6 min readWith the year’s biggest design fairs now wrapped, the conversation around what’s next in interiors is officially underway. Designers, editors, and tastemakers alike are already debating which emerging styles, materials, and silhouettes will define homes in the year ahead. We tapped our most trusted experts to forecast the trends poised to become the standout It pieces of next year.
“One of the most meaningful things I observed at Salone this year wasn’t tied to a single product,” says Heidi Tate of Tate Interiors. “It was a broader movement toward wellness-driven design—in the sense that objects should evoke joy, comfort, and emotional connection.”
Across nearly every showroom, designers noted a move away from rigid minimalism and hyper-curated interiors in favor of spaces that feel personal, layered, restorative, and deeply individual.
“People are moving away from disposable interiors and hyper-styled ‘Instagram design,’” Michael Dolatowski of Studio Michael Dolatowski explains. “There’s a growing desire for homes that feel collected, grounded, and emotionally resonant.” The most talked-about product debuts certainly reflect this shift—playing on the unexpected, bold ways to gather, play, and live.
While we’d never suggest overhauling your entire home for the sake of a trend, staying attuned to where design is headed can help inform smarter, longer-lasting purchases. Whether you’re planning a full refresh or simply looking to update a few key pieces to inject some joy into your home, these are the trends destined to make their way onto moodboards everywhere.
Therapy Chaises
The chaise longue is getting a dramatic upgrade. At High Point, designer Meghan Jay noticed what she jokingly started calling “therapy chaises,” cushioned lounge seating designed less for formal entertaining and more for actual restoration.
“These are deeply comfortable chaise-like pieces that feel genuinely designed for rest, not just for looking good in a room,” she says.
Four Hands debuted the Teia Chaise, a new lounger bench that embraced the season’s upholstery trends, while Bernhardt introduced its own daybed in a buttery-soft leather, as did Betsy Wentz with her Lolo Lounge for Abner Henry.
“A standard accent chair is furniture,” Jay explains. “One of these pieces is a place you actually want to be.”
Game Tables
If there were one category designers couldn’t stop talking about this season, it was game tables. Nearly every showroom at High Point Market featured some version of the increasingly popular entertaining staple, from traditional card tables to multifunctional chat tables designed for everything from Mahjong to cocktails.
“Game tables are going to be everywhere in 2027,” says Kathryn Hunt of Kathryn Hunt Studio. “There were new styles of game tables in almost every showroom we visited.” Rather than having to haul out game sets from your storage closet, these tables are made to be ready for play at all hours. “Mahjong, Rummikub, and card games are still trending, so it’s only fitting that clients are asking for them in their homes,” she says.
“People are craving connection and less time on screens,” explains Marissa Matiyasic, principal and designer at Reflections Interior Design. “Adding a game table or chat table directly reflects this shift in how people want to spend their time.”
With all the different colors, materials, and feature options available, designers are increasingly styling game tables as scene-stealing accent pieces in living rooms, foyers, dens, and family rooms alike. “It’s a piece that not only encourages conversation and connection, but also makes a design statement,” Matiyasic says.
Lacquered Furniture
Glossy finishes are suddenly everywhere. At Salone, Tacchini’s 2026 lacquer collection stood out for integrating high-gloss lacquer directly into upholstered silhouettes rather than simply applying it to wood frames. This is an intriguing juxtaposition you can also find in Caracole’s Gelee collection.
“Good design creates tension,” says Ruben Gutierrez, half of the design duo at Errez Design. “Lacquer inside an upholstered silhouette creates structural tension in a way pure softness never can.”
Katie Gutierrez agrees that the finish signals a move away from overly safe interiors. “It says ‘I’m sumptuous and I have a backbone,’” she notes. “That's a phrase I'll be using with clients for the next two years.”
We can’t talk about lacquer without mentioning The Lacquer Company, which has made a name for itself crafting lacquer pieces from case goods to accessories. Ashley Hughes of Muse Noire Interiors also predicts reflective finishes will continue to rise in popularity well into next year and beyond.
“There is this beautiful rise of reflective or high-gloss lacquered materials that I’m really hoping takes off,” she says.
Oversized “Puffer” Seating
The “cloud couch” has dominated the past decade, and now it's making way for its ultra-puffy successor. Across the Milan and High Point shows, brands unveiled deeply cushioned seating with exaggerated channeling, rounded silhouettes, and excessive cushioning that looked more like a luxe puffer coat than a traditional sofa.
One standout was the Ardys sofa system by Patricia Urquiola for Cassina, which Errez Design described as “a contemporary quilt.” Adding to its staying power, Katie notes, is how it's checking the box on sustainability.
“The recycled fiber doesn't read as eco-conscious—it reads as luxurious,” she says. “That's the future. Design that does the right thing beautifully.”
Tacchini’s oversized Solar XL sofa by Faye Toogood also fits the bill, while Natuzzi’s new Dwell sofa combines this ultra-plush aesthetic with the ever-growing inclusion of motion technology—complete with adjustable headrest, footrest, and lumbar support.
Even luxury fashion brand Chloé got in on the fun with its exclusive re-edition of the Tomato chair, originally designed in 1970 by French designer Christian Adam, in collaboration with Italian manufacturer Poltronova. The buzzworthy chair is so plump, it seems like it might just swallow you whole.
The message was clear: comfort is no longer subtle. Sofas are becoming softer, puffier, and dramatically larger. “People are exhausted, and they want their homes to reflect that honestly,” Jay says. “Not in a depressing way; in a ‘I deserve a beautiful place to decompress’ way.”
Flexible Foundations
With oversized seating on the rise, modular tables are here to accommodate and flex to the room’s needs, making living spaces feel more versatile.
The latest collection by GACHOT for Artemest includes not one but three sets of tables bound to end up in numerous interiors in 2027. The best part? “The proportions, the detailing, the material transitions, everything has this lived-in sophistication,” says Dolatowski. “It avoids trendiness while still feeling unmistakably current.”
Multiple brands are introducing layered, nesting, and modular pieces from coffee tables to side tables. Kelly Wearstler’s highly anticipated collection for H&M Home, launching in September, emphasizes the fluidity of home. It’s stocked with pieces designed with modularity in mind, like a curved, four-piece coffee table intended to evolve with your space.
“The modularity is genuinely adaptive,” Ruben adds. “A sofa or table that evolves with the room without losing its coherence is an architectural proposition, not just a furniture one.”
Sculpted Case Goods
Furniture that blurs the line between art and utility is continuing to gain momentum. Designer Evan Millard points to Abner Henry’s Draped Desk as one of the strongest examples of this.
“It introduces movement and softness into a category that is typically very rigid and functional,” he explains.
Rather than purely practical pieces, homeowners are increasingly gravitating toward furnishings that create motion and visual impact within a room. “People are craving spaces that feel more personal and less formulaic,” Millard says. “Pieces like this create a moment.”
The movement reflects a broader embrace of softer silhouettes, tactile surfaces, handcrafted details, and furnishings that feel collected over time rather than purchased all at once.
Artistic Lighting
Lighting is continuing its evolution from functional necessity to collectible art. The Kiso pendant from Noz Nozawa of Noz Design’s second collection with Corbett Lighting is a perfect example of the kind of lighting pieces we will start seeing all across interiors in the year to come. Its shade, woven from bleached abaca rope, paired with the signature jewelry-like chain, is the type of artistic lighting choice designers and consumers alike are gravitating toward.
“I’m seeing continued growth in biophilic elements, reclaimed and regional materials, and lighting that doubles as sculpture,” Oatman says.
Designers are increasingly embracing lamps as sculptural layering pieces rather than afterthoughts. Hughes points to standout introductions from Visual Comfort, Hudson Valley Lighting, and Arteriors featuring materials like travertine, marble, clay, brass, and shattered ceramic finishes.
Statement Dining Tables
Dining tables are no longer playing supporting roles hidden behind statement dining chairs. Increasingly, they’re becoming the architectural focal point of the entire room.
There’s a noticeable rise in mixed-material dining tables combining stone, wood, lacquer, plaster, and metal finishes within a single piece. The Dariel Extension Dining Table by Made Goods, for example, combines burl wood with cane detailing for a chic place to have a meal, whether you’re inviting four people or 10.
Katie sees the return of statement dining furniture as part of a larger cultural shift. “People are investing in the ritual of sitting down together again,” she says. “The right table makes dinner feel like something worth showing up for.”
