Round Up of Interior Design Trends 2024
In New Zealand, interior design trends 2024 reflected a growing connection to nature, nostalgia, and personal style. While fleeting fads like cottagecore and the 'unexpected red theory' had their moments, timeless designs prevailed.
Clean lines, neutral tones, and open layouts remained staples, complemented by bespoke furnishings, textured materials, and meaningful decor. These thoughtful additions brought warmth and individuality, creating a perfect harmony between simplicity and style.
We explore how these trends have shaped New Zealand homes and inspired unique, enduring spaces.
Round Up of Interior Design Trends 2024
Biophilic & Sustainable Design
Biophilic design continues to gain momentum as one of the leading interior design trends 2024, emphasising natural light, organic materials, and the seamless transition between indoor and outdoor spaces. Sustainable and recycled materials like timber, cork, stone, and reclaimed wood have become increasingly popular for their eco-friendly benefits and aesthetic appeal.
The Surrounds, a modern treehouse we explored in September, exemplifies this trend with its organic materials, thoughtful architecture, and abundant natural light. Another incredible example of biophilic design was Billi Palms, an Australian home with not a single white wall. Instead, it relies on materials and textures, including travertine, microcement, and limewash paint, to infuse warmth and character into its nature-inspired interiors.
The adoption of energy-efficient appliances, such as solar-powered water heaters and induction cooktops, goes hand in hand with this trend as homeowners and designers continue to prioritise sustainability, functionality, and a connection to nature in their spaces.
Newstalgia
Newstalgia is an influential 2024 design trend that marries vintage elements from the 1960s, 70s, and 80s with fresh modern updates, creating spaces that feel warm and grounded. The trend highlights dark wooden accents in cabinetry and décor, enriched by luxurious materials like velvet, marble, bouclé, chrome, and brass.
Rich, evocative colours such as chocolate brown, caramel, burgundy, and avocado green are being used to evoke a sense of nostalgia, while a focus on displaying sentimental heirlooms adds personal charm. Vintage furniture pieces like low-slung sofas, decorative lamps, and wooden coffee tables help to infuse contemporary spaces with a subtle, retro feel.
Looking for inspiration? The Courtyard House was one of our favourite eclectic mid-century modern projects this year, highlighting materials such as brick, travertine, walnut timber, and cork — completed with our timeless brushed nickel fixtures. We expect to see new iterations of this playful, mix-and-match approach to design throughout 2025 and beyond.
Quiet Luxury
Rather than loud displays of wealth, interior design trends 2024 narrowed their focus to high-quality materials, layered textures, and bespoke furniture that reflects individuality and sophistication. In both the fashion and interior design worlds, quiet luxury shines the spotlight on neutrals and classics.
Think basics but elevated with beautiful, timeless fabrics and muted colourways. Drawing inspiration from styles including Scandinavian and Japanese, the trend embraces understated elegance and authenticity while still leaving room for character and personality.
SABO SKIRT’s Thessy Batsinilas and her husband Georgio put their own Mediterranean spin on quiet luxury with the design of their Queensland home, Grèce. Spanning three stories, the home embraces a bright, neutral palette, with intentional inclusions of texture and brushed brass accents to bring depth and dimension into the minimalist space.
From the captivating Calacatta Viola stone to the curved walls that guide you through the home, every element in its design is understated yet impactful.
Colour Drenching
After sweeping the US and UK, the colour-drenching trend has finally hit New Zealand shores. The impactful approach involves painting walls, ceilings, and woodwork a single shade and accessorising with décor in the same tone to create immersive, cohesive spaces.
Earthy tones such as green, beige, and brown dominated kitchens and living areas, evoking warmth and connection to nature. In contrast, bedrooms embraced soothing palettes with peaceful blues, warm neutrals, and muted pastels to create serene, restful spaces. Bathrooms and powder rooms adopted vibrant, bold shades with coordinated colour schemes across tiles, cabinetry, and tapware finishes, showcasing a cohesive and thoughtful design approach.
One of our most popular House Tours of the year, Dune Burleigh, is a prime example of this 2024 interior design trend. Rising out of Queensland's iconic Burleigh Heads’ hillside, the Moroccan-inspired mansion is drenched from floor to ceiling in a luxurious peach fuzz render, which was named Pantone Colour of the Year 2024. Builder GRAYA selected materials and furnishings — including silver travertine, ash timber cabinetry, and brushed copper fixtures — in similar hues to enhance flow and harmony throughout the home.
A celebration of creative self-expression, we expect this trend to evolve and expand to include pattern drenching, which involves adorning a space with a single pattern or layering multiple prints for striking visual impact.
Statement Tiles & Flooring
As the year went on, bold shades and geometric tile designs transformed walls and floors into works of art. This trend not only adds visual interest but also provides an opportunity for self-expression, personalisation, and creativity within interior spaces.
Vibrant Zellige tiles have gained popularity in kitchens and bars, while colourful variations of marble have been used to make a statement in bathrooms and kitchen island benchtops.
Drawing inspiration from 1960s Palm Springs, ARCADIA by TMD Constructions seamlessly blends mid-century modern aesthetics with contemporary comfort. The retro-inspired Gold Coast home is brimming with a range of vibrant tile designs as well as a dreamy blue natural stone kitchen island. These unexpected pops of colour add character and individuality, contributing to the home's architectural flair.
This round-up of interior design trends 2024 reflects New Zealand’s move towards more personalised and expressive interiors, blending historical influences with contemporary design elements. Which trends did you notice the most this year? Did you incorporate any of them into your home? Let us know in the comments!
So, what can we expect next year? Discover our 2025 interior design predictions here.
For further inspiration, read our blogs:
