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REESE & CO. DESIGN GROUP
2026 Design Forecast: Why We’re Not Giving You One
By Nina Reese, Founder & Lead Designer of Reese & Co. Design Group
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Each new year brings a flood of design forecasts and trend declarations, but meaningful design doesn’t begin with what’s popular. It begins with how you live. In custom homes that take years to design and build, trend-driven decisions often feel dated before move-in.Reese & Co. Design Group, we believe the most enduring interiors are shaped by
values, lifestyle, and thoughtful alignment,
not headlines.
New Year, New…
The new year often brings with it a desire for reimagining, setting goals, creating clarity, and deciding what’s next. It’s a natural indication of new beginnings. In the design world, that moment is almost immediately met with a flood of declarations from so-called experts: what’s trending, what’s dated, what’s “in,” what’s officially “out,” and what everyone should be doing next.
These announcements are often bold, definitive, and loud. They’re designed to spark reaction, create urgency, and generate attention. And while they may be entertaining or even inspiring, they are not a mandate for how you should live.
At Reese & Co. Design Group, our trademarked design philosophy, The Total Life Aesthetic®, is rooted in something far more enduring than trends. We design spaces around who you are, how you live, and what you value. And while a new year may bring meaningful change, not every headline requires a response.
When Design Actually Changes
If the new year brings a shift in your life: your priorities, your rhythms, your commitments, then yes, your design may evolve alongside you.
Maybe you’ve decided that fitness is no longer aspirational but foundational.
Maybe hospitality has moved from occasionally to often.
Maybe you’re craving more rest, more margin, and more intention in how you move through your days.
Those shifts matter. They change how your home functions. They change what you need from your spaces. They influence layout, flow, materiality, and use.
But if a publication announces that a certain color, wood tone, or finish is no longer popular, and you love it, it brings you joy, it supports your lifestyle, and it aligns with your values, there is no reason to pivot. That is not a design problem. That is noise.
A trend forecast does not redefine your design style. It doesn’t invalidate a thoughtful decision. And it certainly doesn’t override lived experience.
Joy Is Not Up For Debate
If something in your home:
- Brings you joy
- Serves how you actually live
- Honors what you value
- Enhances your everyday experience, and
- Has thoughtfully and intentionally been integrated
Then it is in. Full stop.
We live in a time where we are heavily influenced by professional marketers broadcasting opinions, hot takes, and aesthetics at scale, often monetized and often performative. And somewhere along the way, we’ve been conditioned to treat those voices as authority.
In 2026, I challenge you to step away from that influence.
Look outside.
Look at the memories that bring you the most joy.
Look at the places where you feel grounded, inspired, and at ease.
Notice how you respond to different spaces not because someone told you how to feel, but because you felt it. Gather that information. That is discernment. That is design direction rooted in truth, not trend cycles.
Design Has Always Been Bigger Than Trends
Interior design is a convergence of many disciplines: architecture, construction, light, color, form, balance. It has edges. It has nuance. It has endless opportunity for personal expression.
Trends will always exist. They are not inherently bad. They can be a source of inspiration, but they are not a compass.
And in the world of custom home design, they are often fundamentally misaligned with reality.
A truly custom home is rarely designed and built or renovated on a short timeline. Many of the homes we work on spend a year or often two or more in design and planning before construction is even underway. Decisions are layered thoughtfully, revisited carefully, and coordinated across architecture, interiors, and construction long before the first wall is framed.
When a home of this caliber is executed with a strong adherence to trends, it will almost always feel behind by the time it is complete. The cycle simply moves too fast.
But when a home is designed around who you are, your values, your rhythms, your priorities, your Total Life Aesthetic, it doesn’t chase relevance. It arrives exactly where it’s meant to be.
Great design has never been about keeping up. It has always been about alignment.
Defining Your Total Life Aesthetic
Your Total Life Aesthetic is not a look.
It is not a label.
It is not a category you can shop.
It is a felt experience.
It is the rhythm of how you live.
It is the way your environment supports who you are becoming.
Your home should not be a reflection of what’s popular. It should be a reflection of what matters to you.
A Challenge for the Year Ahead
As we move into 2026 and beyond, I challenge you to:
- Choose individuality over imitation
- Choose joy over approval
- Choose authenticity over perfection
