6 Design Resolutions for My New Home in 2026

As an interiors writer, I spend my days speaking to designers about their best tips and tricks, finding trends on socials, and soaking in inspiration from the most beautiful homes. You’d think my space would be impeccably decorated… but you would be wrong.

Between a recent move and the limitations of living in a rental, my apartment doesn’t really feel like mine yet. The start of 2026 feels like the perfect time to change that, so during this year’s vision boarding session, I landed on these six design resolutions for my new home.

Embracing the Art of Curated Clutter

Downsizing to a 500 square-foot apartment meant saying goodbye to furniture, window ledges, and lots of precious space to store our (or more realistically, my)  beauty essentials, jewelery, and perfume bottles.

With fewer drawers to tuck items away into, we’ve found ourselves with a lack of storage despite donating and discarding of as much as we could.

Luckily, 2026’s design and decor trends are about creating homes that feel lived-in, and recluttering—the concept of embracing collections and sentimentality—has been on my radar for a few years now as a writer.

So instead of trying to shove everything away, I’m committing to selecting a handful of special items in each room to keep on display as decor; think see-through jewelry boxes, the cutest cookbooks, and styled trinket trays or “purse bowls.”

Bringing Dimension to a Builder-Grade Blank Canvas

One of our favorite things about our new apartment is how light and airy it feels compared to our previous one; so despite it being around 70 square feet smaller, it actually feels much more open.

However, the all-white walls and pale gray floors don’t have a lot of depth or character.

I’m planning to bring a little more dimension to our home by introducing colors like brown, sky blue, and sage green, grounding the space with dark wood furniture, and building visual interest through materials like marble and stainless steel—both of which give subtle and modern nods to my South Asian heritage.

Building the Ultimate Drinks Station

I bought my husband an upgraded coffee machine with serious countertop appeal last year and, given our new space constraints, now feels like the ideal time to curate a dreamy drinks station around it.

Taking inspiration from the at-home coffee bars all over my social feeds, I’m using the machine as a focal point.

I’m also keeping a lookout for a tiered mini shelving unit for our most aesthetically pleasing ceramics, along with containers for hot chocolate, coffee beans, and loose-leaf tea, and refillable syrup pumps for style factor and practicality.

Cozy Cloud-ifying the Bed

Because of its open-plan layout, our apartment technically only has three rooms for us to decorate.

Having a bedroom that feels like a cozy, comforting cocoon is just as important to me as a warm and welcoming living room/kitchen, and that starts with elevating our bedscaping.

Don’t get me wrong—I love our tried-and-true set of white waffle-texture bedding, but the time has come to switch things up.

I’m loving the look of muslin fabrics, earthy tones, and voluminous duvets and pillows to dive into, and bringing the color palette of our living room to the bed will also make the space feel more cohesive.

(Finally) Doing Those Decor DIYS

I’ll be honest: I’ve been collecting postcards, train tickets, and restaurant napkins from our travels for a few years now, with plans to make collage-style frames. The longer I put the project off, the more it feels like keeping clutter, and our walls remain tragically undecorated.

Other DIY home decor projects on our list are making air dry clay candles, and mounting photos with wallpaper samples inspired by my South Asian culture.

With all the supplies already on hand, the only thing left to do is commit the time to actually completing them—which will mean filling our home with more personality, plus clearing out major cabinet space.

Adding Atmosphere Through Home Fragrance

I believe fragrance can make or break a space, especially when hosting.

After seeing scent layering predicted by Pinterest as one of this year’s biggest beauty trends, I’m planning to put a home-focused twist on the concept by exploring ways to combine the notes in my candles with the essential oil blends for my diffusers.