Looking ahead to 2025: Future rug and interior trends

When asked about trends, many designers within the rug industry say that they do not influence their product. In COVER 77, Lucy Upward asks if the relationship between timeless quality and changing fashion is actually more complicated

For a world that currently purports to be heavily focused on sustainability, we are still very much focused on the idea of trends. Personally, I love the concept of a new aesthetic coming ‘in’ and looking out for patterns in design—but this unfortunately leads to other fashions being ‘out’, which makes me decidedly unhappy.

In an interview with interior designer Tineke Triggs, she makes the comment: ‘I’m often asked, how do you do timeless design?. You follow your passions and what you love to see every day in your home. Make your designs personal. The more personal they are, the more timeless they will be.’

Over the past five to ten years I feel that our obsession with Instagram has made 50% of us try to emulate what we see, and 50% of us want to show off our own individuality (perhaps those figures are a little skewed, but I hope you get my meaning). Sophisticated interior design today should be about expressing our own likes and personality, not about following a transient trend.

Whenever I interview a high-end rug brand, the answer to a question about trends is usually that the company has little or no interest in them. I am guessing that the idea of annual looks is not practical for those who want to keep a clear brand identity. But I am not convinced you can be totally uninfluenced by the more over-arching trends that have a longer life span.

Rug retailers, like those featured on page 128 of this section, cannot help but see patterns in customer buying and will always try to stay two steps ahead of where design is going. Therefore, there is no jumping off the trend travellator just yet, but perhaps there are ways of addressing them without being beholden to them.

With a similar viewpoint to Triggs, rug retailer Damien Clark of Black Sheep Unique says: ‘Our aim for 2025 is to intentionally install a love for handmade rugs through a devotion to products and people.’ I am suggesting that passion negates the need for a devoted following of trends. Surely this makes sense.

What we buy is certainly led by how we feel, and passion and enthusiasm are definitely infectious. Since 2020, trend forecast agencies like WGSN have been pointing out major trends that are driven by our relationship to a world that feels uncertain. Today, a considered home is a sanctuary, an escape from a world that is proving to be unpredictable and often hostile. WGSN’s Women’s Textiles Forecast A/W 25/26 is titled ‘Alt-Optimism’, against a background that feels for many negative. It is no wonder that the trend for ‘Wellness’ grows ever stronger.

With this in mind, and to aid the creation of a home sanctuary, luxurious textures are key going into 2025. People are increasingly seeking softness, tactility and natural fibres they want to have against their skin. Warm colours will be much sought after, with the usual neutral choices of beige and grey turning into friendlier honey colours, pinks and pale browns. Red was a big trend in fashion in 24/25 and is moving into interiors, while earthy tones like brown and dark green will also be much seen.

Heimtextil’s trend palette for 2025 reiterates the desire for browns, reds and warm neutrals. These sit alongside an uplifting pale blue akin to HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams’s colour for 2025, Quietude. The soft blues will be used as elegant alternatives to neutral hues. Meanwhile WGSN’s colour for 2025 is Future Dusk, a deep bluey purple shade that the company refers to as full of ‘mystery and escapism’. Perhaps it is a reflection of the global mood, but I find it heavy.

One trend I Iove that looks set to stay into 2025 is layering. As seen at Kips Bay Dallas in October (see Interiors) and Lauren Elliott’s January installation at Christopher Farr in London, the idea is pattern on pattern, the layering of rugs. Spaces can look maximalist and eclectic. This is where to show off personality with your favourite possessions while telling a story. Storytelling remains key to engagement.

Over the past three years, when asked about business, most rug designers and retailers have given the same answer: it’s unpredictable. Reflecting on the evolving nature of our industry, the changes in design events (see Market Report p. 170) and our global situation, this ‘up and down’ seems likely to stay a while longer. The answer can only be to keep true to your passions. Read the corresponding interviews with Tinneke Triggs, Damien Clark and Stefan Amstad, as well as comments from Naomi Scott-Dunne, in the new issue of COVER.