Fall’s Top Design Trends
Troy Beasley, principal designer at Beasley & Hensley Interior Design in Winter Park, discusses ways to tweak your home’s décor for fall.
Is there a particular theme that distinguishes this fall’s décor?
Call it “rusticity”—adding more organic elements to contrast with the clean, contemporary look. This rustic theme can encompass everything from a piece of driftwood that you find at the beach to tree stump tables, and even rock formations.
If you set some stump tables amid a very sleek modern room, you throw a little whimsical appeal into the interior environment. You also bring about comfort because you look at that, and you know where it came from. It’s interesting to see something in its raw form used in an interior space, and you’ve added an element into the space that’s like a “found piece.”
Rustic lighting is especially big this year. You’ll find carved wood pieces with lights, wood and iron chandeliers, and twig lights that look like tree branches.
What are the dominant colors this season?
Light colors remain the favored background shade for most interiors in Florida. The palette can include anything from almond and soft, creamy beige to warm grays.
Then we start layering on the vivid colors of fall. You’ll see greens that range from bright citron to the tone of evergreen needles. For accent colors, you can incorporate indigo, harvest gold, purple, magenta red, bright pink, burnt orange and paprika. It’s easy to introduce these colors in subtle ways, especially in artwork or accessories such as pillows, throws or flowers.
Let’s start with walls: Paint or wallpaper?
Paint is still the trend, although wallpaper is making a bit of a comeback. I see it in two forms: One is a textured wall covering, anything from a grass cloth to a nubby silk. I’m also seeing painted geometric patterns and woven pieces with chevron or diamond patterns.
The second type of wallpaper I gravitate to is geometric with oversize patterns that repeat themselves. We’ve moved away from tiny prints. Big prints are more dramatic.
What are the must-have patterns? The chevron has made a great comeback. It’s showing up in rug designs and fabrics and even in wood patterns.
You’ll also see a lot of plaids and houndstooth patterns this fall, and stripes that are more multilayered. Instead of a two-stripe pattern on a fabric, you might see five or six different sizes of stripes. The different thicknesses create visual layering.
Which textures are popular this season?
We tend to think in terms of more open-weave fabrics and accents for fall, textures that are visually deeper, or nubby textures such as bouclé.
In your home, you want to see contrast in textures. If it’s all the same, it becomes boring. An example would be a contemporary piece of art in a lacquer traditional frame hung below an oil painting in a sleek silver leaf frame. Contrast creates friction, therefore creating interest. Another example would be a contemporary sofa style in a smooth and simple fabric, paired with a rustic cocktail table.
How can we spruce up our furniture to keep it on-trend for fall?
One option is to add upholstery to a chair in a diamond or block print, or a nubby bouclé for texture. It’s not practical to completely switch out large upholstered pieces every season, but some of our clients will vary slipcovers for a seasonal change. They might opt for velvet covers to carry them into winter, or solid-colored heavy linens with open weaves, or linens with a pattern such as houndstooth, basket weave or chevron.
Where are floor coverings going in terms of fabric and design?
Trends today lean in several different directions. The overall natural materials such as sisal, hemp, and bamboo are very popular still, but you see them being interwoven with wool, viscose and cotton, adding a softer element to the feel of these products. Patterns are presented as stripes, large and small geometrics, and organics such as abstract floral designs.
Patterns that are large format are very much in vogue right now, and you see these used in rugs as well as other textiles. Wool area rugs still top the list for wearability, with viscose added in at times for sheen and softness. Viscose is a faux silk that is very cost effective, although less durable. Colors in area rugs vary from neutral to the vibrant jewel tones that dominate this fall.
Which of the fall trends have staying power?
The textured fabrics, large prints and natural color palette will be long lasting because they’re timeless. They’ll continue to be manipulated and added onto with bright color augmentation. What evolves and changes are the accent colors.
