Artium's & Just Basements 2nd Annual Design Recap - 2018 Edition

We have had another year of designing beautiful spaces for wonderful clients and we love looking back on the patterns and trends from the year past. In 2018 we saw a shift toward more brave and personalized choices, which led to renovations that were true reflections of the people who inhabit them.

I tried to narrow this down to 5 Top Trends - but couldn't resist adding more and ended up at 10!

Here they are:

1. Coloured Cabinets: this one was on our list from 2017 as well and it continued through 2018 with some serious staying power. Along with clients choosing more bold design choices, we saw brave colour selections in kitchens, bathrooms, bars and laundry rooms. We love painted cabinetry because it provides so much flexibility and opportunity to personalize a space. Go wild with colour!

2. Patterned Floor Tiles: we saw this trend emerge in 2017 but it has really taken off this past year. With so many beautiful patterns and colours available, the options are endless. These tiles aren't for the faint of heart - they offer a bold punch and can be challenging to pair with other materials and finishes - but when you get it right, the combinations are simply spectacular.

Look for versions of this tile in cement encaustic along with stunning marble mosaics in our final photos over the next year.

3. Feature Lighting: as a designer, I admit that lighting is like icing on cake for me. I love being able to drive a concept home with beautiful fixtures. This past year, we saw a trend toward using lighting in bold ways to truly solidify a theme or style throughout a home renovation. Lighting offers so much opportunity to add emphasis and texture in a design and it is one of the top ways to create a mood or "feel" in a space. Embrace the light!!

4. Lighter Woods: dark woods are still quite popular, but lighter woods have definitely made a comeback this past year. Even oak is being used with a more modern grain variety and less of the traditional cathedral shapes we associate with it. Paired with warm whites, the softer bleached hues provide a Scandinavian feel to more modern spaces - it's not the "golden oak" of our past, that's for certain!

5. Wallpaper: we LOVE wallpaper! Like patterned floor tiles, we are seeing a trend toward statement wallpaper selections. Full of colour, pattern and texture they provide a fun and vibrant feel. And while the investment is more than a simply painted wall, the impact they provide is unmatched and we can't get enough. Keep this one coming!

6. Warm Whites: as we embrace the New Year, we are embracing the shifts that come with it. We have noticed that we are using less and less cool grey and opting for warm and subtle whites more often. This is particularly evident in whole home renovations where consistency from space to space is so important. We even updated our own basement studio space to include a warm white by Benjamin Moore called Calm.

8. Bold Backsplashes: we still love a good subway tile, don't get us wrong, but we are excited about the shift toward more bold installation patterns, textures and colours.

From herringbone, to penny tiles, to patterned tiles - you name it, nothing seems to be off-limits these days, and we are loving it.

9. Matte Black: it's so nice to see a classic make a shift and resurface. Black has always been an anchor in design because it can be bold and understated all at the same time. By shifting to a matte finish, black has become even more modern, and it's popularity is rising. We are seeing this trend continue to surface in cabinetry, faucets, lighting fixtures and furniture. We have even gone so far as to use it as a fireplace surround with simple, cold rolled steel.

10. Hand-made: many of us at ARTium and justBASEMENTS are artists ourselves, so we have the ultimate appreciation for items that are hand-crafted. This past year we loved seeing hand-paint tiles from the Netherlands grace the walls of a kitchen renovation and the feel of a hand-made terracotta tile underfoot is like you have stepped into a European dream and out of Ottawa for a moment. The hand-crafted movement is our prediction for future trends and we hope we continue to see it take off over the year. Texture and natural materials like rattan, wood, weaving and fibre art have been showing a steady increase in homes over the past year and we can't wait to see how this translates into design and architecture in the future.

As designers, artists and homeowners alike, we are always keeping our eye out for new and future trends. But mostly, we just love being inspired by the ever-changing design landscape and working to bring that into the homes of our clients.

Here's to 2019 and all the design adventures it brings.

This article originated on www.artiumdesignbuild.com, Just Basements upper level division.