2026 Home Design Trends: What's In, What's Out, and What Buyers Are Responding To
If you're a homeowner in Downers Grove, Naperville, Wheaton, or anywhere across DuPage County's western suburbs thinking about selling in 2026, understanding what today's buyers actually want to see can make a significant difference in your results. The design landscape has shifted -- and knowing what's working and what's working against you before you list is exactly the kind of edge that matters in this market.
After a decade of cool grays, crisp whites, and spaces that looked more like showrooms than homes, buyers have changed what they're looking for. Call it quiet luxury -- the idea that richness comes from depth, craft, and intention rather than flash and excess. It's not maximalism. It's a shift toward spaces that feel like somewhere you'd actually want to live.
That shift is showing up in buyer data, listing descriptions, and design reports across the board. Here's what it looks like in practice -- and what it means if you're thinking about selling your home.
What's In Color Is Back -- And It's Warmer Than You Think
https://www.houzz.com/photos/woodgrove-road-french-country-family-room-dc-metro-phvw-vp~171677709
The all-gray interior isn't just tired. Buyers have moved on. The biggest shift in Zillow listing descriptions over the last year has been a surge in "color drenching" -- coating walls, ceilings, and trim in a single immersive hue -- up 149% year over year.1 The direction is consistent across paint brands and design reports: warm beiges, caramels, terra cotta, sage green, and soft navy. A mix of '70s sunbaked tones and calming naturals.3
The psychology behind it makes sense. Buyers are increasingly seeking homes that feel like a sanctuary, not a showroom, and warm cohesive color is one of the fastest ways to create that. If you're thinking about selling your home, this has a practical implication: a single well-chosen paint refresh can dramatically change how a space photographs and how it feels at first walk-through.
The Art Deco Revival: Details That Stop the Scroll
Buyers are actively looking for character -- and that's showing up clearly in what design platforms are tracking. Houzz flagged the Art Deco revival as one of the defining trends of 2026, with searches for Art Deco interiors up 22% year over year.2 Think chevron patterns, brass accents, jewel tones, curves, arches, and scalloped edges that soften spaces and add visual depth. Listing mentions of "artisan craftsmanship" are up 21% and "vintage accents" up 17%.1
The good news is this doesn't require a gut renovation. Arched doorways, a curved kitchen island, rounded furniture silhouettes, and detailed millwork can all deliver that effect. It's about adding one or two moments of character -- not redoing everything.
Photo Credit: Elizabeth Frost Designs https://pro.houzz.com/pro-learn/blog/sneak-peek-houzz-reveals-11-of-the-top-home-design-predictions-for-2026
Surfaces and Materials That Make a Statement
Photo Credit: Verner Architects; LMB Interiors (Designer); Eric Rorer (Photographer)
Countertops and backsplashes are no longer meant to blend in. Natural stone -- quartzite, marble, and travertine with soft sweeping veining -- is being used as a focal point rather than a background. Full-height backsplashes and dramatic stone applications create depth and warmth that photographs beautifully.2 Organic texture is showing up everywhere alongside it: plaster and limewash walls, sculpted surfaces, three-dimensional materials that shift with changing light.
Layered metals -- brushed brass paired with matte black and nickel -- signal a more evolved, curated take on the mixed-metals trend that's been building for a few years. The goal is intentional, not matched. Each finish feels chosen.
The Kitchen Is Getting Personal
Credit: Leigh Ann Rowe; Builder: OC Builders Group; Designer: Studio Willow https://pro.houzz.com/pro-learn/blog/2026-houzz-kitchen-trends-article
Design professionals are nearly unanimous that the all-white kitchen has run its course.7,10 What's replacing it isn't one look -- it's the absence of a default. Warm neutrals, earth tones, and wood-grain cabinetry are taking over from painted finishes, and the transitional style has settled in as the most popular direction, with the farmhouse kitchen continuing to lose ground it's unlikely to recover.5
The bigger shift underneath all of it is personalization. Buyers want to see a kitchen that feels considered -- not one that played it safe. A work-in pantry, an unexpected cabinet color, a stone backsplash that runs floor to ceiling: these are the details that make a kitchen feel like it belongs to someone, which turns out to be exactly what buyers are looking for.
Open Concept Grew Up
https://www.houzz.com/photos/9th-ave-transitional-family-room-san-francisco-phvw-vp~192967518
Open floor plans aren't going away -- but buyers no longer want an undifferentiated box. Buyer preferences have shifted toward layouts that offer both flow and definition -- spaces that feel connected but serve a clear purpose.4 What's rising is the semi-closed floor plan: subtle architectural separation between the kitchen, dining room, and living areas that maintains connection while creating intimacy. The flexibility of how a home's space is organized now matters more to buyers than the raw square footage it contains.12
Remote work is a big part of why. When your home is also your office, privacy has real value. Dedicated home offices are consistently one of the most requested features this year, and mentions of "reading nooks" -- quiet, defined personal spaces -- are up 48% in Zillow listing descriptions.1 If you're thinking about selling and you have a defined dining room, a separate office, or distinct living zones, don't apologize for them. Stage and describe each space as intentional. Buyers are looking for purpose, not just square footage.
Homes That Are Designed to Feel Good
One of the quieter shifts in how buyers evaluate homes is the move toward what designers call wellness design -- the idea that a home's layout and materials should actively support how you feel in it, not just how it looks. It's less about a single feature and more about an overall sensibility: does this space help you rest, focus, and decompress, or does it just look good in photos?
That sensibility is showing up in listing language in measurable ways -- wellness mentions are up 33% year over year, and spa-inspired bathrooms have climbed 22%.1,8 But the concept has expanded well past the primary bath. Biophilic design -- bringing in natural light, organic materials, living plants, and visual connections to the outdoors -- has become a core consideration because it addresses the same underlying need: buyers want to feel better in their homes.9 So does circadian lighting that shifts with the time of day, and dedicated spaces designed specifically for quiet -- a reading corner, a window seat, a nook that actually gets used.
These aren't luxury add-ons anymore. They're showing up in mainstream listings because people are prioritizing how their home makes them feel on a Tuesday afternoon, not just how it presents at a party.
Resilient and Efficient Homes: The Practical Side of 2026 Design
Climate reality is showing up in listing data in a way that's hard to ignore. Features like flood protection, fire-resistant landscaping, and whole-home battery systems are all climbing fast -- and 86% of buyers now say it's very important that a home be "climate-proof."1 Zero-energy-ready homes have surged 70% in Zillow listing mentions, with whole-home batteries up 40% and EV charging up 25%.1
Energy efficiency is part of the same conversation. Buyers are evaluating solar readiness, EV chargers, and efficient HVAC systems the same way they evaluate a kitchen renovation -- as a financial consideration, not just an environmental one. Utility costs, insurability, and long-term resilience are all factored in. If you're thinking about selling and you have any of these features, make sure they're documented clearly in your listing. Buyers are actively reading for this language, and homes that speak to it stand out.
What's Out
Design trends don't just tell you what to add -- they tell you what to address before you list. A few things buyers have clearly moved past:
All-gray everything. Functional for a decade, now forgettable. Buyer sentiment has shifted clearly away from both cool gray and stark white as default palettes. Sterile, clinical spaces read as dated now, not clean.2,3
The overdone farmhouse look. The aesthetic isn't dead, but the version heavy on purely decorative elements -- shiplap for the sake of shiplap, barn doors on every opening -- has peaked. What's replacing it is a warmer, more grounded approach leaning on authentic materials over surface-level styling.
Themed bonus rooms. "Man cave," dedicated wine rooms, home theaters with no other use -- buyers want rooms that flex, not rooms that commit to a single identity. Spaces that can't be repurposed read as liabilities now, not amenities.
Two-story foyers. They create a striking visual, but the trade-offs have caught up with them. NAHB data shows 32% of buyers are likely to reject a home with a two-story foyer outright, while only 13% consider it a must-have.6 The energy inefficiency, heat imbalance, and lost usable square footage are no longer worth the entrance moment.
Matched-finish everything. Coordinating every fixture, cabinet pull, and faucet to a single metal finish now reads as a 2015 renovation. The shift is toward intentionally layered metals -- brushed brass, matte black, and nickel -- that feel collected over time rather than sourced from the same catalog page.
Open shelving as a kitchen default. What looked fresh a few years ago now reads as high-maintenance and visually noisy to a lot of buyers. The enthusiasm for it has cooled significantly, and the backlash is real enough that agents are recommending sellers address it before listing.11
Safe "greige" tile that disappears into the background. Surfaces are meant to make a statement now, not blend in. Full-height backsplashes, dramatic stone, and layered finishes have replaced the disappearing neutral as the standard expectation in well-presented kitchens and baths.
Maximalism for resale. Rich, layered, highly personal spaces can be genuinely beautiful to live in -- but they're difficult to sell. Buyers need to be able to see themselves in a space. Heavy personalization, bold collections, and visually dense rooms make that harder, which tends to show up in longer days on market and more negotiated offers.
What Changes and What You Leave Alone
Not every item on this list requires a contractor. A $500--$2,000 refresh can meaningfully shift how a home is perceived: paint in a warm current tone, swapping out dated light fixtures, updating hardware from chrome to brushed brass or matte black, adding a limewash accent wall in a key space. These are cosmetic moves -- but they change how a home feels, and that feeling is what drives buyer interest from the very first look.
That first look is doing more work than most sellers realize. Warm, textured, layered spaces photograph better than stark white minimalist ones -- and since most buyers have already formed a strong impression before they ever step inside, the visual presentation of your home directly affects how fast it moves and what kind of offers it generates.
Buyers are deciding in seconds. The goal is to design for the feeling they get at first scroll -- not the trend you were following three years ago.
Before you start pulling up tile or repainting every room, here's something worth knowing: not every trend on this list is right for every home or every price point in the DuPage County market. Some of these looks photograph beautifully in a magazine and can actually work against you in listing photos if they're too bold or too personal for your buyer pool. The Tully Team works closely with a professional stager and redesigner who knows exactly what moves the needle for buyers in Downers Grove and the western suburbs -- and what to leave alone. Call us at soldbytully.com before you invest a dollar in updates. That one conversation could save you thousands and get your home sold faster.
Sources
Zillow -- Spotted on Zillow: Six Home Trends To Follow in 2026
Houzz -- Sneak Peek: Houzz Reveals 11 of the Top Home Design Predictions for 2026
Axios -- 2026 home design trends: Zillow and others reveal picks
RoylinSells -- Are Open Floor Plans Still Popular in Today's Housing Market?
Houzz -- 2025 U.S. Houzz Kitchen Trends Study
NAHB -- Two-Story Foyer Trend Stabilizes in 2024
Fixr -- Kitchen Design Trends Report 2026
Fixr -- Bathroom Design Trends Report 2026
Tami Faulkner Design -- Top Custom Home Design Trend 2026
NKBA -- 2026 Design Trends Report
GoBankingRates -- 6 Key Design Trends That Are Make-or-Break for Homebuyers in 2026
BHGRE -- 2026 Design Trends Moving Real Estate
Shanon Tully is a licensed real estate broker and leads the The Tully Team at Platinum Partners Realtors located in Downers Grove, Illinois. She provides exceptional concierge real estate services throughout the Chicagoland area, especially the western suburbs. A residential listing specialist, Shanon thoroughly enjoys helping clients achieve their goals, and particularly relishes the unique challenges associated with staging, redesigning, and marketing properties. Her attention to detail and dedicated care for her clients has earned her numerous rave reviews! Among other things, Shanon has earned several designations and certifications including SRS-Seller Representative Specialist, PSA-Pricing Strategy Advisor, RENE-Real Estate Negotiation Expert, SRES-Senior Real Estate Specialist, CSC-Certified Staging Consultant, ABR-Accredited Buyer's Representative. She is eager to speak with you and always welcomes new referrals! Shanon can be reached at 630.435.3585 or [email protected]
The above references an opinion and is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be financial, legal, or tax advice. Consult the appropriate professionals for advice regarding your individual needs.
