises
Whether as a simplified design or an actual structure, trellises seem to be popping up everywhere this year, and we're delighted to see them. Our first inkling that they were going to be a big thing was Daniel Slowik and Benedict Foley's launch of their new product venture, Nuthall Temple, in late 2024, which saw three trellis designs of varying complexity in fabrics and wallpapers. Seeing ‘Diamond Trellis’ in chartreuse on the walls of Daniel's WOW!House room, above, was a great inspiration for how a pared-back version of the pattern can have a striking impact, adding a touch of graphic irreverence to an otherwise traditional space. Other launches have continued to bring the trellis to our attention, including Studio Hollond's sweet ‘Strawberry Jazz’ design, seen below in founder Phoebe Hollond's house. It's both charmingly countrified and unmistakeably modern – a combination we always love.
Beyond fabrics and wallpapers, we've seen several examples of actual wooden trellises which make us wonder why they're not more widely used in interiors. Fashion designer Wiggy Hindmarch has used them all over her morning room in her London house, on walls and ceiling (below), and we adore the resulting space, which as Wiggy notes, is reminiscent of a glamorous beach setting in New England or the Caribbean. Interior designer Virginia White has also used trellises in a clever way to provide privacy on the bathroom windows in her Hampstead Heath mansion flat – they cover the lower half of the window, letting in light but screening the interior from view.
Hyper-specific spaces
One of the ultimate luxuries in a house, especially if you live in the city, is having dedicated spaces for various activities. One of the downsides of the open-plan revolution is that you find yourself doing everything in the kitchen, while those of us who live in small spaces are also used to using bedrooms as yoga spaces and places to dry laundry as well as for sleeping. The idea of having a well-organised larder or utility room then becomes super appealing. But this year we've been noticing that it doesn't stop there. We've seen dog wash rooms (sometimes even dog wash shepherd's huts), meditation rooms, and more recently, pickling rooms, heading onto our radar as new status symbols, and we can't quite decide if we're into it or not. The dog shower we can all just about agree on, but pickling rooms? The jury's out.
Yellow everything
We were already pointing out yellow walls this time last year, but as 2025 has gone on, we've seen a positive onslaught of the colour on practically every surface in the house. Kitchens, bathtubs, blinds, bed hangings – in the immortal words of Coldplay, it was all yellow. Largely these yellows are in the mustard/egg yolk category or else they're paler butter yellows – earthy, reasonably rustic shades that don't skew too acid. For a colour combination that feels particularly fresh, try them with bold aubergine shades (more on that later) and reddish browns.
Arches
For anyone doing a full renovation on their house in 2025, arches seem to be an absolute must-have. We're seeing arched doorways, archways functioning as a passageway without an actual door, and above all, the shower archway. It's an elegant way to draw attention to particular spaces and particular views – we adore how it has been used in the bedroom of the Notting Hill cottage below, where it frames a sightline into the bathroom, and neatly breaks up the line of cabinets. These slim, classic arches seem to be especially popular, but can we also put in a word for the more gothic ogival arch? We think they deserve a renaissance.
Textured walls
We've just mentioned tadelakt, the Moroccan plaster technique that is becoming more and more common in bathrooms over here, and that is just one of the textured finishes that's having a moment this year, bringing an organic, interesting feel to walls that changes as the light in the room changes. So far in 2025 we've seen unusual ideas like marble-dust plasters, which lend a slight glimmer to surfaces; strié or dragged plaster, in which a brush is dragged through the plaster before it sets; and highly polished Venetian plaster. Lime wash paint, of course, can also lend plenty of texture, and shows no sign of becoming less popular.
Linnaean flowers
Pretty flowers with the delicate sensibility of a hand-painted botanical illustration are one of the things we've loved most this year. We've seen it in the increasing visibility of de Gournay's ‘Linnaeus’ wallcovering, named for the 18th-century Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus, whose publications on the classification of plants sparked a craze for botanical illustrations. There is a Swedish country house in our upcoming January issue (out in early December) that features it to great effect. Meanwhile the artist Tess Newall's ‘Herbarium’ wallpaper has been appearing in bedrooms everywhere we look, and for good reason – her lovely flowers on a pale pink background are endlessly charming.
The great purple revival
It started with aubergine, but we're rapidly being converted to practically every shade of purple at this point, which is rather astonishing given how vehemently we all detested it a decade ago. The key, it seems, is in the combination it appears in. We think Nicola Harding has been very clever combining it with bright, bold blues in the country house above (and in her WOW!House powder room), but we also (as we said above) enjoy it, unexpectedly, with yellow. Rachel Chudley, who is marvellously clever with colours, has used it to great effect with pink in the kitchen below. Just whatever you do, don't put it next to grey, or else you'll scream Changing Rooms circa 2001.
Standalone shower enclosures
Showers seem to be receiving special attention these days, with arched recesses an increasingly popular design detail and endless debates over the merits of tiles versus Tadelakt. At the top of the list of shower-related ideas emerging of late is the standalone shower: could this be the development of a movement away from built-in furniture and towards more portable pieces? Just a few examples that spring to mind: our former editor’s brilliant standalone shower from Drummonds, which feels like a miniature room nestled in the middle of a rather larger one. I am particularly obsessed with this circular beauty in interior designer Georgie Stogdon’s bathroom: it is simple, unfussy but incredibly chic. And best of all, should she move, she can take it with her and achieve the same effect in the next bathroom.
Antiqued mirrors
This is one we're absolutely certain will never go out of style, but it does seem to be especially in favour at the moment. Dominic Schuster is the man to know for beautiful antiqued mirrors, and one of our favourites is over the mantel in Virginia White's Hampstead Heath flat, above. Virginia calls these mirrors ‘a signature piece’ in her interiors, as they add a depth and intrigue that can't be matched by lesser versions. They're a wonderfully versatile thing – we've seen them used in hallways, in the alcoves beside the chimneybreast in living rooms, and in small corners under the stairs to bounce the light around.
Cork everywhere
We've long been singing the praises of cork flooring, but recently plenty of people seem to have had the same idea: why not run it up the walls too? You're essentially creating a giant pinboard for yourself – as interior designer Alice Crawley has done in her west London house, above. Sophie Rowell, the designer behind Cote de Folk, did the same thing in a client's house, running the cork flooring up part of the wall to make for a fun space to display ‘a wall of wishes’.
