Revealed: What Interior Colour Schemes Are On Trend For Autumn?
Autumn is a season which brings a slow end to sunny, long days, and in turn creates new excitement for hunkering down indoors in the comfort of our homes. Let's take a look at what interior colour schemes are on trend for autumn.
Thus far in 2022, interior design trends have been centred around bringing nature indoors, along with sustainable purchases, and this autumn there are certain trends which will endure until the winter months.
But, when it comes to autumn, what are people looking for and which colour schemes would it be wise to stick to if you’re considering putting your home on the market?
We take a closer look below.
Warm neutrals
Grey is arguably the most popular neutral in interior design today - however, a combination of grey and beige is seen as highly favourable for its capacity to warm up an all-over grey design scheme, therefore injecting the best of both worlds by blending the cooler and more placid look of true grey with the warming nature of beige.
This trend would be perfect for someone who is averse to bright colours, which sellers are warned to stay away from in general when trying to sell a home. Exploring and experimenting with a variety of warm neutrals can create a relaxing, cocooned, centred space to welcome autumn.
The key to nailing this trend is to match your accessories with the neutrality of your colour scheme, which means you don’t want clutter. Take your time to decide which décor items can add visual substance to the room such as texture and light, with the use of rugs, mirrors, lamps, frames, and cushions.
The 70s has also been an era of interior inspiration which incorporates groovy colour schemes consisting of terracotta reds, earthy browns, and oranges accompanied by low light.
Performs well in: sunny, south-facing rooms – particularly when combined with warm off-whites – yet also works well in darker spaces when paired with deeper, darker shades from a neutral colour family. It equally pairs beautifully with all natural materials like stone, clay, wood, and natural fabrics like linen or jute accompanied by soft warm lighting to create a relaxing ambient atmosphere in your home.
Enter brown
Following on from warm neutrals, brown has shaken off its perhaps negative reputation and perception – it was everywhere in the 50s and 60s but then fell out of fashion - and made a glorious re-emergence over the past year or two, with its fresh, new, tactile approach to minimalism.
With a spectrum stretching from cappuccino and taupe shades, to rich chestnut and dark chocolate, brown offers a broad scope for creating all sorts of looks, from sophisticated and tailored to calm and nurturing.
Our emotional wellbeing can be greatly impacted by colours and psychology points to brown as being a shade which creates the sense of safety and security within humans because of its association with the earth – grounding people with its elemental calmness and resilience.
Trend forecasting experts WGSN has described it as ‘soulful minimalism’ where cool tones and sharp lines are being swapped for neutral textures, materials, and a neutral colour palette combination of warm whites, browns, and greens.
Top interior designer Mark D. Sikes named brown as a colour to embrace in Vogue’s annual home décor trend report.
“Everyone is wanting to feel close to and comforted by the earth, whether it’s an organic brown linen for a family room sofa or a rich chocolate silk velvet on bergères for a living room,” Sikes told Vogue.
Interior designer and principal of Studio Jake Arnold, Jake Arnold, also agreed, stating: “My motto is always brown, never grey. Shades of brown bring about warmth, earthiness, and calm that feel timeless and grounding.”
Certain brown colour schemes, bold and saturated with ample caramel undertones, can offer a real fashion statement without being too bright or overpowering – perfect for autumn with a seamless integration into the winter season.
Performs well in: north-facing rooms to incorporate a cocooning effect in spaces that don’t garner as much sunlight. Take care with choosing complementary colours as they will have to be modified depending on the quality of light in the room. Try to steer clear of bright whites, opting instead for warm, creamy whites with brown or yellow undertones.
Don’t be shy – make those colours pop!
Now is the time to be brave and make a bold statement within your spaces with pops of festive autumn colours to create a warming, welcoming effect. There are a few ways in which you can boost your home’s autumn appeal – consider swapping your soft furnishings or artwork to pieces grounded in earthy tones or opt for adding plants that showcase autumn colours.
Additionally, applying a colour accent with a window dressing is also a wonderful way to jump on this trend, as the colour presents itself boldly as light shines through the window.
If your goal is to draw attention with bright colours, then tiles can be the perfect way for you to accomplish this as they have the ability to utterly transform a room.
Adrian Blundell, production director at Craven Dunnill Jackfield, says: “If you’re looking to experiment with bold colours and decors and inspired layouts and patterns, tiles are the perfect way to make a distinctive design statement that is uniquely individual.”
Andrew Bendall, marketing manager at Craven Dunnill Jackfield, adds: “Whilst colour is key, the different ways that you can lay your tiles are a wonderful way of expressing creativity and bringing a touch of individuality to a space. If you're looking for something more adventurous, a herringbone pattern is beautifully striking while an offset or linear pattern is a perfect alternative for something more subtle.”
Performs well in: a living room for a cosy look or in a bedroom with creative motifs and laying patterns to make distinctive design statements. Incorporating this trend in high traffic areas in your home with bold, strategically placed pops of colour will transform your spaces with energy and atmosphere of autumn.
Providing safety and security
Another reason why brown is a great autumn colour is that it’s closely associated with safety and security – something that is particularly in times of uncertainty. And, with the cost-of-living crisis, the recent reaction to the mini-Budget, another potential wave of Covid, and the war in Ukraine, uncertainty is certainly something we are all living with at the moment.
Surrounding ourselves with colours that feel safe and secure, and place a protective shield around us, is only going to improve your chances of getting your home sold if that is your intention.
It’s all coming together
The aim of autumn colour scheme trends is to showcase the beauty of nature in your home as the colder weather starts to force us indoors. Some of the most popular colours for autumn 2022 are deep or earthy shades such as greens in olive or mossy shades, warm-toned browns, tans and caramels, and warm neutrals such as beiges and off-whites to soften the space.
Playing around with these relaxing and restorative looks can help you create a calming home retreat where you can kick back and recharge, and one which will have significant appeal to buyers.
You can look towards architecture and even landscape design for inspiration as lighting effects and colours found in these elements such as stone colours, natural contrasts, and everyday shadows and shapes are perfect for enriching a space.
Leanne Kent Property are a locally based estate agent covering South Wales, providing a unique buying and selling experience for our clients. We are a technology-driven estate agency meaning that you remain informed and in control at every stage. Your property will be marketed on the leading property portals, social media, and of course, our very own website.
We believe that as a homeowner, you should be charged with fairness and transparency. This means we offer a very competitive and unique fixed fee structure, which we believe is a fair price to pay for the professional services involved with marketing and selling your property.
We will work hard to achieve the best sale price from the moment you list with us to the moment your home has sold.
What features are buyers looking for in their new home?
When it comes to selling a home, it’s vitally important that you have a good handle on what buyers are looking for. What features are buyers looking for in their new home?
While trends tend to come and go year-on-year, which means homebuyer preferences towards property features can change suddenly, there are some features which remain universally popular and some that have received a boost post-pandemic.
As a seller, instead of lagging behind the curve and receiving lower offers on your home, it’s important to stay ahead of the curve to improve your chances of selling quickly and for the best possible price.
Sellers need to be aware of the current home features that are trending to be sure that prospective buyers take note of their property, and eventually sign papers to make the sale official – after all, a buyer’s opinion matters hugely when it comes to successful sales.
Here, we outline what the latest research suggests buyers are prioritising when it comes to purchasing a property.
Garden offices, bi-fold doors and optimising space
According to recent findings by Rightmove, what buyers want has been impacted by changing working patterns, the increase in remote working and the need to optimise space to a greater degree than ever before.
The property website’s research revealed that garden offices, orangeries, summer houses, underfloor heating, bi-fold doors and open-plan rooms have all surged in popularity since the pandemic began. By comparison, conservatories, greenhouses, dining rooms and fitted wardrobes would all appear to be falling in popularity.
The number of property listings now mentioning garden office have soared by a huge 1,046% in the last decade, with the lockdowns caused by the pandemic no doubt boosting this popularity considerably in the last few years.
Any garden office worth its salt will have WiFi, mains electric and air-conditioning systems – as Rightmove points out, we’re not just talking about a room in a shed here! Times have changed and garden offices are likely to have significantly more appeal now than they did even a few short years ago, when remote working was more niche.
Bi-fold doors, orangeries and summer houses have all risen in popularity, too, according to the portal. The flexibility of these spaces – which could be easily used as a gym, an office or a playroom, as well as a snug at night – has helped to boost their appeal to buyers.
“With outside space coming at such a premium, it may be that homeowners are ensuring what they build outside can be used in a number of different ways. Summer houses and orangeries are likely to have fewer or smaller windows than conservatories, and so can more suitably double up as home offices during the week and entertaining spaces at the weekend,” Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s property expert, said.
As a seller, installing a garden room/office can create additional space/rooms without breaking the bank, confident in the knowledge that these spaces are increasingly appealing to buyers.
Equally, the Rightmove research highlighted the growing popularity of open-plan living, which continues to be more favoured among would-be buyers. Bi-fold doors can further emphasise and increase this by extending the outside in and vice versa.
Meanwhile, findings from Fortune Builders have unveiled the top 10 most important features for buyers in 2022. While the website is aimed at an American audience, it has plenty of crossover with Britain, with updated kitchens and baths, open-floor plans, low maintenance features, energy efficiency and wireless connectivity all featuring prominently.
At the higher end of the market, meanwhile, for those who can afford the lap of luxury, there are a number of needs that owners of million-pound properties have in common.
Research carried out by Genesis Collection, windows and doors specialists, found seven unique features that cropped up regularly. Even better, these homes features are readily available to the wider public, meaning anyone can add a bit of luxury to their home to widen its appeal.
Popular features included floor to ceiling glass doors, increasingly trendy in recent years and the staple of any designer home that features in British dramas, as well as freestanding bathtubs, kitchen islands, fireplaces, open-plan spaces (once again), and bespoke furnishings and ornaments.
Dedicated additional spaces
Buyers are also increasingly interested in dedicated spaces they can work from as much of the population continues to operate on a hybrid working basis.
Creating an office space, either entirely separate from the home itself, or as mentioned, simply installing a designated space within the property, could add lots of value to your home. As we know, far more people have been working from home since Covid began, and buyers have unsurprisingly shown increasing interest in home office spaces.
The good news is that virtually any spare space can be designed as a home office. Some popular home office features include French doors, built-in bookshelves, and plenty of natural light.
Bi-fold doors can be a great option for when you’re creating your designated spaces, consisting of a number of aluminium panels which fold back onto one another in a concertina arrangement. This is not only an excellent space saving alternative compared to French doors, but the glazed panels also enable light to be flooded throughout the home.
Another feature buyers in 2022 are also on the look out for is half bathrooms. In a half bathroom, there’s no shower and only a toilet with a sink. These dedicated spaces are designed to be functional and simple, free of clutter such as bath toys, makeup, toothpaste, etc.
While half bathrooms were once regarded as an antiquated and unnecessary home feature, they are experiencing a resurgence in desirability and popularity.
Smart home features
Smart homes have become increasingly attractive to buyers in recent years as the UK continues to embrace its futuristic side. Not only will these features entice homebuyers, but many of these elements also benefit the environment and improve energy efficiency within a home.
Installing a smart thermostat will be an inexpensive way to start upgrading your home and these can make a significant difference to potential buyers as they will already know that your property will come with lower energy bills while simultaneously regulating the temperature throughout the home.
A ring video doorbell system could also pique the interest of potential buyers since this feature will provide additional security and peace of mind, whilst a keyless smart lock system installation could add convenience to your home. What’s more, smart light bulbs have also been trending since they are motion-sensing and remotely accessible.
Semi-open floor plans
A must-have feature for homebuyers in 2022 is a semi-open floor plan as a choppy plan with rooms broken up into segments could take longer to sell. The dining room can still be on its own, but it is suggested that the kitchen opens to some sort of family room.
While this change might call for some walls to be knocked down and possibly adjusting the kitchen plan, it could ultimately be worthwhile. Kitchens are one of the most used areas in a home where many interactions take place between those living there, so it’s important to make them a welcoming, inviting feature of a home.
A kitchen island with a semi-open or open floor plan is also a fantastic option to create the ultimate entertaining and social space for a family. They also provide extra storage along with a drizzle of style – producing a lovely focal point in any kitchen space.
What features have gone out of style in 2022?
As much as you want to add a few features to your home before you put it on the market, you should also be aware of some trends that have not made the cut this year.
Firstly, the colour grey is definitely out and, speaking of colours, all white kitchens are also being left behind, replaced with more colourful interior schemes.
The next feature which has gone down in popularity is granite countertops, which have been a long-standing desirable feature for many buyers in the past. Instead, buyers are more likely to opt for quartz, marble, and even porcelain. Depending on the style of your home, you can even go for natural options such as butcher block, or even concrete.
Lastly, shiplap has also not made the cut for 2022 home interior feature trends and has instead been replaced by wooden panels, wood planking, nickel gap planks, or board and batten.
Here at Leanne Kent Property, we are a locally based estate agent covering South Wales, providing a unique buyingand selling experience for our clients. We are a technology-driven estate agency meaning that you remain informed and in control at every stage. Your property will be marketed on the leading property portals, social media, and of course, our very own website.
We believe that as a homeowner, you should be treated with fairness and transparency. This means we offer a very competitive and unique fixed fee structure, which we believe is a fair price to pay for the professional services involved with marketing and selling your property.
We will work hard to achieve the best sale price from the moment you list with us to the moment your home has sold.