HABITAT ANNOUNCES FOUR NEW DIRECTIONS FOR HOMES & INTERIORS IN 2023

British home and furniture retailer Habitat today announced its predictions and inspiration for home interiors in the coming year in a panel discussion with entertainment platform TikTok and innovative paint brand YesColours. 

Based on Habitat insights and data, as well as those of its sister brands, Sainsbury’s and Argos, the speakers discussed the reasons behind these emerging ideas, the importance of colour within these, and the ‘hot’ content trending on TikTok that has become a crucial inspiration tool for home lovers in the UK.

1. DOPAMINE DINING

A variety of food trends are emerging, breaking down the barriers of formal dining and encouraging a more relaxed approach to tablescaping. We’re embracing a more tactile, Mediterranean-style approach to eating that places sensory experiences and comfort at its core, enhanced by dopamine-inducing colours that stimulate joy and bring conversation to the table. Bowls are now the tableware of choice for meals, surpassing plates, to enable more informal and communal dining habits. ​ 

2. ART OF DISPLAY

This is the new take on the curiosity cabinet which sees us celebrate and showcase the more personal moments and landmarks of our lives, rather than tidying everything away. Display cabinets, sideboards and open shelving are all ways that we will personalise and curate our spaces throughout the home, refreshing seasonally for quick home updates. 

3. NOSTALGIA REINVENTED

Looking to the past brings a sense of security and familiarity - we turn to this during uncertain times. This ‘anti-anxiety’ movement examines how the cottage-core demand for 2022 will grow and mature, taking a 1970s direction that represents a return to retro with a contemporary slant, championing the resurgence of craft. ​ 

4. GROUNDED SIMPLICITY 

This movement challenges the popularity of zoning and multifunctional living which became a necessity for many during the pandemic. It espouses the theory of ‘clear home, clear mind’, prioritising only the most functional essentials for day-to-day living and allowing the home to breathe. This movement is underpinned by a link to nature and earth, with an emphasis on rich, warming colours and tactile materials that are more traditionally crafted. 

“Beyond our SS23 collections launching from January 2023, we wanted to identify the broader movements that are impacting our lives and the way we’re living in our homes. This is based on our own data, in-house design team and customer research, but also wider cultural and lifestyle shifts which are emerging.” ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Andrew Tanner, Head of Design for Habitat

Supplementary Quotes / Data

STORY 1: DOPAMINE DINING

Andrew Tanner, Habitat Head of Design, explains in more detail: “This more relaxed way of dining is a nod to how food can be shared for relaxed, easy eating alone or with friends and family, and there’s a tactility around bowl eating that you don’t get with formal plating. Interestingly, it’s our hand-painted pieces that are the most popular, and mixing and matching is where we are seeing dining habits heading. This doesn’t mean that tablescaping and formal dining no longer happens, but instead it’s about layering the table with different serveware to support diverse culinary moments.”

Emma Bestley, Co-Founder of YesColours, elaborates on how our approach to colour will become more adventurous:  “There is an enduring joy in grown-up pastel colours, the bright and the bold to create a happy, social space. More importantly following the pandemic, coming together was on everyone’s minds and this has sustained and reinvigorated the demand for fun, and energetic hues. Less of a formal approach to the table gives us more of a chance to be playful with our interiors colour schemes.” 

Gemma Thornton, Brand Partnerships - Retail for TikTok, confirms our love of tablescaping will remain: “Some of our users’ most popular content includes tablescaping, styling hacks, how-to guides and before and afters. The popularity of bowls is also very present on TikTok (121M views), stemming from the viral food bowl trend (rice bowls, acai bowls, poke bowls), which is spurring on consumer shopping.”

STORY 2: ART OF DISPLAY

Andrew Tanner, Habitat Head of Design, comments on why this idea is emerging: “It was the Victorian era that celebrated the art of display the best, from cloches and wall plates to floral displays and curiosity cabinets. Today however, it’s about showcasing personalised collectibles, ones based on memories and souvenirs that evoke emotion. We’re creating our own ‘shop windows’ where we display what represents us. This is a way we can style our own vignettes around the home, refreshing them when the mood strikes, which is particularly attractive to those who rent their homes and have limited ways they can put their own stamp on them. ​ And display cabinets are no longer the preserve of the lounge or dining room, with multi-functional cabinet options working equally well in the kitchen, hallway and even bathroom.”

Emma Bestley, Co-Founder of YesColours, details how this theory translates to colour as well: “Our community is switching things up seasonally just by using a lick of paint to create an accent area. People are curating rather than loading up their shelves without care and consideration. With budgets tight right now, it is a great way of adding interest to your home without the pressure of renovating a whole room.”

STORY 3: NOSTALGIA REINVENTED

Andrew Tanner, Habitat Head of Design, explains why consumers remain crazy for ‘core’ and what 2023 will bring: “It’s not surprising that we look to the past to bring a sense of comfort and nostalgia, and we tend to view our homes as places of sanctuary. For many, home updates are done gradually, marrying old, inherited homeware and furniture with newer pieces that we source over time.. While bucolic, pastoral florals soared in popularity in 2022, we’ve seen a sentimental 70s resurgence emerge in both fashion and design. A good example is the curved Rattan Chaise that we’ve reintroduced from the Habitat archives. The adventurous, vibrant colour palette and association with natural materials such as bamboo, rattan, knitted wools and raw woods puts the look in prime position to feature in the Gen-Z home for 2023.“

Gemma Thornton, Brand Partnerships - Retail for TikTok, comments on the ‘core’ trends that continue to rule on the app: “In 2022, we saw movements like Coastal Grandma and Cottage Core (11.7B views) go viral in all areas of TikTok, from fashion to interiors. There is a notable thirst for the revival of traditional crafts and hobbies that might previously have been obsolete. #Crochet (58M views) and #knitting (1B views), for example, took off on TikTok after Tom Daley was pictured knitting at the Tokyo Olympics, and when Harry Styles wore THE JW Anderson Cardigan that took social media by storm.” 

STORY 4: GROUNDED SIMPLICITY 

Habitat’s website searches also illustrate the rising demand for more simplistic, natural materials, coupled with a desire for bolder colours that challenge the more established concept of minimal living:

Whereas previously, Habitat’s most popular colours have focussed on a more neutral colour palette of grey, white and beige, the brand’s best selling colours for upholstered furniture now feature more adventurous choices that demonstrate the shift towards tonal, earthy interiors: 

Functionality still remains front of mind for the Habitat customer, and storage designs continue to rise in popularity on the website as customers prioritise versatile pieces that allow for pared-back, de-cluttered spaces: 

Andrew Tanner, Habitat Head of Design, talks about how Grounded Simplicity injects wellness into the home: “This movement is all about creating a clutter-free oasis of calm, embracing a pared-back space that fulfils only the basic functions – eating, working, sleeping. It means considered use of a space, choosing the most functional yet aesthetic pieces that allow us to reset. Moving away from the stark neutrals some may associate with minimalist living, we advocate the use of colours inspired by the earth and our surroundings."

Emma Bestley, Co-Founder of YesColours endorses the use of colour to help us feel more grounded: “We believe that minimalism and the pared-back aesthetic doesn’t have to be cold and pale in its colour approach. Using bold but warm natural shades will still encourage that feeling of being in touch with the earth around us, without stripping the space of any colour at all.”

Gemma Thornton, Brand Partnerships - Retail for TikTok, explains how the minimalism trend encompasses more than one style for its users: “#Minimalism has a staggering 10B video views, made up of two very different content themes. You have minimalist living, which is a home without excess décor, and you have the minimalist aesthetic which is more about having a sense of peace in your home. This is where Grounded Simplicity becomes relevant, and I see lots of inspirational videos that have a distinct focus on colours that provide a comforting aesthetic to calm and ground us.”

NOTES TO EDITORS

All website and sales data has been gathered from the Habitat and Argos websites, Oct 2021-Oct 2022. 

All TikTok stats are sourced from TikTok internal data (November 2022)

*Research conducted by Censuswide for Sainsbury’s on 2,000 UK adults in September 2022

About Habitat:

Since its revolutionary beginnings in 1964, Habitat has made outstanding design for the home accessible to all by bringing thoughtful, inventive and affordable furniture and homewares to the UK. Today, customers can find Habitat’s high quality, affordable home products online at Sainsbury’s, Argos and Habitat, as well as in selected Sainsbury’s stores and three Habitat showrooms in London, Brighton, and Leeds. Habitat is led by Head of Product, Rona Olds and is proud to fly the flag of British design with a talented in house-design studio comprising over 20 experts in their own fields from ceramicists and illustrators, to upholstery specialists and print designers.

About TikTok:

TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. Our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. TikTok has global offices including Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Toronto, Singapore, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo. Trends on TikTok have quickly become the start of broad culture, with emerging talent on the same playing field as celebrities and public figures. A few seconds of authentic creativity that starts on TikTok often turns into much more. Cultural moments travel far and wide as videos are discovered, shared to new audiences, and continually evolve.

About YesColours: 

YesColours, an eco-conscious paint brand and disruptor, launched 2022 with fully recyclable packaging that aims to cut consumer waste and stop tricky-to-recycle leftover paint tins going to landfill.

Putting people and the planet first, the range has been designed using colour theory to promote wellness and inspire joy and optimism through colour. These paints are sourced and made in the UK without adding harmful chemicals, such as VOCs, APEs, NPEs or microplastics. The pouches use 16% less fossil fuel, 26% less water and generate 21% less greenhouse gas emissions in production than traditional rigid packaging. What’s more, they start at 1 litre in size, making it easy to order accurately and reduce waste.

YesColours is founded by John Stubbs and Emma Bestley, creators of Europe’s first recyclable paint pouch. The dynamic duo are dedicated to colour, innovation, inspiration and saving the planet. They are empowering customers to make better informed choices by offering alternative products that benefit the planet as well as people.

YesColours has since won multiple awards including Livingetc Style Awards for Best Newcomer, Real Home Awards for Lick of Paint Award as well as Highly Commended for the Marie Claire Sustainability Awards.

With an unrivalled eco manifesto, YesColours’ feel-good ethos doesn’t stop there. Recognising that 1-in-5 children and young adults suffer from poor mental health, the brand is working with a number of charities on community-based projects to help young people feel good. ​