2024 Faire Forecast: Home decor with personality

This post is part of the Faire Forecast: our predictions for the buying trends that will shape 2024.

Last year’s homes were a minimalist’s paradise, characterized by their clean lines, soft neutrals, and sleek fixtures. Like “coastal grandmother” for your living room. But we predict that shoppers will be moving away from this simplicity in 2024. Where there was once an aspiration to have a streamlined, Nancy Meyers movie–inspired home, now we expect to find touches that exude the anti-perfect. Why? Life isn’t perfect, so it’s time to lean in.

As consumers seek to express their unique aesthetics, they’ll be looking for quirky knick-knacks and eccentric accessories, like mismatched vintage glassware (already trending for the holiday season). The clean lines of last year will be accented by blob mirrors, soft neutrals will be replaced by bright and bold colors, and sleek fixtures will be topped with mesmerizing candles. These maximal pieces capture the spirit of shoppers right now: showing their joyful, unapologetic zest for life. Living Spaces calls it “being a little extra.” We call it personality.

In Q3 2023, 13 of the top 20 products in the Home Accents and Wall Decor categories (excluding holiday-related decor) were quirky and bold items.

“We’re definitely feeling the boldness of Barbie,” says Nicole Leinbach, a retail industry expert and founder of Retail Minded. She has noticed this “Barbie renaissance” trend across multiple retail categories for generations young and old. Even Gen-Z kids who didn’t grow up playing with Mattel’s superstar are empowered by the Barbie movie’s anti-perfect stance to make their spaces as wild and free as their personalities.

How’s this trend taking shape on Faire? In Q3 2023, 13 of the top 20 products in the Home Accents and Wall Decor categories (aside from holiday-related decor) were quirky and bold items, like brightly colored lamps, handmade velvet mushrooms, cat-shaped clocks, and playful signs. Faire shoppers have also been looking at eye-catching dinnerware—brands with the highest year-over-year growth between September 2022 and September 2023 include those selling plates with fun illustrations.

As you’re looking to fill out your retail store or design new pieces for your wholesale business, use this year to take risks on colors, shapes, symmetry, and patterns. Go big, go bold. Take as much pleasure in creating and stocking as shoppers do picking up new vibrant pieces for a home that is uniquely theirs.