The hottest trends in living and dining rooms that just might surprise you

Whether you’re looking for budget-friendly and DIY options or you’re ready to splash out big, there’s a trend out there that will take your living and dining spaces from drab to fab.

Layered textures

Layered textures create softness and add visual interest to any room, and it’s an easy trend to jump on. Soft furnishings are the best way to integrate layered texture into your living room, while napery is a great option for experimenting with texture at the dining table.

Try these tips:

• Experiment with rugs: try a mix of low and high pile rugs and add different textures with materials like jute, or cow or sheep hides
• Embroidered, beaded, tasselled, boucle, or velvet cushion covers
• Light cotton or linen couch covers for summer
• Waffle, knitted, woven, tassled, or quilted blankets and throws for winter
• Heavy curtains for winter and light, linen options for summer
• Place rugs so they overlap a little
• Choose unusual textures for your napery, like rustic jute table runners, boucle coasters, or fringed placemats
• Opt for textured glassware, serving bowls, or vases
• Shapes can also help create a layered texture effect. Try adding round and bolster-style cushions to your couch, or using a rug in an unusual shape.

Hang statement artwork over the couch or dining room table. Image: GETTY

Statement artwork

Don’t worry if an original artwork by your favourite artist isn’t in the budget. You can typically buy large-scale prints from artists, purchase a digital copy and have it printed on canvas to your desired size, or even create your own! Bust out a large canvas, some colourful paints and get cracking.

The cardinal rule of statement artwork is that it should steal the show. Don’t crowd your artwork by surrounding it with other, smaller pieces. Consider hanging your statement piece over the couch or at the head of the dining table for instant sophistication.

Bring the outdoors in with oversize plants. Image: GETTY

Oversized foliage

Bringing the outside in has always been a popular move among interior trendsetters, and this season is no exception. Instead of flowers, however, this season is all about oversized foliage. The bigger the better. Create the effect with tall indoor plants with larger leaves, like monstera deliciosa, towering fiddle leaf figs, or bird of paradise.

No green thumb? Get the same look with a bouquet of branches, flowering or bare.

Right now is the time for big bold colour clashes. Image: GETTY

Bold colours and patterns

Popping primaries and clashing patterns; this coming season is big, bold, and colourful! Considered maximalism is in, which is your green light to experiment with bright colours, accent pops, and fun wallpapers.

Integrate colour into your living and dining spaces with these inspired choices:

• Abstract prints on cushion covers and throws
• Bright statement art
• Colourful plant pots and vases
• Bold rugs
• Bright block colours or prints on napkins, table cloths, placemats or runners
• Colourful dining table accessories like candle holders or coasters

The key to making this trend work is understanding colour theory. Use a basic colour wheel to find colours that clash or complement each other, depending on the look you want to achieve.

More a mainstay than a trend, open plan living is a popular choice in Aussie homes. Image: GETTY

Open plan living

It’s official: open plan layouts aren’t going anywhere. Dining and living spaces, in particular, benefit from open plan layouts, which maximise natural light and create the perfect canvas for hosting and entertaining. An open plan layout additionally makes it easy to get the most out of your furniture, for example, by having the dining table double as a workstation or kids’ homework area.

Hire a professional before you go knocking down any walls inside your home to create the open plan effect you’re after. A licensed builder or structural engineer will be able to tell you if you can safely remove the wall, and will have the tools and experience to do it properly.

If removing walls isn’t an option for you, work with what you have. Consider other options like:

• Harmonious flooring throughout your home, which helps create openness even through doorways
• Cohesive colour palettes to create a visual flow effect
• Strategically placed mirrors to bounce light through your home
• Removing bulky furniture from near doorways to create a visually smoother transition
• Remove unnecessary doors or replace existing doors with a glass or louvred alternative

Go for curvy furniture to add a touch of biomorphic modernism to your living space. Image: GETTY

Curvy furniture

Rounded and wavy couches, dining tables, floor lamps and more; they’re all part of a design trend called ‘biomorphic modernism’ which mimics the gentle lines found in nature and brings them indoors. Trending furniture incorporates a mix of materials, like woods, resins and fabrics to create furniture that feels unique and calming.

If you’re not ready to upgrade your furniture, get inspired by these easy ways to integrate the trend into your decor:

• Circular or asymmetric rugs
• Round or wavy lampshades
• Spherical vases
• Arch-shaped wall mirrors
• Round-backed dining chairs or armchairs

Hand-painted furniture

Upcycled and hand-painted furniture is having a renaissance. The good news? You likely already have everything you need to hop on this trend.

The living and dining space is the perfect place to showcase your hand-painted furniture. Breathe new life into bookshelves, sideboards or tired dining chairs by getting creative and letting your inner child out to play. Whimsical floral motifs, abstract shapes or even block colours all work wonderfully for this trend. Don’t worry if your finished piece isn’t perfect, the beauty lies in the process.

Floating shelves

If you’ve ever bought a shelving unit only to discover you don’t have that much stuff to display, this solution is for you. Floating shelves are on trend right now, and they’re perfect for personalising your living and dining space without the commitment of a whole shelving unit. Use floating shelves to display artwork, favourite books, travel souvenirs, or trinkets. In the dining room, floating shelves are perfect for displaying glassware, candles, or crockery.

While you can DIY floating shelves, it’s best to hire a trusted tradie to make sure they’re installed correctly and level. Incorrectly installed floating shelves could come loose or fall. A handyman (or woman) will be able to assess your wall material and use the right kind of tools to ensure your floating shelves stay floating.

Lighting

Along with layered textures, layered lighting is the perfect addition to create a cosy and inviting living space. The right lighting choices will help you set the mood no matter how much natural light your home gets.

Opt for bright, warm overhead lights for a sun-drenched feel during the day, and dimmable options to unwind with in the evenings. Table lamps, standing lamps, LED strips and plug-in lights are all great DIY options, but if you want to change or install any wired lighting in your home, you’ll need to hire a licensed electrician. On-trend lighting options include:

• Pendulum lights in unique shapes and colours
• Modern chandeliers
• Bold statement lamps
• Ribbed glass covers
• Colourful lampshades

Paint

You’ve heard of the feature wall, now meet this season’s hottest interior paint trend: colour drenching. Colour drenching is when the entire interior of a room is painted the same colour – walls, ceiling and all. Far from making rooms look smaller, this painting style creates an illusion of space, even when using darker paint colours. Give your dining room a moody look with dark greens or blues, or inject a dose of faux sunshine into the living room with a bright yellow hue.

If you’re an inexperienced painter, it’s best to turn to a local painter for this job, especially for anything more intricate than a block of colour.