5 Interior Design Trends for 2022

Discover sustainable style, color blocks, and how craft is becoming a design star

Ana Hernández and Christophe Penasse are the creators behind multi-award-winning studio Masquespacio (@masquespacio), a global interior design benchmark. Ana’s interior design talent shines through her work as creative director, combined with Christophe’s passion for marketing, branding, and project design.

The team’s talents have brought home prizes including Elle International’s Young Talent of the Year, T Magazine Spain’s Interior Designer of the Year and the Massimo Dutti New Values Award given by Architectural Digest magazine.

From materials to color palettes, every one of their ideas results from a creative process that approaches interior design as a way of creating hard-to-forget visual narratives and aesthetic experiences.

Just as last year we asked industrial designer Juan Pablo Fuentes (@juanpablofuentes) to share his 2021 trend predictions, for 2022 we spoke with Masquespacio about the changes they witnessed in 2021 and upcoming interior design trends we’ll see in 2022—here’s what they said.

1. Color blocking

Let’s start with color blocks. This trend is generally understood as the use of one or several colors to bathe a space, creating a powerful visual impression.

Color blocks can be used to both highlight a specific area and draw attention to the entire space. It's a style that's often used in commercial settings targeting millennials and Gen Z, but it also looks great in creative offices, on facades, and in corridors.

2. Spaces for Instagram and Tik Tok fans

Another growing trend is designing spaces to attract young people who want to shoot photos for their Instagram account or Tik Tok videos. These settings are primed for social media backdrops and have a high-fun factor for the photo opportunities they offer, creating a space where visitors can pose as if they were at a photocall.

They’re often set in a particular corner of a restaurant or store, or located in areas like bathrooms, a corridor, or a changing room.

3. Human Skin

The trend named by Masquespacio as "Human Skin" is a return to more neutral color palettes, along with materials that recall or are directly sourced from the earth.

As they explain, it's a trend that features craft design and moves away from the attention-grabbing nature of the previous two trends (color block and Insta-friendly). Sustainability comes to the fore here, representing on-the-up lifestyle choices that pay more attention to the environment and our health—for example through local produce and self-care.

The trend—more prevalent among the over-thirties—is seen as the "new luxury". It's a move away from luxury defined by striking materials and colors (such as gold and velvet) to focus more on the origins and processes used to create the materials.

Because of this direct connection to nature and the human, these designs tend to favor more organic shapes and achieve more harmonious impact.

4. Hybrid and interactive commerce

One of 2022's leading UX trends is the creation of commercial spaces that move away from traditional set-ups.
For example, we’ll increasingly see fashion stores selling books and setting up a café to offer customers a more comprehensive experience. This evolution will also reach hotels and restaurants in the coming years.

A number of brands already convert their spaces when needed to host talks, for launch events, or even as a place where digital nomads can work. The duo also adds, “Interactivity will be on hand at stores of the future, too.”

5. Sustainable spaces

Finally, Masquespacio highlights that sustainability will remain at the forefront of thinking in 2022. It has been hard to make interior design projects fully sustainable to date, especially due to the high costs involved. But the pandemic has revolutionized the movement as, “Humanity now knows that change needs to happen immediately.”

This change can be achieved with the type of materials used, and by working with locally produced designs. As such, we'll see increased integration and use of materials with a reduced environmental impact.

The turn of the year is the perfect excuse for reflecting on the past and prospecting into the future to predict what might be coming our way. From the talents who will emerge to the aesthetics that will take over, the new year is the time to rethink ways of seeing and doing. And designers are going to have to take note of these trends in 2022...

If you’re interested in including these trends in your home and spaces, have a look at Domestika’s full range of interior design courses to get started in the world of interiors and transform your spaces into visual stories.

English version by @studiogaunt.

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