Home Trends for 2023

At the start of a new year, many of us start to think about what we’re planning to do in our homes during the year ahead. We start to see our homes more clearly as we’ve cleaned up after Christmas and New Year parties, and after we’ve put the holiday decorations away. We think about which areas of our homes look tired and worn, and what work needs to be done to bring it up to date. Even if we’re thinking about decorating in a classic, traditional style that will last for years, many of us are thinking about the trends and how we can incorporate them into our homes.

In this post, we’re taking a look at the trends that are expected to be the big hitters in 2023 – and of course, how lighting fits with those trends.

Sustainability

Saving the planet has been on the agenda for many of us for a long time now – and the trend of focusing on sustainability continues into 2023. We’re all minimising our use of single use plastics and disposable items, and reusing items as much as possible, but that isn’t where it ends, especially when it comes to home décor. The interior design trend this year is towards buying fewer better quality items, with more care and thought.

With the continued emphasis on making changes to save the planet, there’s little surprise that some of these micro-trends within the sustainability trend have started to come up.

Solid wooden furniture

As we aim to use fewer natural resources, and to use renewable materials wherever possible, it makes sense that natural woods are used for furniture. Fast growing woods such as pine, birch, and willow are all great options, since the forests can be managed sustainably. With the right wood finish, they’re stronger and more durable, and are better for the environment than manufactured woods like MDF and chipboard. Not only that, but they’re also easier to recycle at the end of their lives too.

To hit this trend, homes that want to lower their impact on the environment should be looking for solid wooden furniture. For quite some time, darker wood finishes have been out of favour with interior designers, who have said they are dated – and have chosen white, grey, and blonde wood finishes instead. But recently, the interior design world has realised that the classic nature of darker woods means that it continues look great in homes for years to come.

That logic can be applied to lighting too – there are some gorgeous lighting options that will complement darker wooden furniture. The Edit Wawak Pendant, the Lucide Idaho Wall Light, and the Edit Qaanso Floor Lamp are all fabulous choices if you’re getting in on the trend, and there are more pieces hitting our stock soon.

You can, of course, buy brand new furniture in darker wood finishes – especially if you’re buying from companies that make items to order. But there is still a lot of dark wooden furniture to be found in places like second hand shops, flea markets and charity shops, making it a great way to get on board with our next trend: upcycling.

Upcycling

Upcycling used to be left to hippy types and people on serious budgets, but in the past few years it has become way more mainstream. People are realising that they can create the perfect piece of furniture by refinishing or adapting an old piece they already have, using them in different ways, and incorporating them into bigger creations.

If you’ve never done any upcycling of furniture before, then search for projects online to inspire you. Search for ‘Ikea hacks’ and you’ll find thousands of ideas – and of course, you don’t have to be using Ikea furniture to use those ideas to undertake your own projects.

When it comes to lighting, people often shy away from attempting upcycling due to the fact that lighting requires electricity – which can be scary (and dangerous!) if it isn’t done well. While we’d aways recommend hiring a qualified electrician for projects that involve mains power, there are some great ways to improve old lighting fixtures, or to create unique lighting without needing an electrician. Simple, inexpensive upcycling projects involving lighting that we love?

• Make use of fairy lights – wrap them around furniture, or put them in glass vessels to create quick and easy lighting (or just buy our Bottle Cork Battery Operated LED Micro Silver Wire Fairy Lights – we won’t tell if you pretend you did it yourself!)
• Incorporate LED candles into your projects – they’re perfect for adding to bowls, lanterns, and in fireplaces to build a warming glow, with just a battery or two required.
• Get creative with LED strips – they are perfect for easy DIY upcycling projects, with little to no risk to you or your home. Try the Tagra 24W Warm White LED 12V Tape.

Sustainable lighting options

When it comes to lighting, there’s a few things you can do to hit on the sustainability trend. Choosing lighting made from sustainable materials is the first thing, of course. We wrote a whole post about lighting made from natural materials a while ago, and we’re continuing to increase our range of lighting made from wood, rattan, and bamboo as well as natural stone. But natural materials aren’t the only ones that are a good option for the environment, or that are easy to make and recycle. Glass and aluminium are infinitely recyclable, as are some other metals – making them a sustainable choice.

In addition to using sustainable materials, the trend towards using lighting in better ways is going to continue. Energy saving bulbs have been around for some time now, but LED lighting is an even better way forward, for several reasons:

• Because they use so little power to provide bright lighting.
• In many cases, LEDs can change colour temperature and brightness, without needing additional dimmer switches.
• They can last a really time before they need replacing – in many cases, more than five years if used continuously 24/7!
• They’re difficult to break – unlike glass bulbs – and can withstand shock, vibration, and cold temperatures.
• They are easier to recycle than traditional filament bulbs, and don’t contain the toxic chemicals that traditional bulbs had.

That’s great news for the environment, your wallet, and your electricity bills! If you’re yet to make the switch to LED bulbs, there really has never been a better time.

Thinking about using lighting better, think about replacing older lighting with smart lighting. Smart lighting can stop you from having to wander around your home turning lights off – or from having to wonder whether they’re off. Smart lighting connects to your Wi-Fi, and can be controlled by an app on your phone, or via voice assistants like Alexa or Google. Saying “Alexa, turn off the light in the kitchen” is much easier than putting your slippers on when you’ve just got comfortable in bed! (a quick note – if you’re planning to connect to a voice assistant, make sure the lighting or bulb has the right connectivity before you buy)

Finally, when you’re choosing lighting for outside your home and in your garden, look for solar powered outdoor lighting. Solar powered lighting performs brilliantly these days, and is a real alternative to mains powered garden lighting – even for security lights. Not only does solar power mean that you can reduce your power consumption, which is better for the environment and your electricity bills, but it means that you can install that lighting anywhere, as long as it is exposed to enough sunshine during the day. If you’re looking for outdoor lighting that only needs to be on at certain times, look for motion detectors and PIR sensors, those with Wi-Fi connectivity, and dusk until dawn sensors so you get the light when you need it.

Brighter, whiter kitchens

If 2023 is going to be the year that you finally change your kitchen, and you want it to be on trend, then look at bright white kitchens. White kitchens never truly went away, since they are such a classic, but off-whites, greys, and marbled tones were favoured, as well as bold coloured kitchens. This year, the trend for kitchens is whiter than white, and for lighting, that means bright spotlights, downlights, and track lights to let that white shine, as well as pendant lights for over kitchen islands and tables.

When your space is all-white, then you need to decide whether your lighting going to be all-white too, or are you going to use your kitchen lighting to add colour, sparkle, or shine – maybe to match handles on your cabinets? Whatever type of lights you need, you’ll find what you’re looking for in our range of kitchen lighting – simply filter the range to find the perfect style.

Warm hues

The Pantone colour of the year has had a massive impact on interior design and fashion since it was launched in 2000. This year, Pantone chose Viva Magenta 18-1750, a shade between red and pink, with slight purple undertones – so get ready for some seriously vibrant colours in your home and beyond.

It wasn’t only Pantone that felt, we were ready for some warm and vibrant hues. Benjamin Moore chose Raspberry Blush 2008-30, Shutterstock chose Digital Lavender, and Dulux Wild Wonder for their colours for 2023. Between the pinks, the straw-like yellows, and the dreamy lavender, you’re going to want to incorporate bold colours into your home this year. If you’re wondering how to add lighting when you’re incorporating warmer décor in your home, then check out our blog post about Viva Magenta, where we covered which types of lighting work with deep pinks and reds.

Wavy lines and curved edges

A whole slew of designers have incorporated wavy stripes into their designs recently – which means that the rest of us are likely to follow suit in the near future! Collectively, we’ve had a difficult few years, with one thing and another, and as those tough times look set to continue, we’re looking to make our homes as comforting as possible – so hard edges, corners, and geometric shapes are out, with wavy lines and curved edges in. Designers are being inspired by the sea, with lines inspired by the waves and the movement of water on the beach – and the thought of those long days of summer by the seaside are certainly relaxing.

If you’re adding this trend to your home – whether that is with your furniture, on wallpaper, or on soft furnishings, then echo those lovely curves and waves with your lighting. The Searchlight Margot 7 light LED cascade ceiling pendant has each pendant at different heights to show off gorgeous curves, the Lucide Vivana 2 Light Flush Wall Light has arches of warm copper, and the Endon Aria LED Floor Lamp in silver leaf finish gives a perfect glowing trail of light that is ideal for living rooms.

Bold statement lighting

We were so excited when we started to read about, and see interior designers working with this trend! Rather than keeping lighting small and unobtrusive, this trend is about playing with proportions. Large statement lamps, oversized pendant lights, impressive chandeliers and outsize lamps are going to be absolutely everywhere in the year ahead. Bigger is better, even in small rooms – and you’ll need to think about not only ceiling lights, but also wall lights that could take the place of art, and eye catching lamps. Our favourites?

In Ceiling Lights – The Searchlight Greythorne Chandelier in steel grey and the Edit Bank Glass Chandelier in amber, the Edit Chloe LED Ceiling Pendant Light.

In Wall Lights – The Lucide Eklyps LED Flush Wall Light in matte gold, the Edit Liceo Wall Light in black and gold and the Lucide Sansa in black and gold.

Layered lighting

We’ve talked about this absolutely loads of times on the blog, and for very good reason. Designers and lighting experts have advocated for having a range of different types of lighting in the home for years, so that you can set the mood, or create the right levels of lighting for whatever you are doing at the time. This also works with the sustainability trend, because it means that you can use even smaller amounts of electricity, if you’ve already switched to LED lighting.

How do you hit this trend? It is incredibly simple. You just need a combination of lighting options in each room – with at least one from each category of ambient lighting, task lighting, and accent lighting. You’ll decide this based on which lighting will work best for your home and your needs, but here are a few examples to consider:

• In your kitchen, you may incorporate downlights, track lights, spot lights, pendants, under cabinet lights, and LED strips.
• Living rooms benefit from ceiling lights, wall lights, table lamps, and reading lights – and definitely consider smart lighting in your living room, so you can change colour temperatures and brightness of your lighting.
• Bedrooms can be cosy or bright, depending on the time of day with ceiling lights and wall lights, as well as touch lamps for bedside tables, and mirror lights. If you have young children, you might want to consider nightlights too.
• In bathrooms, you’re going to want ceiling or wall lights, mirror lights and shaver lights, as well as spotlights or downlights – and don’t forget, you’ll need to make sure any bathroom lights have a safety rating of at least IP44 (and higher if you have children who love splashing at bath time!) to ensure the lighting is safe for use in damp environments.

Of course, we’re not telling you to put extra lighting in your space for the sake of it. You’ll need to choose your layers of lighting carefully, so they don’t look out of place in the room. That might mean you choose a ceiling light, a wall light, and a lamp from the same range, for a matching look, or it might be that you choose different lights that have a certain element in common, such as the colour, or the material.

Our final thoughts

When you’re choosing interior décor and the trends that you want to work with in your home, make sure they’re ones you’re going to love for a long time to come. Sustainability is going to rule for a long time to come, and so interior design trends are likely to move much more slowly from now on, with slower shifts from one trend to the other. However you decorate, and whichever lighting you choose, get the most environmentally friendly, because it’ll help your bank balance too.

As you’re picking new lighting for your home, the Online Lighting Change Your Mind Guarantee offers reassurance to our customers. If you order from us and discover that you don’t love your order as much as you thought you would, you can return your order to us within 30 days of the delivery date. We hope you love your purchase though, and if you’re posting your home’s new look on your Instagram, tag us in your post so we can share the love with our followers too! We’re @online_lighting.