Discover how joyful design transforms homes into sanctuaries of self-expression and well-being.
Ode to Joy: Designing Spaces That Spark Happiness
Each season, we begin with a single, powerful consumer sentiment—an emotional undercurrent shaping how people want to live, express, and connect. From that cultural insight, we build an overarching aesthetic direction and bring it to life through four distinct design themes. This season, that core sentiment is joy.
In a time when the world feels uncertain and overstimulated, joy has become a design imperative. Not superficial happiness—but deeply felt, personal joy. The kind that’s rooted in memory, color, comfort, and creativity. Ode to Joy captures this emotional shift, spotlighting the growing consumer desire to feel good at home—to surround themselves with things that uplift, calm, and spark delight.
This movement isn’t about one visual style—it’s about an emotional lens. Through bold palettes, tactile materials, handcrafted objects, and unexpected play, joy is shaping interiors that feel alive, expressive, and full of meaning.
A Season of Feeling, Color, and Creative Freedom
What is Ode to Joy?
A wave of optimism is sweeping through interior design. Dubbed Ode to Joy, this rising movement embraces humor, color, and unapologetic expression—transforming homes into havens of happiness. In the face of a turbulent socio-economic climate, joy has become a form of rebellion—and refuge.
According to Pinterest Predicts 2024, terms like “dopamine decor” and “kitschy kitchens” (or Kistchens) saw double-digit search increases, signaling a widespread craving for playful, expressive design. This trend reflects a larger shift, seen in editorial features across Elle Decor, Domino, and AD, where joyful color palettes, eccentric statement pieces, and nostalgic touches are redefining the idea of "home."
According to Pinterest Predicts 2024, terms like “dopamine decor” and “kitschy kitchens” (or Kistchens) saw double-digit search increases, signaling a widespread craving for playful, expressive design. This trend reflects a larger shift, seen in editorial features across Elle Decor, Domino, and AD, where joyful color palettes, eccentric statement pieces, and nostalgic touches are redefining the idea of "home."
Why does it matter?
Today’s consumer is emotionally driven. They’re not just buying a chair—they’re buying a feeling. Joy has become a commercial driver, offering a direct antidote to burnout culture. With wellness expanding beyond self-care into environmental care, interiors that elevate mood are now top of mind.
AD PRO reports a spike in consumer demand for interiors that “spark comfort, memory, and delight,” while Vogue Living highlights how fashion’s playful silhouettes are crossing into homeware, driving fresh energy into upholstery, décor, and surface design. In short, the joy economy is here—and it’s colorful.
AD PRO reports a spike in consumer demand for interiors that “spark comfort, memory, and delight,” while Vogue Living highlights how fashion’s playful silhouettes are crossing into homeware, driving fresh energy into upholstery, décor, and surface design. In short, the joy economy is here—and it’s colorful.
How is it manifesting in the home?
From color-drenched spaces to childlike sculptural accents, the home is evolving into a stage for self-expression and experimentation. Inspired by fashion’s embrace of maximalism, interiors are taking bold turns: squiggle-legged furniture, plush pastel sofas, mixed-media tables, and eye-popping wall art.
This isn't just aesthetic—it's emotional. As author Grant McCracken notes in Return of the Artisan, “consumers are shifting from passive buyers to creative producers,” favoring handmade, meaningful objects over mass production. This ethos is echoed in Sight Unseen’s latest designer round-up, which celebrates playful tactility, unexpected forms, and irreverent materials.
From rainbow-tiled backsplashes to fringe-covered lounge chairs, this is a movement for the senses. For buyers and brands alike, joy isn't just a feeling—it’s a design direction with momentum.
This isn't just aesthetic—it's emotional. As author Grant McCracken notes in Return of the Artisan, “consumers are shifting from passive buyers to creative producers,” favoring handmade, meaningful objects over mass production. This ethos is echoed in Sight Unseen’s latest designer round-up, which celebrates playful tactility, unexpected forms, and irreverent materials.
From rainbow-tiled backsplashes to fringe-covered lounge chairs, this is a movement for the senses. For buyers and brands alike, joy isn't just a feeling—it’s a design direction with momentum.
We’ve translated this sentiment into four trend narratives, each exploring a unique expression of joyful living:
SAZÓN
Sazón channels global vibrancy and cultural pride, drawing from lush tropical traditions and artisanal craft to create interiors infused with rhythm and warmth.
Sazón channels global vibrancy and cultural pride, drawing from lush tropical traditions and artisanal craft to create interiors infused with rhythm and warmth.
CLUB KITSCH
Club Kitsch revisits the past through a playful lens, blending retro Americana, pastel hues, and whimsical forms into spaces that celebrate humor, nostalgia, and carefree charm.
Club Kitsch revisits the past through a playful lens, blending retro Americana, pastel hues, and whimsical forms into spaces that celebrate humor, nostalgia, and carefree charm.
BOHEME
Boheme brings poetic decadence into the everyday, merging Art Nouveau ornamentation with eclectic storytelling to create richly expressive, emotionally layered spaces.
Boheme brings poetic decadence into the everyday, merging Art Nouveau ornamentation with eclectic storytelling to create richly expressive, emotionally layered spaces.
NEW FRONTIER
New Frontier reconnects us with nature and ritual, translating slow living and countryside calm into interiors grounded in texture, seasonality, and soulful simplicity.
New Frontier reconnects us with nature and ritual, translating slow living and countryside calm into interiors grounded in texture, seasonality, and soulful simplicity.
Together, these four themes form the creative framework of Ode to Joy—a methodology rooted in consumer insight, but brought to life through design that’s deeply felt and beautifully personal.
This is joy, reimagined for the home.