Make yourself at home

The future is bright. Decor trends for 2024 promise light, simple, but notquite-minimalist living. Here's how to style it right

- Tanisha Saxena

The good news: Decor trends for the coming year are easy on the eye, on the pocket and on the living. No heavy chandeliers, shiny surfaces to reflect your every design regret. No worries about grubby stains on hard-to-clean surfaces. Designers recommend straightforward, light elements, but not stark minimalism. "It's often, and wrongly, associated with boredom," says Ambereen Gupta, founder and managing partner at Casa Amber in Delhi. "In reality, it's a deliberate design philosophy that focuses on simplicity, functionality, and intentional living. It brings a sense of calm sophistication, emphasising quality over clutter."

The cheat sheet? Restraint. Keep the design vibrant, expressive, contemporary and personal, says decorator Ridhi Khosla Jalan. Here are their recommendations.

Stay in the neutral zone.

"It gives the perfect backdrop for other design elements to pop," says Jalan. Black, white, creams, browns do for homes what a filter does for a Reel create a calming blur so other objects stand out. The single wall in a different colour is great to create a brighter space. "Concrete and serene blue, olive green and white, black and beige, burnt orange and white, work well together," says Gupta.

Open it up.