Table Top: Trend Forecaster Naomi Pollard
Want to know the future of your home? Meet the trend forecasting industry's own design detective, Naomi Pollard, and discover her top predictions for interiors in 2021.
Like a cultural Geiger counter, Naomi Pollard forecasts the seismic trends that shape our lives as Head of Home & Interiors at Trend Bible. A master of the dark arts of forecasting, she predicts our future obsessions with such accuracy that designers craft entire collections around her insights.
From sifting through TikTok videos to attending textile fairs, Naomi translates the world of trends to leading brands, media and clients from across the globe. During lockdown, she spoke to Table Top about her favourite movements and creating more joyous homes in 2021.
How have homeowners embraced curation in their interiors?
"The curation trend started as the shelfie in 2016 or 2017, and that's when we first noticed those weak signals of people posting photos of their home in the same way they would post photos of their fashion outfits. We now pay as much attention to what your home says about us as a person as what we wear or the car we drive. It's about crafting that identity. In lockdown that got absolutely accelerated and it’s an existing trend that's being supercharged by the fact we were all at home looking into other people’s homes."
Do you feel we are an era of multiple interior trends rather one omnipresent look?
“We are now working on Winter 2022 (so we are working quite far ahead) and this is the main thing that we've noticed - this extremism in design. That taps right into that curation trend, and this is very much about: my home says something about who I am."
"It’s a fashion mindset that one day you might want what to wear something prairie, cosy and comforting, and the next day you might want to wear a leather jacket."
"It's that playing with identity through design and I think anything that’s not boring is the way forward."
What can interior obsessives look forward to in 2021?
"We have gone through a decade of muted minimalist stylishness that actually got a bit boring in the end. There is still a huge demographic, particularly in the UK, that like that Mrs Hinch style and have that real high street mentality. But the common trends, the things that are coming after that, are drawing from the New London Fabulous movement, and it has this real bold use of colour."
"People are really doing interesting things with paint in their house, and they aren’t just adding a feature wall. Rather, they are painting areas where they offset colour next to a door or behind a piece of wall art."
"People are less worried about getting it right, and they are more concerned with doing something that they personally love, rather than something that is going to fit in."
Entering into 2021, which interior trend are you most excited about?
Despite the constant lure of Twitter and Instagram, Naomi's home offers a calmer reality. She spends a lot of time reading, listening, discussing and taking notes. "Instead of reading articles, I can listen to podcasts, eliminate screen time and get out for a walk – so I always have my headphones nearby."
Further, well-being has taken centre stage in her life, and the forecaster's notebook, plus Muji pen are always on hand. "My favourite notebook is green – I think colour has a huge impact on our mood and wellbeing and there’s nothing quite as likely to get me feeling productive as a bright notebook."
The psychological benefits of colour constantly crop up in Naomi's conversation and highlight her most positive forecast for 2021. "The focus will be on how colours make us feel, and homeowners are looking at what can fill them with joy. That will play through to pattern and maximalism. Plus, there will be plenty of big, bold colour and pattern wallpaper.