2022 trends for kitchens, bathrooms & bedrooms

Welcome to the latest issue of ArtiCAD’s trends in kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and home office design – providing you with a digest of what is forecast to be high on the shopping and wish lists of your customers. 

Spring trends 2022 has a somewhat different approach.  Rather than looking at each room in turn, this issue looks at the major trends and themes for the season – across the house.  The reason for this is that for the first time, colours and styles really do seem to span all parts of a house, rather than being purely kitchen or bathroom-centric.

For those designers who are fortunate enough to be tackling more than one room for their customers, or perhaps are working on a series of inter-linking spaces, such as kitchen, utility and boot rooms, and possibly a downstairs bathroom – this co-ordinated, flowing approach to colours and designs could be good news.  Even better for those designers using ArtiVR, ArtiCAD’s virtual reality solution, it is extremely simply to show your clients 360-degree real-time experiences of multiple rooms in a single presentation.

Let the show begin!

Colour my world

This season there seems to be much less emphasis on one particular colour,  although pink – in its many different hues – is appearing all over the place.  Rather, the emphasis is on  using colour, as much as possible, as a great way of injecting personality and specific atmospheres into a room.  Colours can contrast, for example mint-green with coral, or be all from the same colour palette, but using differing shades for an enveloping, embracing experience.

Most designers seem to believe that colour will become increasingly important this year, as greys and neutrals are pushed further onto the sidelines.  And colour doesn’t just stop at walls.  Patterns, such as checks on floors (and walls) are forecast to be much in vogue, based on a strong palette of red and white, with colour also extending onto the ceiling to create a cohesive feel for the room.

For those of your clients who have invested heavily in shades of grey – which were so popular last year – all is not lost in the move towards more colour.  There’s a huge range of colour which can be introduced into a largely grey space to create a completely different, and very updated look – such as earthy tones for a feeling of retreat or sanctuary, pale blues to bring in more light and lift the mood, with all shades of green creating a great rustic look.

Earthy shades are going to be big for bathrooms in 2022, paired with blush pink, salt and ivory, and complemented with lots of natural textures, such as wood, cork and rattan.

Also entering the stage is maximalism – which as the name suggests, is the complete opposite of the pared-down minimalist look which, for some, can look great on a page but is very hard to live in!  Maximalism has no such problems.  More is better.  As one designer put it:  “Go for broke”.  Think multiple patterns in the same room, to create a layered effect, with plenty of colour, textures and curated displays to reflect individual personality.  And maximalism can work really well in a small space – thus dispensing completely with any preconceived notion of a subtle approach.

As in recent editions of our trends’ reviews, wallpaper continues its upward rise in popularity.  The choice is absolutely vast – and prices vary enormously.   One hand-painted roll is priced at just over £1500 – and requires an extremely experienced decorator to ensure that it not only looks good on the wall, but stays put there!  Wallpaper can change the mood of a room completely, whether it is the entire space or just a feature wall.  Look out for designs that emulate landscapes, classical designs from the likes of William Morris and those which can be used to create a mural.

Perhaps because everyone has spent so much more time in their homes over the past two years, they have come to understand their house better, to really appreciate how it works for them, what could be improved –  and to have the confidence to splash on the colour rather than playing it safe with shades of white.

A place for everything: The joy of storage

New for the kitchen is the idea of a breakfast station, which is a dresser or cupboard into which everything needed for breakfast is kept – separate from the main area of the kitchen, and which can be shut away when not in use.

Open shelving, in any room, provides a great way to display items and free up cupboard space for those less visually interesting pieces.  In the home office, for example, bespoke shelving solutions can be configured to fill even the most awkward of spaces and render it useful.  And items of furniture which are ‘multi-functional’ are a great investment in the home office – where a shelf unit can incorporate a desktop, which can be folded away when not in use.

Some designers MAY need to help their clients with the challenge of creating two separate work-spaces so that for example both members of a couple are able to work independently at home.  Adaptable zones within a house can help with this challenge – using perhaps a broken-plan approach, curtaining, glazed screens or sliding dividers.  Even though there is a move for people to return to the office, there is a strong likelihood that at least one or more days will continue to be spent working from the home-office.

Storage solutions can be far more than functional – they can be a design statement themselves, almost sculptural in their appearance, and also be used as room dividers.

The natural world

As in previous editions of trends, the desire to bring the outdoors indoors continues with natural greenery being a great way of achieving this:  plants can hang down from the ceiling or be placed in vertical displays as a novel way to liven up a plain wall.

Nature-inspired materials are making their way onto wallcoverings to create a tactile surface.  Think cork and grass for wallpapers, not only for an innovative texture but also a calming ambience.  And wood, used as a statement wall, can be appear as slats, panels or geometric shapes.

In the bathroom, natural colours, wooden bath racks and stone basins, are all designed to create a natural, spa-like space.

In the kitchen there is now no need to settle for a plain white Belfast sink when you can have one adorned with a nature-inspired artwork.  And a new range of handles, also inspired by flowers, leaves and fossils, brings yet another level of nature into this room.

Tiles, whether in the bathroom or kitchen, are a great way of increasing the ‘nature feel’ in a room.  Whether it is a splashback, or a complete feature wall, the impact can be stunning.

An interest in nature leads naturally to concerns about the environment.  Sustainability and the origin of products will become ever more important for an increasing number of consumers in the year ahead.

And with this in mind, on the appliance front, some new models include eco-conscious upgrades – for example washing machines which incorporate microfibre filters to reduce micro-shredding, which has been proven to contribute to the problem of tiny pieces of plastic entering our water sources.  Also, with the advent of advanced motors, appliances will be quieter – a definite boon for all those working from home who may well have to share the kitchen with a dishwasher whilst it goes through its cycles.  Also on the market is a new cooker which combines steam, microwave and traditional heat to cut cooking times by up to 79% by combining all these methods.

A new range of floor tiles, which can work in any room are made from 90% recycled materials, water and minerals.

Spring is the time that many homeowners look to update their houses by refurbishing or replacing kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms.   ArtiCAD software and tech solutions are there to help you present your designs in stunning reality, and to help you sell.  The market is buoyant, there are new versions of many of our products, and as you will have seen in this issue of trends, there is a huge – and colourful – choice just waiting for you.  A great start to what we hope will be a most successful year.

Sources:   worldofinteriors.co.uk; livingetc.com; houseandgarden.co.uk;25 Beautiful Homes; kbbmagazine.com; housebeautiful.co.uk;English Home; Period Living; Country Living