In this episode of the Uploft Interior Design Podcast, I dive into one of my favorite topics of the year—new design trends for 2026! I share six trends, from colorful cabinetry and curved furniture to pattern drenching and aged metals, offering my take on what works, what doesn’t, and how to incorporate these ideas thoughtfully. I also discuss texture maxing and layering antiques, emphasizing the importance of aligning trends with your space’s style. If you have questions for me, make sure to submit them here.
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Design inspiration, real life makeovers, and the latest in pop culture. This is the Uploft Interior Design podcast with Betsy Helmuth.
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>> I’m so excited because today I am going to bring you one of my favorite topics that I discuss all year long. One of the
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2026 design trends and why they’re a listener favorite.
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most popular, most downloaded episodes perpetually every year is my new trends for the new year episode. And that’s what we’re going to be talking about today. There’s so many trends that I’m going to be breaking it into two parts. So, this is part one, and next week
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we’ll air part two. But as many of you know who’ve listened to this particular episode year after year, I don’t necessarily design with trend focus. I’m not actively looking to incorporate a smattering of trends, even in the accessories. I don’t love the idea of just swapping
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something out for fun. Typically, I swap something out like say a pillow or even a throw blanket because it starts to look or feel a little bit worn down. It starts to, you know, in the case of a rug, um, have like a definite wear pattern or if animals have, you know,
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had accidents or thrown up, there starts to be a smell. So, typically, I’m not going to change something out without a very good reason. And I find that pillows do have sort of a sofa life of about a year depending on how often you’re sitting on that sofa. If you have
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kids who are throwing those pillows around the room. I myself use the pillows in lots of different ways whether it be as a head and neck rest or as a computer laptop desk or as a foot rest. So my pillows get mushed and crunched and need to be changed out
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regularly or else they just look like deflated balloons. These are all reasons why I would be buying something maybe a little trendy because I need something new and I know I’m going to switch it out next year most likely. But as a designer, it’s really important for me
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to know the trends and it’s also going to be dictating what I will see on the shelves. So, even if I may not be drawn to trends or may not be responding to trends, I’m going to be sourcing items for my clients from retailers who are on the pulse of trends, who are
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incorporating these items into their inventory. And I need to be aware. And then I need to kind of already have an idea of what I like and what I don’t like, what I think is timeless for those larger pieces and what I think is a flash in the pan and
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maybe we shouldn’t invest. So, I’m going to be sharing all that with you today. And for those of you watching on YouTube, you’re thinking, “Oh my gosh, where is Betsy? I do not recognize this background.” And guys, if you’re not watching on YouTube, you certainly
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should be because I’m going to have pictures of all these trends accompanying my commentary. So, if there’s something hard for you to visualize or you just want to see where the heck I’m at, head over to YouTube and go to Uploft Interior Designs channel. All right, I’m in my bathroom.
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Full disclosure, I’m in my primary bathroom because my cottage is far and cold. My baby is napping even though other people are home. So if she were to wake up, other people could respond to her calls. I just like being close and I like the idea of not having to pack up all my
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stuff. Schleap it down the hill and then come back up just to record a couple of very interesting episodes. So yes, I’m in the bathroom. Not on the toilet, but in the bathroom. Okay, without further ado, we’re going to launch into these trends and then if I have time, which
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I’m not sure I will, but if I have time, I’m going to get into HBO’s The Fox Hollow Murders. If you have not seen this, or no, I’m sorry, it’s on Hulu, actually, The Fox Hollow Murders. So, if you have not seen Hulu’s The Fox Hollow Murders, Run, Don’t Walk.
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I will be sharing all about it either in this episode or next, depending on how long it takes me to dish about these trends. Without further ado, let’s get into it. Colorful cabinetry.
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Trend 1: Colorful cabinetry and tips for incorporating painted cabinets into your kitchen.
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Colorful cabinetry is essentially painted cabinets in your kitchen instead of doing a neutral like a white or even just keeping it a wood tone. Colorful cabinets refers to a Roy GbIV color on your cabinets, whether it’s a sage green, a navy blue. I don’t really feel
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that this is a trend. You’re asking Betsy, where did you even get these trend ideas if you don’t feel that this is a trend? If you feel like it’s sort of just a perpetual thing that’s happening, and the answer is House Beautiful, Architectural Digest, Vogue.
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I basically took a smattering of what the big media outlets are saying about interior design trends and picked and chose the ones that I thought were relevant, interesting. I mean, a lot of times they’re pretty boring or even they try to be very heady and ambiguous and
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it’s like, what do you even mean by texture piling blah blah blah blah blah. So, sometimes they’re just hard to get a handle on. But these six that I’m going to share with you today and the six I’m going to share with you next week, I think are really easy to understand.
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Okay. So, I don’t think that having colorful cabinets is a trend, per se. It’s something I’ve been recommending for years. It’s something I will continue to recommend. I do think if you have a very large kitchen, it can be hard to have singletoned cabinets
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throughout. It can be a lot of cabinetry to have all the same color. And so, I would recommend maybe painting the bottom ones and leaving the top ones the wood tone. The thing I like about painting the bottom ones is that the bottom ones are going to get more wear
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and tear, they’re going to be open and manipulated a little bit more. Typically, they’ll be subject to kicking, to bumping that maybe the top ones won’t. So, it’s going to be easier to disguise that age with some touch-up paint. Easier than it will be to try and
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refinish a cabinet front if something should happen to a wood tone. I love the idea of if you have a smaller kitchen, maybe all the cabinets are the wood tone, but the base of the island is a cool color. And by cool, I don’t mean like cool like green or blue, even
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though that’s possible, but just an interesting color. Uh, so I’ve definitely always been a fan of painted cabinets, especially in a larger kitchen, especially in a kitchen in sort of a specialty or second home, if you will. So, if you have a beach house, if
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you have a ski cabin, if you have a cottage on a lake, I just love the idea of maybe taking a kitchen that’s not so lux, a kitchen that maybe you spent a little less money on and you didn’t get that premium wood grain and instead you paint the cabinets that are there,
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giving them new life and making it more of a playful kitchen experience. So that’s another time when I just go to paint for kitchen cabinets. All right, next trend. This trend I do not feel is
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Trend 2: Curved furniture
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exclusively for 2026. I would say we’ve been saying it for about 3 years and I’ve been talking about it for that amount of time as well. It is curved furniture. Usually, this is coming in the form of a love seat or sofa that’s more like a kidney bean shaped or crescentshaped.
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I love the idea of a curved sofa. In fact, I tried to incorporate two parallel curved sofas in my own long shallow living room and it really didn’t work out all that practically. I find that curved sofas are difficult because not only there are they sort of
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complicated to sit on because your knees are brought closer together to the other person’s knees across the way because of that curvature, but also because you have a hard time with accent tables. I can’t really do a sofa table behind it unless there’s elongated straight
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portion because otherwise I’m going to have these negative triangular gaps on either side. I’m going to have to be really cognizant when choosing a coffee table that it works well within the circular interior flow of that curved sofa or curved seating. And of course,
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it’s going to be very difficult to have any end tables on the side unless those end tables sort of curve with the sofa or seti. I prefer embracing a curve with maybe say a round armchair, a kind of disc or um tulip chair if you will. Uh when they’re referring to this
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curved furniture, they’re not really talking about case goods or wood pieces like a round dining table or even a round bookshelf. Yes, those exist. Check PBT. Um, but I think the idea of incorporating curves in a room that has a lot of right angles, which most rooms
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do if we’re thinking about rectalinear coffee tables, rectalinear sofas, bookcases, end tables. There’s usually a lot of sharp corners, so round is always appreciated, but I just don’t think it’s ideal with these larger pieces like a sofa or seti. This next one is something I have not
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seen and I’m really excited by. I’m not
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Trend 3: Pattern drenching
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only excited by this next one for home fashion, but also for fashion fashion like what you’re wearing clothing. It is pattern drenching. Now, last year in 2025, we saw color drenching where people were painting rooms one color, including the ceiling, and then the
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drapes were the same color, the sofa was the same color, the throw blanket was the same color, the room was all navy. I was not a fan because you’re not going to find the same navy at all these different stores. So, some navies are going to have a little bit more warmth
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and some are going to be a little cooler and it’s basically going to look like a blue room that’s mismatched. Additionally, I think it feels like a theme room to do that color drenching. Welcome to my green room. Welcome to my yellow room. It’s just too much of the
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same tone. And for me, it didn’t really feel all that designerly unless you had like a little fun nook that you weren’t using every day that you wanted to experiment with. Pattern drenching on the other hand, I am all for. So, basically, this trend is just enroing
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your room in different patterns. Whether it’s a large floral, a plaid, a polka dot, pretty much everything that you’re incorporating in the space, including wallpaper, would have a pattern. And I think that is so fun. I think it’s really playful. I mean, it might be hard
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to live with over time, but maybe you save those large pieces like the sofa, like the rug, and those are in more of a neutral, but you layer the wallpaper with some curtains and those panels have a different print. Now, the key when mixing prints, and this also goes for
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this color drenching trend, is that you want to make sure they’re all of a different scale. So, if the wallpaper is a large floral pattern, I would want the plaid on the drapes to be medium or small. Then the throw pillows would be an extra tiny pattern. And then when
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thinking about, who knows, the rug, if you’re really going for it, it might be an extra-large pattern that’s even bigger than the wallpaper. As long as each pattern is of a different scale, as long as each pattern relates back to an inspiration piece that provides the
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color palette for the whole room, I am all for this trend. And it just is inspiring me in so many ways. I think I’d draw the line at the ceiling. I don’t think in a larger room I would wallpaper the ceiling. In smaller rooms, I do. in powder rooms, especially in
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maybe a small nursery. That’s a really great space to wallpaper the ceiling, but I just don’t want this to feel too cheap and cheeky. I want it to feel luxe, high-end, and wallpaper is
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Trend 4: Aged metals
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something you don’t want to be fiddling with in terms of taking it down or replacing it. So, you want to make sure that you’ve picked something you really like and put it up in a way that won’t feel overwhelming. The next trend, aged metals. And I would say that this is really a
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departure. I would say that this isn’t timeless. While we’ve got a mix of metal finishes that have been popular for a long time, including brass, bronze, and of course the silver family, seeing a patina, instead of seeing a um oh my gosh, I’m trying to think of
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the word. Instead of seeing a silver when you’re seeing a peter, instead of seeing just like a black metal, you’re seeing a rot iron. Instead of just seeing the oil rubbed bronze, you’re seeing an older type finish. Maybe even you’re seeing hints of brass peeking
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through. This is all very interesting to me. Hammered metals, I think, are great. I love the idea of bringing in a little bit of age to the metal finishes. So, while I don’t think I’ve seen this in a while in terms of it being widely available in a retail setting, I’m very
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intrigued. I’m very open to it. I don’t think it’s going to work well with every style. I think it works really well with farmhouse or rustic or even industrial to use those aged metal finishes, but when you’re talking contemporary or modern, I don’t think it fits. I think
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it’s going to be a little bit weird, but I’d love it for something like eclectic. So, just be really careful when you’re inviting these aged metals into your space that it clearly aligns with that space’s point of view, that style. Okay. Next one is texture maxing. Now, this is
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one I almost left out because I’m like, really? Of course, texture maxing is a thing. We want our spaces to have a variety of different textures. That’s what makes it designerly. That’s what differentiates a space from being professionally designed
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and amaturely designed. The first thing to know is, of course, we want to invite a variety of materials into the space. Whether it’s stone, metal, wood, upholstery, you know, ceramic, we want to be thinking of picking a variety of materials when we’re selecting our
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furnishings so that it doesn’t become, you know, the wood room or the glass room, right? But after we’ve mastered this, that idea of maxing is that every fabric would have a very clear and almost dominating texture. So whether it’s an open weave linen where whether
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it’s a really ny boulay whether it’s a very soft and malleable chenille if the rug has a very plush and high pile. All these things are sort of what they’re talking about when they’re talking about texture maxing. Really looking for items that have a sumptuous obvious texture
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throughout. So maybe we’re looking for more of a wood grain on that coffee table. Maybe we’re looking for a very reflective quality with the glass dining table and then upholstered dining chairs that are a worn leather, right? but really seeking to maximize
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that feeling or that sensual experience in the room where everything has a texture. Whatever. I mean, I think it’s a little bit overboard and I think it might distract from the style and sophistication of a space, but I’m always thinking texture. So, this one, you know, the last one I’m
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going to talk about today is layering antiques. Again, I love a layered antique. I don’t think that this is a trend. Um, it’s kind of a good way to bring in that aged metal. But it really depends on the style of the space. Not every style of space, not
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every style of home is going to look like antiques belong there. Now, I live in an old home. This place is calling out for antiques. If I didn’t include a couple of antiques, if I only used contemporary, sleek furniture, well, it would look a little weird. It would not
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go with the excessively carved moldings. So, again, read the room. But I love using antiques, not just because you can almost feel the ghosts circling them, right? I can almost see how other people have turned on that lamp. Um, if it’s an upholstered piece, I can see where their
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booties have been. And I love that it had a life before me. But I also love ecologically that we’re repurposing, that we’re finding new homes for old pieces and in a way recycling, reusing rather than just discarding when it no longer fits our style or when we’re just done with
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something. Big fan. But would I call it a trend? Hm. And is this for everyone? Absolutely not. Consider the style of your space before you go thrifting and antiquing.
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Hulu’s The Fox Hollow Murders and its gripping true crime twists.
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All right, looks like I do have a little bit of time and I need to tell you about Hulu’s Fox Hollow Murders. This came out a little while ago, like I think a year ago, and I just missed it. I don’t know how it slipped through the cracks. I didn’t hear anybody talking
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about it. I just it wasn’t on my radar. I was listening to the Kate Casey podcast and she was recapping her favorite true crime docs of 2025 and this was number one. I was like, “Okay, that’s a Clarion call.” I headed over to Hulu that very night. This is a
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four-part true crime series and it is a very disturbing serial killer case out of Indiana. Now, there was a documentary in process of being made about this when these other documentarians came in because the amateur documentarians who had started this documentary were overwhelmed by
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everything that was coming to light. There, speaking of thrift stores, was a thrift store owner named Herb Balmaster. Balmeister, yes, I think that’s the right way to say it. and he bought this big beautiful estate on a lot of land and he was living there with his wife and his
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children and it was kind of like this horse type estate. Um, but the key is there were a lot of woods and they pretty much abudded the back of the house and this house was big and beautiful. It even had a pool on the ground floor. Well, one day Herb’s 13-year-old son is out in
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the backyard and he finds a skull and things start to unravel from here. Okay, flash forward. This has fallen under the radar. Herb is, you know, wherever Herb is and somebody new buys the house. In the meanwhile, between the time that his son found the skull. And
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between the time that the new owners purchased, there were over 10,000 remains found in the back woods behind the property. 10,000. I mean, they are positing that this could be the biggest serial killer case in history. But by this time, Herb has passed away.
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So there’s no way to get answers from Herb about what has occurred. So people are thinking, well, this is just what it is. The guy who buys the new place, they tell him, you know, there’s been 10,000 remains found in the backyard, and there’s probably many more. There’s
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probably been a huge cover up. There’s probably going to be things that you’ll be finding throughout your time here. And it does not dissuade that buyer at all. He’s like, “My wife loves horses. We’re we’re moving it.” And there’s a lot of evidence to point to the fact
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that the people may have been killed inside the home in that very room with the pool, perhaps even in the pool. And the room is filled with mannequins because Herb owned that thrift store and he had an obsession with mannequins. So there’s like all these human forms in this room
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and the new owner leaves the place pretty much like it was when Herb lived there. If you can even imagine. Okay. So as these documentarians, both the new and old ones, are trying to unravel this case, they come upon the only survivor of Herbs, the only one who’s lived to
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tell the tale. And Herb’s target were homosexual men. Herb was a um latent homosexual. Never came out of the closet to his family and he was having a lot of illicit relationships while his family was away on trips. Okay. And then he would go to these
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clubs, he would meet these men, he would invite them back to his estate and ultimately they would never be seen again. Well, Mark went to the police and shared his story of, “Hey, this happened to me. I’m going to give you all the details, but something is bizarre about Mark. He
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knows a little bit too much. His story keeps changing. He himself is very creepy. Why is he the only one to survive? He knows details that only someone slightly more involved could know. And then how are they getting the men from this pool room all the way back to the woods? It doesn’t
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feel like a oneperson job. So, questions are being asked and Mark is answering them. Mark has made himself available not only to speak with the documentarians, but to speak in the house. So, this homeowner who bought the house, who’s been living there for
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decades by now, is inviting Mark back in. And Mark, it’s like it’s his house. He knows his way around. Even though apparently he was only there once, during which time he was assaulted, he walks around like he owns the place. He seems to feel very comfortable there.
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He’s quite happy giving interviews and tours of the space even though supposedly he had a very limited experience there and an experience where he’s saying he was drugged. This four-part series started a little slow. I had some questions but I was like
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I could not stop. I binged this thing in one night. And I highly recommend you check it out. It is filled with twists and turns, plot lines I didn’t even get into on this podcast because I want you to experience it yourself. But I could not believe a couple of things. First of
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all, just Mark in general, his whole ethos. You got to check that out. Second of all, this homeowner. Now, I understand you get a great deal on a property that’s had some issues, but to leave everything as it was, to open this up to investigator after
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investigator, your wife is there. She’s embracing Mark. I mean, the whole thing gets a little weird. And this new homeowner has got my Spidey senses up. I can’t wait for you to check this out. Let me know what you think. And of course, send in your design questions.
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Head over to uploft.com/mpodcast. Once again, that’s uplift.com/mpodcast. There you’ll see a form that you can fill out. You can let me know what you’re watching. You can ask me interior design questions and you’ll get advice for free. So, you won’t want to miss it.
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And you also won’t want to miss part two next week. Not only am I talking about the rest of the design trends for 2026, I’m also going to be talking about HBO’s heated rivalry. And that’s getting hot, hot, hot, hot. Until then, everyone, bye. A big thanks to our producer Jeremy
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Young and to Eton and the Embassy for our theme music. And shout out to our parent company, Uploft Interior Design, your trusted source for expert interior design. Visit uploft.com to explore our services and book a consultation with one of our talented designers. If you’re
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enjoying the Uploft Interior Design podcast, please support us by sharing the show with friends and leaving a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen. It’s the best way to help new listeners find us. Thanks for tuning in and we’ll see you next
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week with more pro tips and pop culture dish.
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