2026 Home Design Trends

Happy New Year Everyone! We thought we’d kick off the year by looking at our predictions for 2026 Home Design Trends. These come from requests from our clients, our designers’ ideas and movements we’ve had our eye on lately.

If you’re thinking about beginning the remodeling process this year, take a look to see if any of these seven 2026 design trends line up with your ideas and goals. You may get some inspiration from things you haven’t thought about yet.

1. Color Drenching

While a mix of warm organic textures with creamy whites continues to be a popular way to use neutrals, color will continue to show up strong in 2026. One of our favorite 2026 home design trends is color drenching.

Color drenching means painting the walls, the millwork, the doors, the built-ins and sometimes even the ceiling all the same color, like we did in this sumptuous library. Color drenching makes you feel completely enveloped by a beautiful hue as soon as you enter a room.

2. Replacing Tub-Shower Combos With a Roomy Shower Stall

Today’s homeowners are finding they don’t use standard bathtubs much, and would prefer to have a roomy shower stall. In a small bathroom, this makes the most of the space. It can also free up room so that you can add a shower bench and reconfigure shower niches, ledges or shelves to hold everything you need. We predict this 2026 home design trends prediction will continue to grow in popularity.

Also, when you make the change from tub-shower combo to large shower stall, you can include extra luxuries, including:

Body jets
Handheld shower wands
A steam shower
A zero-threshold (i.e. curbless) entrance
A pebbled shower floor

3. Improving Accessibility

We’ve clocked the aging-in-place preparation trend for the past several years, and as for 2026 home design trends, we think it’s one that will only grow. In fact, it’s not so much a trend as a smarter way of designing that is becoming somewhat standard. After all, these design moves help homeowners turn a home into their forever home. Improving accessibility will also come in very handy if you have an injury, are recovering from surgery or are pregnant.

Aging-in-place elements include:

Zero-threshold showers
Grab bars in key places
Ample lighting
Cabinet and door hardware that’s easier to grab onto
Wider paths for traffic flow and wider doors
Comfort height toilets
Eliminating tripping hazards and installing non-slip flooring
One floor living, or at least, a primary suite on the main floor
Smart home technology with voice control
Dishwasher drawers

A few words about grab bars: Lots of people shy away from installing grab bars if they don’t yet need them because they fear it will make their bathrooms feel like a hospital. As the aging-in-place movement has taken off, so have grab bar designs. Today there are much more attractive options such as lucite and marine-grade wood. There are also clever grab bars that can double as towel racks and toilet paper holders.

If you’re still not ready for grab bars, it is wise to plan for them when completing a remodel. We can install the proper support in the walls when renovating so that when you are ready for them, there will be minimal disruption.

4. Expanded Outdoor Kitchens

Outdoor living spaces continue to rise in popularity among the other 2026 home design trends, and even more interior features will be moving outdoors! In terms of outdoor kitchens, which had humble beginnings as grilling stations, we’ll continue to see:

Beverage fridges
Icemakers
Trash and recycling pull-outs
Storage drawers
Lots of countertop prep space
Sinks
Wood-fired pizza ovens
Dishwashers
Stove burners

The types of grills have expanded too. There’s your typical coal-fired grill, gas grills, ceramic grills like the Big Green Egg seen here, smokers and Argentinean wood-fired grills.

See more of this porch renovation

5. Incorporating Wellness In Design

Home gyms, saunas and cold plunges are some of the first things that come to mind when thinking about promoting wellness through home design. However, you don’t have to go to the extreme to improve your wellness through home design. It can be much simpler than all that. Here are a few ideas for improving wellness at home:

Enjoy a space with lots of natural light, such as a sunroom.
Promote better sleep by adding blackout shades.
Improve air quality with an air filter or a larger whole-home filtration system.
Plant an edible garden. It will get you working outdoors and provide fresh organic food for your table.
Encourage screen-free time by creating a dedicated reading nook or library space.
Incorporate biophilia into your design by choosing natural colors, textures and patterns, and adding plants indoors.

Learn more about this sunroom project

6. Expanded Pantries

Once just designed for lots of food storage, walk-in pantries have evolved. In terms of 2026 home design trends, we think they will continue to grow and incorporate more uses. Some of the most popular uses and functions currently include:

Extensive china storage
Extra prep space
Second dishwasher and sink
Cocktail bar
Second fridge, beverage fridge, wine fridge icemaker
Coffee/tea bar
Baking station

In addition, walk-in pantries or butler’s pantries have expanded into full-on sculleries, also known as back kitchens or dirty kitchens. This allows the main kitchen to maintain an uncluttered look while messes can be left in the back kitchen.

Learn more about this down-to-the-studs kitchen remodel

7. Sunroom Additions

We adore a screened-in porch as much as the next person. These breezy three-season rooms are a wonderful way to enjoy an indoor-outdoor lifestyle. However, in terms of 2026 home design trends, we see a movement toward sunrooms, including turning screened-in porches into sunroom additions.

Natural light pours into these sunny, window-filled rooms, and operable windows and doors allow them to function almost the same as screened-in porches on breezy days. However, they have some advantages over screened-in porches. These include:

Climate control
Keeping out the elements such as pollen, rain and snow
Maintaining an open feeling between indoors and out
Letting in the breezes when desired
Being able to use the full range of interior finishes and textiles
Year-round use

We hope our predictions for 2026 home design trends has helped inspire you! If you’d like professional help renovating any space in our outside of your home, please contact us for a free remodeling consultation.

If you enjoyed this story, here are a few more links we think you’ll enjoy:

5 Bathroom Renovation Questions Answered

18 Best Kitchen Storage Ideas

5 Top Pantry Ideas

How To Design a Functional Laundry Room