Photo: Formica Canada
As part of NeoCon 2025 and Design Days 2025, Formica Group engaged top voices from the materials and furniture sectors to explore emerging design trends—and how innovation, sustainability and collaboration are reshaping the spaces we live and work in.
The new Design Conversations video features expert reflections on the themes and challenges that will guide design from 2026 onward.
“Interior design trends are constantly evolving, but one thing remains the same: design is always about improving the way we live, work and experience the spaces around us,” said Christelle Locat-Rainville, marketing manager – Canada and commercial sustainability leader. “Formica is proud to present this video, which brings together the voices of passionate experts and offers an inspiring look at the future of design and how it continues to evolve in step with our needs and values.”
Trends shaping tomorrow
The first thing you notice when you step into a room is often the colour. It envelops you, sets the mood, and defines the atmosphere. Designers are embracing bolder colour stories—palettes are widening, and combinations are multiplying. Reddish purples meet deep violets; orange-yellows mingle with cleaner hues. Alongside these vivid tones, gentler and more nuanced shades are also finding their place, creating spaces that feel calm and comforting. The goal is to shape palettes that feel natural and intuitive—environments where people simply feel at ease.
Nature remains a profound source of inspiration. Colours drawn from the outdoors, organic textures, and rounded forms remind us of our deep connection to the natural world. Designers are recreating sensory experiences—sounds, scents and textures—that ground and soothe us.
At the same time, technology and AI are becoming part of our interiors, giving rise to a fascinating paradox: we seek to unplug from the digital by reconnecting with the living world, even as we use technology to enhance our everyday lives. Contemporary design is exploring that tension—between the organic and the digital, the natural and the intelligent.
More and more designers are embracing a multisensory approach. Design today is conceived for people in the full range of their perceptions - it’s no longer just about what we see, but about engaging all the senses. Colour, texture, acoustics and even scent all play a part in how a space makes us feel and how it supports our well-being.
Another key direction is the pursuit of flexible, adaptable and sustainable spaces. People want environments that can evolve with them - whether to enhance mobility, comfort or collaboration. Modular furniture answers that need: with a few core elements, it’s possible to create countless configurations and transform a space as lifestyles and priorities shift.
Beyond trends, a genuine movement is gaining ground—one rooted in sustainability and social responsibility. Designers and manufacturers alike are working to create products built to last, reducing consumption and environmental impact. Producing less but producing better has become a guiding principle of contemporary design, one that resonates deeply with today’s consumers.
