ASID 2023 Trends Outlook Report

Perhaps at no other time in history has interior design had such a prominent contribution to make in addressing some of society’s most pressing challenges. Across all sectors of the interior design industry, clients, companies, and institutions are assessing how interior spaces can be reimagined to reduce negative environmental impacts, while improving health, safety, and wellbeing.Top trends identified in this report reflect an increased awareness of the importance of “human-centered design.” Most often used in design, the concept of “human-centered design” has expanded into business news and other media stories, as “occupant-centered design,” who are touting the benefits of prioritizing human behaviors and needs with good design.This report will show that some of these benefits include how design can help alleviate the global mental health crisis, how design can facilitate the return of employees to the workplace and patients to hospitals and clinics, how design can make schools safer and more engaging for students and faculty, and how design can help to revive the travel industry. In addition, as a result of the energy crisis and the devastating effects of climate change, interior design clients in both the residential and commercial sectors are embracing sustainable and eco-friendly design in a big way.As the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic begins to ebb, the preoccupation with health and environmental safety has shifted to a broader concern with wellness and wellbeing. Numerous articles, blogs, and news stories have touted the benefits of modifying interiors—whether in the home, workplace, school, lodging, or healthcare facility—in ways demonstrated to guard against threats to health, alleviate stress, promote a sense of relaxation and calm, and better align the body and mind with natural rhythms and cycles.Lifestyles are changing for many reasons, and interior design is responding to the new ways we live, work, travel, and unwind. Aesthetics are important, but, as this report shows, interior design today is about so much more than aesthetics— it is fundamental to living well.