On Instagram, the devil is in the details. An overarching design trend like #boho or #midcenturymodern may make you yearn to decorate, but it takes a specific detail like #crushedvelvet, #lineart, or #loveseat to seduce you into making the first move.
We call details like these mini-trends. These colour combos, shapes, textures, and patterns are lighting up Instagram right now – and they look great in close-up. They also equip you to design a room that looks a little more unique than a flat-out #traditional or #coastalliving refurb.
But what are the hottest mini-trends? And where are they mini-trending?
HouseholdQuotes.co.uk crunched the numbers to find the most-tagged Instagram mini-trends in every part of the world right now. We also identified the most disproportionately popular mini-trend in every part of the UK.
KEY FINDINGS
- The most-tagged trend in our study is #lineart, with 6,337,218 posts.
- The #houseplants, #polkadots, #diffuser, and #driedflowers mini-trends have each been tagged over a million times.
- The most British décor trend is #crushedvelvet. 61.97% of all uses of this tag originate in the UK.
- The location with the highest occurrence of a mini-trend is London, where #houseplants were tagged 1,837 times.
Instagram’s Interior Décor Mini-Trends at a Glance
We scoured a range of authoritative home design publications to compile a long list of mini-trends. Then we identified the 15 hottest trends in interior design, according to the number of posts for each hashtag.
There’s a mini-trend for every aspect of your interior design: rattan for furniture, wood for fixtures, polka dots for anything you can stick a pattern on. For the realm of the chair, see: #loveseat. A loveseat is a cushioned bottom-sanctuary that’s bigger than an armchair but smaller than a sofa. Perfect for a 17th-century fashionista in an oversized dress, or for cuddling up in your ‘bijou’ urban flat.
Our number one mini-trend is more versatile. Simple #lineart illustrations feature on art prints, upholstery designs, wall murals – anywhere you can put a pattern or a picture (and without risking a colour clash). Line art has a timeless quality. Famous ‘line artists’ include da Vinci and Picasso, Andy Warhol and John Lennon. Buy a print from a contemporary line artist, get printed cushion covers, or draw your own!
Which Instagram Décor Ideas Are Trending Across the World?
Our heat map shows how popular each mini-trend is in each part of the world. Zoom in and out to your area of choice, and click a mini-trend button to show how many times each hashtag has been used in that region.
London, New York, and Paris are the mini-trend-setters of the world. We found that while #tapestries are an international phenomenon, highly represented in these cities as well as Jaipur, Milan, and Cairo. Many cultures have a history of tapestries, and they are “perfect as a focal point for a room” according to Elle Decor.
The #livingwall has mostly failed to grow beyond America (disclaimer: living walls are also big in London). These vertical gardens have become a ‘fixture’ of commercial interior and exteriors over the past decade. Now, living walls are finally making their way into private homes – the logical next step of the #houseplants boom. But houseplants still rule: we found 1,269 #houseplants posts compared to just 80 #livingwall posts in New York City – although NYC is the second most common location for both hashtags.
Which Instagram Interior Ideas Are Hot Around the UK?
Finally, we calculated which of our mini-trends are most specific to each UK region. To do this, we found which mini-trends were hashtagged disproportionately often in each region compared to the national average.
The Midlands are upholstered with #crushedvelvet from east to west. The crushed velvet look – and feel – is at once versatile and super-specific, vintage and futuristic, luxurious and (these days) durable. Who can blame Midlanders for wanting to relax in style and comfort?
Instagrammers in the East of England value #rattanfurniture 6.68% against a national average of 5.12%. Looking for a wardrobe in Watford? Give wicker a whirl! Nursery furniture in Norwich? Give your kid that ‘70s look! Rattan is back in a big way, and not just to the east of Luton. The woven palm material taps right into the trend towards natural aesthetics, and makes a space feel airy and spacious as well as retro-stylish.
Build your Ideal Room, Hashtag-by-Hashtag
Perfect Instagram interiors can be overwhelming when you’re glancing through your feed, looking for inspiration. Every trending “look” is a mountain to be climbed. Start instead with the mini-trending details, and you’re sure to have a room worthy of Instagramming before long – a room you can continue to embellish and develop as new trends come and go.
METHODOLOGY
What are mini-trends?
Mini-trends are interior design trends – specifically, subtle unique shapes, colour combinations, and small details that are popular alternatives to wide-sweeping interior design looks.
How did we decide which mini-trends to analyse in our study?
We researched and reviewed the latest interior design trends across numerous home design publications, and identified smaller trends within them.
To ensure we were working with authoritative sources we only took information from sites that were reputable publishers in the home space. We prioritised information from sites where we could assess the author’s credentials through their on-site bibliography or their social media profiles. This allowed us to identify a long list of mini-trends using lists from ELLE Décor, The Times, Living Etc and other publications (see full list of sources below).
Where did all the data come from, and how did we use it?
We collected data from over 3 million Instagram posts that used a hashtag relating to one of the trends on our list. We then narrowed our long list of mini-trends down to the 15 most popular trends on Instagram (based on the number of posts for each trend‘s hashtag) and collected location data for each post. This allowed us to map out where around the world each trend was being posted about.
How did we determine which mini-trends were the most popular across the UK?
To determine which trends were most uniquely popular in each region of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland we compared the average popularity of each trend across the UK as a whole to the popularity of that trend in the region. For example, in the UK as a whole #rattanfurniture accounts for 5.53% of all trending posts. However, in the East of England #rattanfurniture accounts for 6.68% of all trending posts, demonstrating that it‘s above-averagely’ popular in this region.
Sources
Instagram. (2020). Instagram. instagram.com
Ilovewallpaper. (2020). Filtered Homes. ilovewallpaper.co.uk
Designsponge. (2020). Mini Trends. designsponge.com
Tonelli, L & Carter, K. (2020). DESIGN TRENDS IN 2020. elledecor.com
Decorilla. (2020). Interior Design Trends 2020. decorilla.com
Burroughs, K. (2020). 20 interiors trends for 2020. thetimes.com
Mazza, E. 2020. 2020 Design Trends. dailymail.com
Realhomes. (2020). Interior design ideas . realhomes.com
Parker, M. (2020), 34 Home Design Trends. houzz.com
Lauren, A. (2020). Twelve Interior Design Trends. forbes.com
Doherty, R. (2020). Lockdown Trends. livingetc.com