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      Dezeen's top interiors trends of 2020

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      Continuing Dezeen’s review of 2020, reporter Natasha Levy has selected some of the biggest interiors trends of 2020, including Covid-safe spaces, curtains and unusual bathrooms.

      Curtains
      Several architects and designers were drawn to incorporating curtains in projects this year. Arhitektura d.o.o enclosed the living area of a Slovenian apartment with shiny silver curtains, helping its inhabitants feel cosier and closed-off.
      Ater Architects made the floor plan of a Kyiv apartment more flexible by replacing walls with cobalt-blue drapes that stretch from floor to ceiling. Architecture studio Azab did the same in a Bilbao apartment, but opted to use paler sky-blue curtains.
      Serie Architects also suspended bronze chainmail curtains above the kitchen of a Mumbai restaurant to make it look more like a stage – and focus diners’ attention on the theatricality of cooking.

      OSB
      This year, there’s been an increasing appreciation of oriented strand board (OSB) – a type of engineered timber that’s made by compressing strips of wood in particular directions.
      The material is already extensively used in building construction as preliminary sheathing for floors, walls or roofs, but a growing number of architects and designers have come to like its aesthetic qualities.
      Some used OSB sparingly; design studio CATS, for example, employed the wood to make display plinths and shelves for a lifestyle store in Nanjing. Others went all out – Italian architect Francesca Perani lined the entire interior of a 25-square-metre guest cabin with OSB in hopes it would imbue the space with “a sense of warm comfort”.
      Architects Juan Alberto Andrade and María José Váscones then made an OSB meeting room for an open-plan office in Ecuador, while Studio Edwards fabricated yellow-framed OSB work pods for a vacant warehouse in Melbourne.
      For the revamp of a home in Spain, architecture studio La Errería also set bedrooms inside gabled OSB boxes.

      Rustic style
      Against the turbulent backdrop of 2020, readers this year seemed to find comfort in warm, rustic-looking spaces.
      One of the most popular interiors projects this year was architect Timothy Mercier’s conversion of a French farm building into a home for his parents, which he decorated with pieces he found in a Parisian flea market.
      Readers also loved architect Martin Skoček’s update of a Slovakian family home, which he lined with time-worn bricks, and Olson Kundig’s cosy, self-designed cabin, which is furnished with leather sofas, patterned rugs and wood burners.

      Cinema
      Several projects this year took cues from the realm of film as architects and designers indulged their inner cinephile.
      Tasked with creating “out of this world” interiors, Atelier Caracas modelled a Venezuelan day spa after Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Each of the spa’s treatment rooms features porthole windows that are meant to resemble the movie’s sentient artificial intelligence character, HAL 9000.
      Over in Beijing, Xiaoxi Xiong designed an office to have the same “warm sense of the future” that’s depicted in sci-fi flick Her. Masquespacio also referenced a scene from Playtime, a 1967 film directed by Jacques Tati, to create a whimsical co-working space in Valencia.
      Other designers sought inspiration from the small screen. Examples include Vinki Li, who based a bar in Guangzhou off of the TV show Mad Men, decorating it with retro props like typewriters and rotary dial telephones.

      Renderings
      As the coronavirus pandemic and stay-at-home orders brought ordinary life to a standstill, many architects and interior designers used renderings as a means of escapism.
      Child Studio unveiled images of a fictitious, white-washed seaside villa called Casa Plenaire, which is meant to serve as a “hideaway for the lockdown world”. Sivak & Partners then envisioned a glass-fronted hotel suite in Odessa that would have uninterrupted ocean views.
      Meanwhile, creatives Charlotte Taylor and Nicholas Préaud dreamt up Casa Atibaia, an imaginary riverside house in São Paulo that draws on the modernist architectural style of Lina Bo Bardi.
      Siblings Davit and Mary Jilavyan also made-up an entire residential community called Sonora Art Village. Designed to feel “far from grey reality”, the made-up village would be populated by vivid pink, orange, purple and yellow homes.

      Murals
      Eye-catching murals made several appearances in interiors projects this year. Rolling hills and twisting trees feature in the verdant mural that artist Abel Macias created for lifestyle brand Flamingo Estate’s Los Angeles pop-up, while the fresco Matthieu Cosse fashioned for France’s Le CouCou hotel depicts owls soaring above mountain peaks.
      Visual artist Alicja Biala included flowers, birds and strange mythical creatures in the super-sized mural she produced for an MVRDV-designed building in Wroclaw, which stretches 500-square-metres across the ceiling and walls.
      Not everyone opted for the medium of paint – design duo Folklore used over 1,000 pieces of glass and ceramic to make a geometric mural for a swimming pool in Sweden.

      Atypical bathrooms
      Basic baths, showers and sinks seemingly weren’t enough for architects and designers this year, who created some unconventional bathing spaces.
      When Szczepaniak Astridge overhauled the London home of architectural photographer Edmund Sumner, the practice placed a bathtub up in the loft. The loft – which also contains Sumner’s bedroom – is fronted by glass, meaning inhabitants can soak while overlooking the greenery of a nearby park.
      Atelier Dialect also added a standalone bath to the bedroom of an apartment in Antwerp, wrapping its exterior in panels of mirrored steel. The bath backs onto a shower room that’s painted a pastel-green hue that matches the colour of polyurethane foam.
      Design studio La Firme also built a huge walk-in wet room “big enough for two” inside a Montreal apartment.

      Covid-safe spaces
      The coronavirus crisis forced those working in the architecture and interiors industries to consider how post-pandemic spaces will be designed – both inside and out.
      Designer Sevil Peach mused that corporate headquarters will become a thing of the past and, going forward, employees will be asked to work from smaller company “hubs”.
      Meena Krenek, who is an interior designer at Perkins and Will, similarly predicted that offices will just become spaces for meeting and socialising, while a majority of focused work will still be carried out by staff at home.
      Architect Ben Masterton-Smith then suggested that designers working on hospitality spaces would have to start focusing more on fashioning “enticing” outdoor eating areas so that customers can dine in safety.
      Meanwhile, interiors expert Michelle Ogunhehin forecasted that future homes will be specifically designed to mitigate the virus and will come complete with immunity-boosting air filtration systems and touchless technology.

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      V&A curator picks five highlights from Bags: Inside Out exhibition

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      The 19th-century equivalent of an activist’s slogan tote and a portmanteau made from repurposed fire hoses feature in this roundup of V&A curator Lucia Savi’s favourite pieces from the Bags: Inside Out exhibition.On show at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum until September of next year, the exhibition traces the evolution of bags from the 16th century to the present day.
      Over three distinct sections and nearly 300 exhibits, it explores the different functions that these carriers can serve, the ways they can communicate status and identity as well as the craftsmanship that goes into their making.
      Along the way, designs by luxury fashion houses rub shoulders with personal items belonging to historical figures such as Winston Churchill and artefacts sourced everywhere from Pakistan to Burma.

      “If you think about it, bags are everywhere. Men, women, children – everybody wears them and uses them on an everyday basis,” Savi told Dezeen.
      “We can’t even pinpoint when the first bag in history was made or used because it’s such a functional object that was useful for so many reasons – to travel from A to B, to transport personal belongings.”
      “But they can also be status symbols and carry meaning or memories. In the fashion business today, bags are often the biggest revenue drivers,” she continued. “The exhibition sets out to investigate what makes this object so special, so coveted and so multi-layered.”
      According to Savi, a key factor in this is the fact that bags allow their wearer to present themselves to the world while simultaneously revealing who they really are on the inside.

      Freitag’s Sweat-Yourself-Shop is a tiny factory for making bags

      “I think this is at the core of what bags are – they’re functional, they have meaning but they’re very private. We carry our most personal belongings in our bags and not everybody wants to open theirs and show off the contents,” she said.
      “At the same time, we carry them physically on the body, we’re commuting, were travelling. So there are these dichotomies between inside and outside, private and public.”
      This is evidenced by the millions of view racked up by “What’s in my bag” videos on YouTube and translated into the design of the exhibition itself, which is courtesy of London architecture practice Studio Mutt.

      V&A East “will speak to the local population” says Gus Casely-Hayford

      The ground floor of the V&A’s Gallery 40 is transformed to resemble the inside of a bag, with fabric partitions acting like the lining and dividing the space into small, intimate “pockets”. Here, the exhibits are displayed largely on their own, cracked open to reveal their vulnerable insides, while on the upstairs mezzanine the bags are showcased on mannequins, to suggest their public, outward-facing role.
      Bags: Inside Out opened its door earlier this month after being delayed twice due to coronavirus lockdowns and only a few days before Tier 3 restrictions were once again imposed on London.
      As a result, the museum is currently closed, so we have enlisted Savi to share her personal highlights from the show below:

      Jane Birkin’s Birkin bag by Hermès, 1984
      “This is the very first Birkin bag that was ever made. The story goes that Jane Birkin was on a plane from Paris to London in the 80s and was complaining to the man next to her that she couldn’t find a leather bag she liked. It turns out she was talking to the CEO of Hermès, so they start drawing some ideas on one of those paper [sickness] bags.
      “Now, the Birkin is the most recognised and coveted handbag of our time. It’s not easy to get hold of one, because of the price but also because you can’t just walk into a shop and buy one. They fetch crazy prices at auctions and a report found that the value of a Birkin is actually more stable and better-performing than gold.
      “The primary function of a bag throughout history was to carry valuables and in this case, the bag became a valuable object in itself. This is, of course, because of the craftsmanship and the quality – it takes many hours for a Birkin to be made and it’s all done by one artisan. But it’s also because of the exclusivity and the celebrity association, which together created the phenomenon of ‘it-bags’.”

      Anti-slavery workbag by Samuel Lines and the Female Society for Birmingham, 1828
      “This bag was made by women from the Female Society for Birmingham as part of their campaign to abolish slavery in the British Empire. Printed on the bag is a powerful image of an enslaved woman who is breastfeeding while a man is telling her to go back to work.
      “This piece was showcased very much on the body, for everybody to see what these women were advocating for. It was used to carry pamphlets and campaign materials, which they sold alongside the bags to raise money. But also, because it’s a work bag, it was used to carry tools and little items that were used for sewing, so there’s really a double function there.
      “What’s interesting about this bag is that we just have the silk part but we don’t have the metal frame and the handles. So it really shows you how these bags were made by this group of women. Not many of them have survived but they exemplify an important function of bags, both historically and today, as a way of showcasing our beliefs.”

      Daln by Kazuyo Sejima for Prada, 2019
      “Bags offer fertile soil for experimenting with new ideas and for collaborations between designers, artists and more recently architects. They’re quite sculptural objects with a large surface area, so they’re almost like a blank canvas.
      “This collaboration is part of a collection called Prada Invites, where the brand recruited four female architects to reinvent its iconic nylon bag. Prada is a historic fashion house that started in 1913 as a leather luggage maker. But when Miuccia Prada took the helm of the company in the 80s, she introduced this very new material that you normally wouldn’t associate with luxury and redefined it.”
      “Kazuyo Sejima’s interpretation of the bag really gives the freedom to the wearer to reinvent the bag every time – you can un-zip some parts, make it longer or shorter. And you can add all these colourful, detachable pouches and pockets with soft shapes that contrast with the black, square body of the bag.”

      Weekend bag by Elvis and Kresse, 2019
      “More and more, we’re seeing brands try to work with materials that are not exploiting the natural world and not creating too much waste. But this brand, Elvis and Kresse, has been doing it for years and decades.
      “They saw that fire hoses, once they reached the end of their life, were just ending up in landfill. So they started to produce accessories out of them, using the material almost as if it was leather and fabricating the bags using similar machinery.
      “First, the hose gets washed and then it’s cut in half. It has two surfaces, a smooth and a dimpled one, and they combine these to create the designs. The lining is made out of parachute silk or old auction banners and everything from the packaging to the labels is made from rescued materials.”

      Iside Toothpaste bag by Bethan Laura Wood for Valextra, 2018
      “Normally, Valextra’s bags are quite severe. They’re very simple, very structured bags, but with the intervention of British designer Bethan Laura Wood on the handles and the addition of this sinuous, toothpaste-like hardware, the bag almost becomes a completely different object.
      “She was inspired by the linework of [Scottish artist] Eduardo Paolozzi and the piping along the side of the Valextra bag, where the leathers is inked to finish the seams. And I really enjoyed the idea of playing with that line and the fact that she intervenes on the hardware but not on the leather, which is a very interesting way of thinking about bags.
      “Working with a designer who normally maybe doesn’t work on leather or hardware and has never worked on bags, I think it does bring a completely different perspective. It challenges the makers and it creates almost like wearable pieces of art.”
      Bags: Inside Out is on show at the V&A in London until 12 September 2021. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      Dezeen's top 10 home interiors of 2020

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      Continuing our yearly review, Dezeen has selected the top 10 home interiors of 2020 – including a rustic home in rural France and a multicoloured Tokyo apartment.

      MA House, France, by Timothee Mercier
      This dwelling, which architect Timothee Mercier built for his parents, is meant to be aesthetically harmonious with the rural landscape of Vaucluse, France.
      Inside there’s whitewashed walls and just a smattering of rustic furnishings, which Mercier either found in Parisian flea markets or had custom made.
      “I decided early-on to infuse the house with the monastic qualities of its surroundings,” he told Dezeen. “[The house] had to be a spectacle, but a discrete one.”
      Find out more about MA House ›

      House V, Slovakia, by Martin Skoček
      Bricks salvaged from the ruins of an 80-year-old property now line the interior of House V, which is situated in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava.
      The time-worn bricks cover walls in the living room, bedroom and even the master bathroom, where a freestanding tub has been placed beneath the peak of the home’s pitched roof.
      Find out more about House V ›

      EGR Apartment, Ukraine, by Ater Architects
      To open up the constricted floor plan of this Kyiv apartment, Ater Architects demolished partition walls and replaced them with cobalt-blue curtains.
      The curtains – and the pink grouting between the kitchen tiles – offer a shock of colour amongst the otherwise monotone interior, which has white-painted walls running throughout.
      Find out more about the EGR Apartment ›

      Edinburgh apartment, UK, by Luke and Joanne McClelland
      Having lived in a poky London flat for eight years, architects Joanne and Luke McClelland set about making the rooms inside their Edinburgh apartment as bright and spacious as possible.
      The pair painted surfaces white, widened doorways to let in more sunlight and opened up the kitchen to include a dining area. Commenters were particularly impressed with the high-end look of the kitchen’s wooden cabinetry, which was actually sourced from IKEA.
      Find out more about the Edinburgh apartment ›

      Imperfect Residence, Hong Kong, by NC Design & Architecture
      Naturally flawed materials feature inside this Hong Kong apartment, which draws on the values of wabi-sabi – a Japanese philosophy that encourages finding beauty in imperfection and transience.
      Jagged offcuts of marble have been set into the floor, while oxidised copper has been used to make custom lights or decorative panels. Beige plaster also gives the walls a slightly uneven surface finish.
      Find out more about Imperfect Residence ›

      Kew Residence, Australia, by John Wardle
      Commenters loved the personal feel of architect John Wardle’s Melbourne home, which he decided to revamp after his three children grew up and moved out.
      At the heart of the plan is now a “cocoon”-like study where Wardle displays books and ceramic ornaments that he’s collected over the years. The architect also made sure that his favourite type of wood, Victorian ash, was used for all of the home’s joinery.
      Find out more about Kew Residence ›

      Urban Cabin, Italy, by Francesca Perani
      A daybed that doubles up as a storage box and a wardrobe that hides a washing machine are some of the handy space-saving elements that feature inside this tiny guest cabin, which occupies the porch of a home in Bergamo.
      Architect Francesca Perani made the unusual decision to line the 25-square-metre interior with OSB – a material she had previously only seen used on construction sites.
      “I love its textural irregularity, random organic composure and recycled properties,” she explained.
      Find out more about Urban Cabin ›

      Nagatachō Apartment, Japan, by Adam Nathaniel Furman
      Tasked with turning this lack-lustre Tokyo apartment into “a place of happiness, joy and lightness”, designer Adam Nathaniel Furman applied vivid, food-inspired colours to its interior.
      The kitchen has watermelon-green floors, while the dining area has lilac carpet that looks like icing. “Zesty” lemon-yellow taps and milky orange tiles also appear in the bathroom.
      “The colour scheme became a matter of choosing ingredients for a beautifully calibrated visual feast,” Furman explained.
      Find out more about the Nagatachō Apartment ›

      Flat House, UK, by Practice Architecture
      Prefabricated panels made from hempcrete – a mixture of hemp and lime – were used to construct the structural shell of this zero-carbon house in Cambridgeshire.
      Practice Architecture left these panels exposed on the interior to create warm, textured surfaces. Wooden furnishings and an assortment of woven rugs further amplify the home’s cosy feel.
      Find out more about Flat House ›

      Casa A690, Mexico, by Delfino Lozano
      Architect Delfino Lozano fashioned what he describes as a “Mexiterrean” aesthetic for this 1970s property in Zapopan.
      Lozano says that whilst the home’s architecture is traditionally Mexican, the interiors appear more Mediterranean because of his use of “simple and pure” materials. Almost every room boasts plain, white-painted walls and built-in wooden furniture.
      Find out more about Casa A690 ›

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      Eight comfortable living rooms with inviting interiors

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      With winter approaching in the northern hemisphere, Dezeen has selected eight snug living rooms with cosy features including fireplaces and wood-lined walls.This is the latest roundup in a series providing visual inspiration for the home. Previous articles in the series showcased colourful kitchens, bedrooms with statement walls and domestic bathrooms designed by architects.

      Villa Weinberg, Denmark, by Mette and Martin Weinberg
      The inviting living room inside this 1940s cottage in Aarhus is almost entirely lined with oiled oak boards.
      Although it is devoid of sofas, the seating bench that runs around the room’s periphery has been topped with comforting tan-leather cushions and woolly throws. There are also a couple of beanbags for inhabitants to relax on.
      Find out more about Villa Weinberg ›

      Ocean House, Australia, by Rob Mills
      Concrete isn’t typically associated with cosiness – but architect Rob Mills has applied it throughout the living room of this house on Australia’s Great Ocean Road, adding homely details like a plump sofa, a shaggy rug and a fireplace.
      “I don’t see the design as being stark,” Mills said. “The interior is organic and tactile, and incorporates neutral fabrics.”
      Find out more about Ocean House ›

      Carriage House, USA, by Workstead
      Exposed-brick walls smattered with remnants of paint and plaster lend a cosy, lived-in quality to this lounge, which sits inside a Charleston home that dates back to the 1800s.
      Cane cabinetry, red-leather armchairs and an olive-green sofa provide extra touches of warmth.
      Find out more about Carriage House ›

      Avalanche House, New Zealand, by Intuitive Architects
      Pitched ceilings and plywood-lined walls make this holiday home in Wanaka feel much more like an intimate cabin.
      Intuitive Architects have finished its lounge with more cosy decor elements like fluffy cushions, a wood burner and even a trio of tree branches, which have been stood in the room’s corner.
      Find out more about Avalanche House ›

      North Bank, UK, by Elliott Architects
      Walls washed with pale-brown plaster give a rustic warmth to this living area, despite its lofty proportions and large windows which look out to the countryside of Northumberland.
      Tucked in the corner of the space is a daybed dressed with a patchwork blanket, fur throws and plush cushions, forming a perfect spot for inhabitants to snuggle up.
      Find out more about North Bank ›

      Central Park Road Residence, Australia, by Studio Four
      Studio Four orientated the design scheme of this Melbourne home around the concept of hygge – a Danish term used to describe feelings of cosiness, comfort and general contentment.
      Its living area rather aptly features a warm mix of blackened timber surfaces, copper light fixtures and tan-leather armchairs. The focal point of the room is a huge fireplace topped with a five-metre-high steel flue, where inhabitants can gather on chilly winter evenings.
      Find out more about Central Park Road Residence ›

      Cottage in Hai Zhen, China, by Sun Min and Christian Taeubert
      The creative pair behind the renovation of this cottage on the rural outskirts of Beijing opted to retain the property’s rustic features, while introducing slick contemporary elements.
      In the lounge, cracked plaster walls, worn ceiling beams and an old wood burner have contrastingly been paired with wire-frame chairs and steel cabinetry, forming a cosy yet balanced space.
      Find out more about the cottage ›

      Seaside Abode, Denmark, by Norm Architects
      Weathered beams of dark-stained timber clad the central gabled wall of this living room. Just in front are a couple of marble side tables, a thick fringed rug and taupe-coloured sofas.
      These earthy, tactile details are meant to foster a sense of warmth within the space, but also reflect the rugged coastal landscape of Denmark’s North Zealand region, which can be seen through the home’s expansive windows.
      Find out more about Seaside Abode ›

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      Thirty kitchens designed by architects

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      Looking for inspiration for your dream kitchen? Here are thirty architect-designed kitchens from our archives.This roundup is the latest in a series of stories that bring together visual inspiration for the home. See our recent posts showcasing ten colourful kitchen interiors, thirty bathrooms designed by architects and seven bedrooms with statement walls.

      Home Farm by John Pawson
      British architect John Pawson designed three kitchens for his own retreat, Home Farm, including this minimal example with pale lime plaster walls.
      Find out more about Home Farm ›

      Paris Apartment by Atelier Sagitta
      An emerald-green apartment is the focal point of this apartment in Paris overhauled by Atelier Sagitta, which features grooved oak cupboards made by a local cabinet maker.
      Find out more about Paris Apartment ›

      Makers House by Liddicoat & Goldhill
      Deep blue cabinets provide a contrast to the exposed brick walls,  steel beams and polished concrete floor of this London home.
      Find out more about Makers House ›

      Stine Goya’s House by Reform 
      Danish brand Reform gave a standard IKEA kitchen set a glitzy golden makeover for the house of a Copenhagen-based fashion designer.
      Find out more about Stine Goya’s house ›

      Caroline Place by Amin Taha
      Cherry wood cabinets and a kitchen island topped by dark brass surfaces feature in this 1950s house in London updated by Amin Taha Architects.
      Find out more about Caroline Place ›

      Shelter by Vipp
      An all-black kitchen sits underneath a light chimney in this steel-framed prefabricated cabin with floor-to-ceiling glazing.
      Find out more about Shelter ›

      Slab House by Bureau de Change Architects
      Every surface of this kitchen designed for a London house extension by Bureau de Change Architects is blue, including the ceiling and the resin floor.
      Find out more about Slab House ›

      Oscar Freire Apartment by Claudia Bresciani and Júlia Risi
      Bright white square tiles and baby pink cabinets define this kitchen in São Paulo, which has a walk-in pantry that’s painted turquoise.
      Find out more about Oscar Freire Apartment ›

      The Olive Houses by Mar Plus Ask 
      The sink and stovetop of this off-grid house in Mallorca, Spain, overlook an ancient olive grove framed by pink stucco walls.
      Find out more about The Olive Houses ›

      House in Los Velos by Ryue Nishizawa
      A jaw-dropping view of the ocean provides the backdrop to this kitchen made of wood in a house built on a spit of land jutting into the Pacific Ocean in Chile. All the kitchen elements are housed in three central islands, leaving the windows unobstructed.
      Find out more about House in Los Velos ›

      The Parchment Works by Will Gamble Architects
      This kitchen built in the ruins of a cattle shed and a 17th-century parchment factory in England features exposed timber beams.
      Find out more about The Parchment Works ›

      Glyn House by Yellow Cloud Studio
      Yellow Cloud Studio created a kitchen island using black terrazzo with oversized chunks as a counterpoint to the pale oak cupboards and splashback of terracotta tiles in this London extension.
      Find out more about Glyn House ›

      Kew Residence by John Wardle Architects
      The founder of John Wardle Architects used specially sourced Japanese ceramic tiles for the kitchen while remodelling his house in Melbourne, Australia.
      Find our more about Kew Residence ›

      Cabin at Rones by Sanden+Hodnekvam Arkitekter 
      Big windows make the most of the views from this kitchen in a cabin on a rocky outcrop in Norway, featuring simple birch plywood furniture and a concrete floor.
      Find out more about Cabin at Rones ›

      House P by MDDM Studio
      Chunky terrazzo used for the island and the splashback contrasts with the bright yellow walls and teal cupboards of this kitchen for an apartment in Beijing by MDDM Studio.
      Find out more about House P ›

      Hood Cliff Retreat by Wittman Estes
      The kitchen opens right out onto the deck of this cabin in the Pacific Northwest designed by Wittman Estes. A pass-through window allows the outdoor grill to become a seamless culinary extension.
      Find out more about Hood Cliff Retreat ›

      Parisian Apartment by SABO Project
      SABO Project designed this apartment in Paris to be as kid-friendly as possible with a birch plywood kitchen complete with a cosy nook for the family’s pet cat to retreat to.
      Find out more about Parisian Apartment ›

      Z House by Geza
      Z House is a gabled house set into the slopes of an Alpine village in Italy. The dark kitchen of steel and wood is designed as a backdrop to the sweeping views of the mountains.
      Find out more about Z House ›

      Mixtape Apartment by Azab
      Architecture studio Azab gave a 1960s apartment in Bilbao a fun makeover centred on a baby-pink kitchen with wood-trimmed cupboards and a mosaic-style herringbone tiled floor.
      Find out more about Mixtape Apartment ›

      The Mantelpiece Loft by Note Design Studio
      The sage-green kitchen of this reconfigured apartment in Stockholm, Sweden, has contrasting countertops of terrazzo flecked with orange stone.
      Find out more about The Mantelpiece Loft ›

      Edinburgh Apartment by Luke and Joanne McClelland
      This refurbished Georgian townhouse in Edinburgh, Scotland, has an open plan kitchen with herringbone floors made of oak and affordable kitchen units from IKEA.
      Find out more about Edinburgh Apartment ›

      Flat House by Practice Architecture
      The hemp walls of this house on a farm in Cambridgeshire are a feature in the kitchen, which has sunshine-yellow cupboards below floating wooden shelves.
      Find out more about Flat House ›

      Marine Extension by David Barr Architects
      David Barr Architects used pale birch plywood for this bright kitchen in Perth, Australia, which displays a crockery collection on open shelves hanging from the ceiling.
      Find out more about Marine Extension ›

      Duplex in Sarrià-Sant Gervasi by Arquitectura-G
      Bright yellow is a theme in this Barcelona apartment designed by Arquitectura-G. The kitchen is no exception, with lemon-coloured square tiles to contrast the brushed steel worktop.
      Duplex in Sarrià-Sant Gervasi ›

      Casa Mille by Fabio Fantolino
      Copper handles accent the blue-green cabinets of the kitchen with herringbone floors in this Turin flat renovation by Italian architect Fabio Fantolino.
      Find out more about Casa Mille ›

      Hygge Studio by Melina Romano
      Brazilian designer Melina Romano used terracotta flooring and vertical brick walls in the kitchen of an apartment in São Paulo themed around the Danish concept of cosiness.
      Find out more about Hygge Studio ›

      Apartment XVII by Studio Razavi
      Studio Razavi overhauled an abandoned apartment in Lyon, France, plastering the walls and creating a serene kitchen with sea-green coloured MDF cabinets and a patterened splashback to match.
      Find out more about Apartment XVII ›

      Belgium Apartment by Carmine Van Der Linden and Thomas Geldof
      This duplex in the dunes of the Belgian coast has a kitchen with seaweed-coloured birch cabinetry and a marble-topped steel island.
      Find out more about Belgium Apartment ›

      Paris Apartment by Sophie Dries
      French architect Sophie Dries renovated a 19th-century flat in Paris, France, using bold colour blocking of dark grey cabinets against rusty-orange floors, walls and countertops for the kitchen.
      Find out more about Paris Apartment ›

      Apartment on a Mint Floor by Fala Atelier
      As the name suggests, this two-bedroom apartment in Porto, Portugal, by Fala Atelier has a mint-green epoxy resin floor complimented in the kitchen by the two shades of turquoise used for the kitchen cabinets.
      Find out more about Apartment on a Mint Floor ›

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      Ten home kitchens that use colour to make a statement

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      We’ve rounded up 10 residential kitchens by designers who have experimented with bright tiles and coloured cabinets to challenge the ongoing trend of all-white cooking spaces.

      Plaster Fun House, Australia, by Sans-Arc Studio
      A pink-terrazzo breakfast bar is complemented by duck-egg blue cabinetry, spherical pendant lights and abundant brass detailing in this kitchen by Sans-Arc Studio.
      It was built as part of an extension to a cottage in Torrensville and takes its cues from art deco and P&O architecture – a style that emerged following the popularity of cruise liners in the 1930s.
      Find out more about Plaster Fun House ›

      Delawyk Module House, UK, by R2 Studio
      R2 Studio introduced mustard-yellow cabinets to the cooking space of this 1960s home on a London council estate, as part of a playful redesign of the dwelling for a young family.
      The kitchen units are teamed with retro, orange splashback tiles, minimal silver handles and an oak floor has been stained dark for contrast.
      Find out more about Delawyk Module House ›

      Nagatachō Apartment, Japan, by Adam Nathaniel Furman
      A bubblegum-pink kitchen suite sits at the heart of this Tokyo apartment that Adam Nathaniel Furman designed as “a place of happiness, joy and lightness” for a retired couple.
      The units are paired with slender, blue wall tiles that are arranged in a herringbone pattern and a stripy watermelon-green floor. There is also an adjoining breakfast nook with a lilac carpet that is intended to resemble icing.
      Find out more about Nagatachō Apartment ›

      House P, China, by MDDM Studio
      MDDM Studio combined vibrant yellow walls with earthy terrazzo fixtures made from green, orange and beige stones to create this colourful kitchen in a Beijing apartment.
      Contrasting turquoise accents, seen on the cabinets and sliding doors to the room, were also added to accentuate the colour of the green stone in the terrazzo.
      Find out more about House P ›

      Klinker Apartment, Spain, by Colombo and Serboli Architecture
      Terracotta-coloured cement lines the ceiling, wall and floor of the kitchen inside of Klinker Apartment, a holiday home by Colombo and Serboli Architecture in an art-nouveau building in Barcelona.
      These warm surfaces are complemented by matching cabinetry and a central breakfast island but contrasted with the surrounding patterned floor tiles that were saved from the flat’s previous fit-out.
      Find out more about Klinker Apartment ›

      Belgian Apartment, Belgium, by Carmine Van Der Linden and Thomas Geldof
      The birch-wood cabinets and shelving that line this apartment’s kitchen have been stained a murky shade of green to evoke seaweed and marram grasses, paying homage to its setting on the Belgian coast.
      They are paired with a dusky plaster wall finished in the same colour, alongside chunky industrial steel detailing, light marble worktops and a speckled grey floor.
      Find out more about Belgian Apartment ›

      Kennington House, UK, by R2 Studio
      Kennington House’s multi-coloured cooking space was designed by R2 Studio as “a kitchen that doesn’t scream ‘kitchen'” by avoiding the use of cold and shiny surfaces.
      Instead, it is lined with birchwood cupboards that have cobalt blue, lemon yellow and sage green matt finishes, adorned with coral-hued stools and concrete countertops.
      Find out more about Kennington House ›

      Esperinos, Greece, by Stamos Michael
      This kitchen is one of several rooms in a guest house in Athens that Greek designer Stamos Michael overhauled to evoke a gallery-style space.
      Warm plum-purple walls are animated by a large piece of modern art and set against emerald-hued cabinetry and black, industrial-style shelves.
      Find out more about Esperinos ›

      Apartment in Born, Spain, by Colombo and Serboli Architecture
      Blush-coloured quartz was used to craft the flecked breakfast island and splashback inside this kitchen in a 13th-century apartment in Barcelona.
      They are offset with grey kitchen units with brass handles, exposed oxblood-hued extraction ducting and a coral-coloured arched volume on one side that conceals a small toilet.
      Find out more about Apartment in Born ›

      White Rabbit House, UK, by Gundry & Ducker
      A large green kitchen island with an overhanging monochrome worktop made from terrazzo is positioned at the centre of this kitchen in Gundry & Ducker’s White Rabbit House.
      The island is teamed with a backdrop of matching built-in wall cabinets, arched windows and doorways, and a floor lined with large slabs of luminous white, blue and grey terrazzo.
      Find out more about White Rabbit House ›

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      Thirty domestic bathrooms by architects including concrete, travertine and pink-tiled designs

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      Making improvements to your home because you’re spending so much more time there? Here are 30 bathrooms designed by architects to give you some ideas.

      Minimal Fantasy apartment by Patricia Bustos Studio
      Designed by Patricia Bustos Studio, this pink bathroom has shiny pink curtains and mirrors with pink frames to match the rest of the apartment in Madrid, which is almost entirely pink.

      Botaniczna Apartment by Agnieszka Owsiany Studio
      This bathroom in a Poznań apartment designed by Agnieszka Owsiany Studio for a couple working in medicine has travertine marble walls and a travertine basin.

      House 6 by Zooco Estudio
      Zooco Estudio covered the walls and floors of this bathroom in Madrid with white tiles and blue grouting. A geometric counter clad with blue tiles snakes across the ground and up the wall to form a storage closet in the space.

      Porto house by Fala Atelier 
      Fala Atelier used square white tiles for this bathroom in a house in Porto. The tiles are paired with marble countertops, blue cupboard doors and a large round mirror over the sink.

      Makepeace Mansions apartment by Surman Weston 
      The bathroom in this apartment designed by Surman Weston is finished with hand-painted tiles that are arranged to form a black-and-white graphic pattern that mimics the housing block’s mock-Tudor facade.

      Unit 622 by Rainville Sangaré
      Set in an apartment within Moshe Safdie’s brutalist Habitat 67 housing complex in Montreal, this bathroom designed by Rainville Sangaré has colour-changing shower screens.

      Rylett House by Studio 30 Architects
      Created as part of the renovation of a Victorian maisonette in London, this small en-suite bathroom is finished with a black grid of tiles and a bright yellow wall.

      Cats’ Pink House by KC Design Studio 
      This holiday home in Taiwan is designed with a focus on the owner’s cat and includes cat ladders, a rotating carousel-shaped climbing frame and a fluffy pink swing. Its bathroom combines larger square pink floor tiles with a wall made from terrazzo with large flecks of pink and grey.

      Borden house by StudioAC
      This en-suite bathroom at the front of a house designed by StudioAC has pitched walls covered in grey tiles.

      Spinmolenplein apartment by Jürgen Vandewalle
      This bathroom in an apartment in Ghent’s tallest building is enclosed within a white lacquered-wood box and is accessed by a set of barn-style doors. Internally the bathroom is finished with earthy, pink-tone micro cement to contrast the white wood.

      Cloister House by MORQ
      The rammed-concrete walls of Cloister House in Perth have been left exposed in the bathroom where they are softened with timber slatted floors and a timber-clad bath and sink.

      Akari House by Mas-aqui
      Designed by Architecture studio Mas-aqui as part of a renovation of a 20th-century apartment in the mountains above Barcelona, this small bathroom combines red floor tiles with white wall tiles.

      Louisville Road house by 2LG Studio
      Created by 2LG Studio as part of a colourful overhaul of a period house in south London, this bathroom has pale marble walls and a baby-blue tiled floor. The baby-blue colour was also used for the taps and mirror surround, which contrast with the coral vanity unit.

      Apartment A by Atelier Dialect
      This en-suite bathroom, which forms part of a large open-plan master bedroom in an Antwerp apartment designed by Belgian studio Atelier Dialect, has a rectangular freestanding tub at its centre.
      The bath is wrapped in mirrored steel to compliment a stainless-steel basin, while the walls are finished with subway tiles and mint-green paint.

      House V by Martin Skoček
      Martin Skoček used salvaged bricks throughout the interiors of this gabled house near Bratislava, Slovakia. The master bedroom has a dramatic en-suite bedroom with a freestanding bathtub that is alined with the apex of the pitched timber roof.

      308 S apartment by Bloco Arquitetos 
      The bathroom in this 1960s apartment renovated by Bloco Arquitetos in Brasília incorporates white tiles as a reference to architecture in the city in the 6os. The white walls and ceiling are combined with a vanity counter and floor made from Branco São Paulo – a matte-finished granite.

      Mexican holiday home by Palma
      This slim shower room is tucked behind a bedroom in a holiday home designed by architecture studio Palma. It has slatted wooden doors that open directly to the exterior.

      South Yarra Townhouse by Winter Architecture
      This bathroom designed by Winter Architecture in a Melbourne townhouse combines exposed-aggregate grey tiles and thin, horizontal white tiles with towels rails and taps made from gold-hued brass.

      Edinburgh apartment by Luke and Joanne McClelland
      The main bathroom in this Georgian apartment in Edinburgh has glazed green tiles on the lower half of the walls and the front of the tub. Alongside the bath, a sink was placed on a restored 1960s wooden sideboard by Danish designer Ib Kofod Larsen.

      Ruxton Rise Residence by Studio Four
      Built for Studio Four’s co-director Sarah Henry, this tranquil house in the Melbourne suburb of Beaumaris has bathrooms with surfaces covered in tadelakt – a waterproof, lime-based plaster that is often used in Moroccan architecture to make sinks and baths.

      House with Three Eyes by Innauer-Matt Architekten
      In House with Three Eyes, the bathroom has a full-height glass wall that has views out across the surrounding Austrian countryside. The marble-clad bath is positioned right next to this window so bathers can enjoy the views.

      Hygge Studio by Melina Romano
      Brazilian designer Melina Romano designed this fern green coloured bathroom to extend from a bedroom in a São Paulo apartment. It features a striking black toilet, a corner mirror and a vanity unit built from red brick that has an open slot for storing towels and toiletries.

      Ready-made Home by Azab
      This en-suite bathroom in Azab’s Ready-made Home is separated from the bedroom by an angled blue curtain. The triangular bathroom space is differentiated from the bedroom by its blue tiles on the floor, which extend up the front of the bath and walls.

      Immeuble Molitor apartment by Le Corbusier
      This small bathroom was designed by Le Corbusier in the Immeuble Molitor apartment in Paris that was his home for over 30 years. The room, which has walls that are painted sky blue and covered with small white tiles, has a short bath and sink.

      Apartment in Born by Colombo and Serboli Architecture
      Colombo and Serboli Architecture added a new guest bathroom to this apartment in Barcelona’s historic El Born neighbourhood, which has by blush-toned tiles and a circular mirror.

      130 William skyscraper model apartment by David Adjaye
      Built within an apartment in David Adjaye’s 130 William skyscraper in New York, this bathroom is lined with serrated grey marble tiles and has a wooden sink unit with a matching profile.

      Pioneer Square Loft by Plum Design and Corey Kingston
      The bathroom facilities in this loft apartment in Seattle are located in a custom-built L-shaped wooden box in one of the room’s corners, which is topped with a bedroom.
      A washroom, shower, toilet and sauna are each located in different boxes that are each clad in wood charred using the traditional Japanese technique known as Shou Sugi Ban.

      VS House by Sārānsh
      The bathroom in VS House by Sārānsh in Ahmedabad, India, combines two clashing Indian stone finishes. Floors and walls are made from flecked grey tiles, while an emerald-coloured marble surrounds the toilets and mirror.

      Nagatachō Apartment by Adam Nathaniel Furman
      Forming part of the brightly coloured Nagatachō Apartment, which Adam Nathaniel Furman designed to be a “visual feast”, this bathroom combines a blue-tiled with milky-orange-tiled walls. A sky blue vanity unit, lemon-yellow towel rail and taps, and pink toilet complete the colourful composition.

      Kyle House by GRAS
      This holiday home in Scotland was designed by Architecture studio GRAS to have a “monastically simple” interior. This is extended into the bathroom, which has grey walls and a shower space clad with large black tiles.

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      Seven bedrooms with eye-catching statement walls

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      From graphic tilework to hand-painted wallpaper, architects and designers have found a myriad of ways to create striking surfaces in the bedroom. Here are seven standout examples.

      Duplex in NYC, USA, by Crosby Studios

      Crosby Studios founder Harry Nuriev and his partner Tyler Billinger combined white tilework with a gold-lame headboard to create a statement wall in the bedroom of their New York apartment.
      Nuriev and Billinger didn’t hold back when it came to designing the rest of the room, which boasts ultraviolet side tables and throw cushions, as well as a hand-shaped light.
      Find out more about Duplex in NYC ›

      Hygge Studio, Brazil, by Melina Romano
      Tan-coloured bricks that feature in the communal living spaces of this Sao Paulo apartment continue through to the bedroom to form a rustic feature wall, finished with a lengthy headboard upholstered in terracotta-red fabric.
      Interior designer Melina Romano explained that the warm medley of materials and colours are meant to channel a sense of hygge – a Danish term for a feeling of cosiness or contentment.
      Find out more about Hygge Studio ›

      Chelsea Pied-à-Terre, USA, by Stadt Architecture
      Gold paint seems to ooze down the painterly, deep-green statement wall that features in the bedroom of this New York apartment.
      The owners, who originally hail from southwest Canada, had wanted to bring the lush verdancy of the landscapes in their hometown into the apartment’s interior.
      “We couldn’t literally accommodate a green living wall into the living areas,” Stadt Architecture explained. “However, we reconsidered ‘landscape’ as a custom hand-painted wall covering.”
      Find out more about Chelsea Pied-à-Terre ›

      Apartment A, Belgium, by Atelier Dialect
      The unusual open-plan bedroom and bathroom inside this Antwerp apartment includes a statement wall clad in contrasting black and white subway tiles.
      It serves as a graphic backdrop to the room’s freestanding tub, wrapped in shiny panels of mirrored steel.
      Find out more about Apartment A ›

      Heat 360, Ukraine, by Azovskiy & Pahomova Architects
      Blotches of rust colour the dark slate-tile wall that extends across the back of this master bedroom, which is set inside a family home in Ukraine’s Dnipro region.
      The floor-to-ceiling windows that run along the front the bedroom act as another statement wall, providing uninterrupted views out towards the landscaped garden and a nearby river.
      Find out more about Heat 360 ›

      Shkrub, Ukraine, by Sergey Makhno
      Rows of rounded ceramic tiles create an almost scaly surface finish on the wall of the guest bedroom in architect Sergey Makhno’s family home.
      This is one of several statement walls Makhno has incorporated in the property – a plaster wall in his own master bedroom has been sculpted to resemble the craggy face of a cliff.
      Find out more about Shkrub ›

      Casa A12, Spain, by Lucas y Hernández-Gil
      A large cobalt-blue circle forms a simple but striking feature wall in the bedroom of this Madrid duplex apartment.
      This shade of blue and coral orange have been applied across the rest of the home in homage to the colours used in Number 14, a painting by 20th-century abstract artist Mark Rothko.
      Find out more about Casa A12 ›

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