(Photo: Meyer Skidmore & Co.)
While 2020-2021 kept people quarantined in their homes and looking to make improvements, 2022 sees many people emerging from their isolating COVID cocoons. And while people may be getting out of the house more, that doesn’t mean they aren’t still updating their homes with the latest trends. Here’s the design trends local experts told us were trending for 2022.
In the Bedroom
The sanctuary of sleep, your bedroom is where you’ll spend one/third of your life (according to most of the top Google answers). While much of a house features hardwood or laminate flooring, Michael Reimer, owner of Carpet Masters in Longmont, Colo., says carpet is still popular in the bedroom.
“Where the trend in some degrees has been away from carpet, carpet is still really strong in rooms where people are barefooted, so they want something soft and comfortable,” says Reimer.
Reimer says that he is seeing people spend more on carpet in their bedrooms, opting for higher quality carpets for their bedroom and often with a pattern.
“People are spending a little more on the carpet they’re putting in their bedrooms. They’re doing higher quality. Since they’re not doing their whole house in soft surface they’re spending time selecting what works best for the room specifically and not what works best for the whole house,” says Reimer.
Designer patterns are also becoming more popular in bedroom carpet. These options are more expensive, but Reimer reiterates that since people are only putting carpet in one or a few rooms, their budget is a little bit bigger and can put something in other than just the standard-cut pile brown carpet.
“We’re seeing a lot of standard warm neutrals, but brought to life through very creative patterns in a way that hasn’t been done before,” Reimer says.
Scott McDonald, owner of McDonald Carpet One in Boulder, echoes Reimer’s observations, noticing a move back to warmer colors and more elegant patterned carpet.
“It’s a little bit more elegant than just everyday single, level pile carpet,” says McDonald. “It makes it a little more interesting, it doesn’t go out of style as quickly as some of the multi-colored carpeting.”
Abbey Van Horn of Meyer Skidmore & Co. says she sees a lot of owners pull out the carpet in their bedroom and put in hardwoods and rugs.
“They’re going natural. No stains or finishes. Gray is on its way out,” says Van Horn. “There’s a return to beiges and warm colors. We’re seeing a lot of people doing accent walls. Because they’re going consistent throughout with the flooring in their homes, they’ll spice up a space with a colorful or patterned rug. Back in the 1980s, it was different flooring in each room and we’ve moved away from that.”
(Photo: PC Photography/iStock)
In the Bathroom
It’s rare you’ll find carpet in a bathroom, and for good reason. The bathroom is a breeding ground for mold-induced moisture and other gross bacteria. That’s why bathrooms have made the transition to all solid surfaces over the years, a trend that continues into 2022.
“Bathrooms are either done in tile or luxury vinyl tile (LVT). The surface choice depends on the budget,” says Reimer. “People really like the tile that looks like wood. It has a very robust feeling underfoot. The graphics have truly improved over the years for both tile and LVT. LVT is waterproof and very durable. As a vinyl product it’s warmer under foot
than tile.”
While rare and usually high cost, Reimer says combining tile flooring and an in-heat floor system is truly the best of
all worlds.
McDonald says he sees a lot of customers go with LVT plans that come in both the wood and tile look.
“They get the look of a nice tiled floor but don’t have to worry about cleaning the grout all the time or dropping something and chipping it. That being said, we do a lot of porcelain and ceramic tile floors as well,” says McDonald.
When doing tile, McDonald says the tiles aren’t solid colors. The tiles have striations and wavy patterns to break up any monotony.
“The other tile in the bathroom is usually coordinated in a different color but in that same style of tile. Many do lighter tile in the shower and darker on the floor, or just something completely different in the shower,” says McDonald.
Van Horn says she sees a lot of tile in bathrooms.
“We see a lot of marble going in with fun shapes and patterns. There are a lot of hexagon shapes and there might be a pattern on the tile within the hexagon,” says Van Horn.
(Photo: Meyer Skidmore & Co.)
In the Kitchen
In kitchens, the experts say there’s a move to waterproof materials, such as vinyl and laminates.
“Real wood is nice, but it does get dinged and scratched much easier than hardwoods,” says McDonald.
“LVT and tiles are still the two primary products in the kitchen, mostly because of the amount of wear and water that’s common in the kitchen,” says Reimer. “With open concept flooring where all the spaces adjoin it’s usually just the same LVT for consistency’s sake. No one is tiling the whole main floor of their house.”
Reimer says that while LVT is popular, at the end of the day it is still made out of plastic and when it’s torn out it will end up in the landfill for our lifetime.
“For the more discerning client we still do a bunch of hardwood options that have a longer lifespan and are
eco-friendlier.”
In the Home
Throughout the home, all three experts agree that there is a shift to balancing out gray and warm tones with flooring that blends the two colors.
“People are striking a balance between warm tones found throughout their home in warm paints and cooler tones they now have in more modern furniture, appliances and countertops. Everyone is trying to strike this balance. At the end of day flooring should be an accent to main design and shouldn’t be a focal point,” Reimer says.
For luxurious touches to a home, tile accents done in entry ways and other key visual areas of the floor can give a home a unique and custom feel.
Van Horn says the hot new trend to do in accent rooms is lay flooring in a herringbone pattern.
“It really does give it that extra flare,” she says. “You can have a simple yet classy home and this will give it a subtle spice.”
Another trend Van Horn is seeing is people tinting their home windows.
“Not super dark like a car tint, but tinting so sun damage doesn’t occur to anything else in the home, whether it’s a rug spot, flooring or a window covering,” says Van Horn. “When it comes to window coverings there are a lot of Hunter Douglas type things in the home right now. That accordion style shade gives a very clean look.”
By Darian Armer
