For our review of 2023, we take a look back at the year’s 10 most interesting home interiors and invite our readers to pick their favourite.
With more than 500 interior stories published on Dezeen in 2023 so far, there is a wide variety of beautiful and unusual homes to choose from.
Among the 10 most interesting we’ve published are a lodge in South Africa, an apartment in Spain’s Torres Blancas tower and a tiny Scottish flat.
The winner will be announced in a post on Dezeen on New Year’s Eve.
Read on for this year’s home interior highlights, then vote here or by using the form at the bottom of the article.
Photo by René de Wit and Pim TopDomūs Houthaven apartment, The Netherlands, by Shift Architecture Urbanism
This home in Amsterdam residential complex Domūs Houthaven features a bedroom cupboard with built-in shelves and under-bed drawers. It can be closed off from the living space with folding doors made from perforated steel.
Shift Architecture Urbanism used striking colour-blocked modular units in pastel hues to give the apartment a playful feel. The home also has untreated concrete ceilings and pale laminate floors that contrast with the colourful furnishings.
Vote for Domūs Houthaven apartment ›
Photo by Fabian MartinezCasa Tres Árboles, Mexico, by Direccion
“Monastic sanctuaries” inspired this weekend home in Mexico’s Valle de Bravo, which was designed to celebrate light and shadows. Natural materials and an earthy colour palette were used throughout.
Mexican studio Direccion, which designed the interior, removed a number of walls and adjusted the split-level floor to connect the home’s social spaces and open it up more. Artworks and artisan craft pieces were dotted throughout the house.
Vote for Casa Tres Árboles ›
Photo by Lorenzo ZandriHouse by the Sea, UK, by Of Architecture
Designed for an artist and a surfer, House by the Sea is located by the sea in Newquay, Cornwall, and has an understated colour palette of off-white and grey hues.
Its sitting area has expansive sliding windows that directly overlook Newquay’s picturesque Pentire Steps beach. A long L-shaped sofa was dressed in beige marl fabric, while a classic Eames lounge chair offers another space for relaxation.
Walls were mostly kept clear, while green plants were scattered throughout the space to liven up the minimalist spaces.
Vote for House by the Sea ›
Photo by José HeviaTorres Blancas apartment, Spain, by Studio Noju
This two-storey apartment in the curvy Torres Blancas apartment in Madrid was renovated by local firm Studio Noju to remain “in constant dialogue” with the original apartment design.
The studio added terraces with curved floor-to-ceiling glazing and slatted crimson shutters, as well as gleaming sea-green floor tiles. Curves were used throughout the interior in a nod to the facade of the tower, which has cylindrical, bulbous balconies.
Vote for the Torres Blancas apartment ›
Photo by Jack LovelCity Beach house, Australia, by Design Theory
This 1960s house in the City Beach suburb of Perth was given an update by interiors studio Design Theory.
“The brief was, on the surface, simple: to update the home while keeping its considerable mid-century charm,” said the studio.
The resulting home features warm, earthy materials, including Forbo Marmoleum flooring, exposed brick in terracotta tones and native Blackbutt timber. The furniture and decorations also reference the house’s mid-century modern origins.
Vote for City Beach house ›
Photo by Adrien DirandTembo Tembo Lodge, South Africa, by Studio Asaï
Tembo Tembo Lodge, which won home interior of the year at Dezeen Awards 2023, is a family lodge made from rammed earth and located close to the Kruger National Park.
Designed by Paris-based Studio Asaï, the living room features a “bush”-green sofa to evoke the colour of the foliage outside the house, as well as a stone table decorated with stone vases and a selection of small side tables in dark wood and steel.
Vote for Tembo Tembo Lodge ›
Photo by José Hevia10K House, Spain, by Takk
Russian Matryoshka dolls, which are stacked inside each other, informed the interior of this apartment in Barcelona that was designed with a material budget of just 10,000 euros.
Spanish studio Takk designed the home to be as sustainable as possible, nestling rooms inside one another to maximise insulation. The bedroom was raised on white recycled table legs and clad in gridded frames of medium-density fibreboard (MDF) that are enveloped by slabs of local sheep’s wool.
Vote for 10K House ›
Photo by Pierce ScourfieldGlasgow apartment, Scotland, by Lee Ivett, Simon Harlow and Duncan Blackmore
Designed by its owner, developer Duncan Blackmore, together with architect Lee Ivett and designer Simon Harlow, this flat in Glasgow’s Govanhill area measures just 25 square metres.
It was designed without any freestanding furniture. The designers removed internal walls and raised its existing structural openings closer to the ceiling, before inserting a number of 3D-volumes with built-in functions.
“The main space is entirely unprogrammed and uncluttered and has almost nothing in it,” Blackmore told Dezeen.
Vote for Glasgow apartment ›
Photo by Seth Caplan (above and main image)Dumbo loft, USA, by Crystal Sinclair Designs
An eye-catching book-lined mezzanine was among the solutions created by Crystal Sinclair Designs for this loft apartment in Brooklyn, which was renovated in a way that would expose its concrete shell.
The studio also created a bedroom behind a glass partition for the home and filled it with furnishings intended to introduce European flair against the industrial backdrop. In the living space, wooden furniture adds an organic touch and contrasts with the concrete walls and white floor.
Vote for Dumbo loft ›
Photo by Tomooki KengakuHiroo Residence, Japan, by Keiji Ashizawa
Architect and designer Keiji Ashizawa filled the Hiroo Residence in central Tokyo with wood, using the material for furniture pieces as well as panelling and artworks.
To underline how light-filled the open-plan flat is, he used muted, subtle tones of grey and beige instead of bright white. The 200-square-metre apartment, which overlooks the Arisugawanomiya Memorial Park, also features decorative stone sculptures and Shaker-informed furniture.
Vote for Hiroo Residence ›
Read more: More
