7 Wallpaper Trends for 2021

If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s not to make predictions or plan too far ahead! However, we are sticking our necks out and giving you what we predict to be the hottest trends in wallcoverings for 2021.
Trend 1 // Granny’s house

Maybe even Great Granny’s house if you’re a millennial! Think back to those wallpapers that covered the whole house in all their floral, muted glory. Think passageways and dining rooms and lounges all in different versions of a ditsy floral. Well they are back and on trend for 2021. The reason? They remind us of a simpler time when life was less frenetic, technology was the realm of science and good old fashioned values felt like the norm.

LOOK OUT FOR: soft pastel pansy prints, orange and brown daisies and pretty ditsy prints.

Trend 2 // I’m not perfect

Textural wallpapers have been around for a while but the update to this trend will focus on time and aging; as well as the acceptance of non-permanence and change. We know better now than to think we, as humans, can control everything. We can’t. This trend accepts this and celebrates the imperfections that change and time bring with it. These wallpapers will do more than satisfy the eye, they will call on our sense of touch to play a role, and will ask us to be forgiving to that which is not perfect.

LOOK OUT FOR: cracked concrete in soft hues, grunge leaf designs, 19th century still life paintings that show decay and imperfection in the floral arrangements.

Trend 3 // Let it burn

2021 will see the arrival of more burnt colour palettes. They remind us more of nature than their bright and pungent counter-parts. Think burnt amber, peach and muted greens. The browns will also start to play more of crucial a role. This could be the year we see a waning of grey, which has been our staple for so long, and start to see a move back to the warmth of ochre, beiges and creams.

LOOK OUT FOR: colour block wallpapers in combinations of burnt colour palettes, 70s inspired wallpapers in browns and yellows, concrete textures in browns and burnt pinks.

Trend 4 // David Attenborough

A life on our planet is David Attenborough’s latest documentary gift to us, as he enters the twilight years of his life. This documentary brings into stark focus the fact that our population has quadrupled in size since this man was born. We are no longer a sustainable species. Wallpapers that reminds us of the beauty of nature will take centre stage. Expect more botanicals, more leaf designs and more landscape images that help us bring nature into our homes and lives and remind us how precious this earth is.

LOOK OUT FOR: abstract aerial views from above of our earth, landscapes of luscious forests, and wall papers that are fantastical and include creatures big and small.

Read more: Budget Wallpaper vs. Luxury Wallpaper

Trend 5 // Handmaid’s Tale

This trend is a direct response to the toll that mass production, sweat shops and cheap products out of China have had on our world. The move back to crafts and taking time to create is massive and has found its way into wallpaper. We have a new found respect for handmade items that take craftspeople time and effort to create.

LOOK OUT FOR: wallpapers that look hand illustrated/ painted, subject matters like ceramics and pottery, and wallpapers that appear to be embroidered scenes of simple village life.

Trend 6 // Cocoon Swoon

Not only are we cocooning by being forced to stay at home, but we are also going to start cocooning rooms in wallpaper. Think Buckingham palace and old castles that have all the walls wrapped in wallpaper. You walk into a room and are literally cocooned in the wallpaper. Bedrooms are becoming our escapes from the rest of the house and we want them to feel like sanctuaries. There is an opulence to this trend that will be very much prevalent as well.

LOOK OUT FOR: old English country-side scenes that tell a story as they wrap around the room, Chinoiserie-inspired wallpapers that include birds and people and old vintage paintings that tell of a bygone era.

Trend 7 // Simple Simon

When one trend speaks of opulence there will always be another that speaks of the opposite. Simple designs that are clean and uncluttered will come to the fore for those that are after the Marie Kondo effect. After months of being at home, many of us realise how little we need in our lives and have spent our time spring cleaning. We’ve opened up new spaces and want to enhance that simplicity with clean lines and graphics that don’t interfere too much.

LOOK OUT FOR: simple black and white geometric patterns, simplified leaf designs and botanical designs with large open spaces.