We give you a tour of the top 2021 trends, room by room 

The pandemic reconnected many of us with our homes in new ways, so practicality and style are key for the year ahead

Linear kitchens: Bora down-draft extractor. For suppliers, bora.com. Includes Aubie Fitted Furniture (Togher, Cork), aubiefittedfurniture.com

So here we are at the end of a trainwreck of a year. Still, if there was one thing the pandemic did for us, it reconnected many of us with our homes in new and intimate ways. In 2021 our creativity and enthusiasm to refresh those precious, protective spaces I think will define a landmark year in design, retail and interiors.

Here are five of my top picks for the style to put a fascinating new spin on things for 2021.

LINEAR KITCHENS

Downdraft extraction makes huge sense, tugging steam and odours down through the counter/stovetop rather than pulling it up through the air. With the air stream right there where it’s being created, the need for elaborate hoods, light fittings and wall vents is blown away, and this is in keeping with the fashion for long runs of floor-mounted cabinetry and less wall hanging visual interrupters.

Linear kitchen/diner: Neptune's Harrogate Dining Table, in Seasoned Oak, €805. Wardley Oak Dining Chair €385. Whittington Hemp Rug €360. 

Downdraft extractors have a fan speed that’s higher than the rising speed of steam and vapours (around one metre per second) so they are ahead of the fug once tripped. 

The electronics of the unit are separated from the extractor’s airflow, so up to 300ml of liquid can spill into it without damage or potential safety issues.

Another moment for the kitchen 2021 is the inclusion of raw and lightly finished native wood as that second muted, natural tone. This organic honesty stands calm and familiar against those molten, seamless metres of composite counters, bruised “barely” black cabinetry and poured concrete floors. 

Try 18th century-led country furnishings with pure lines and/or hones wood worktops in your contemporary kitchen/diner confection.

Bedroom: Eigg bedhead, an outrageous installation cooled by sage green walls, not seen once you're in bed but fabulous to wake up to. Around €1,500. Inspiration from The Headboard Workshop (UK).

BEDROOM

Get fruity. Lockdown lounging is being warmed up with dull orange as a leading accent colour in the New Year. 

I think this is at least in part due to the exploration of Boho 1970s tunes by leading designers, and tangled up in the bedroom with rattan, gold, pale woods and velvet — it’s a sophisticated sexy way to juice up a neutral space.

Orange is a dangerous colour to get wrong, and if you stray too far from its natural apparitions, it could keep you up at night. Look for a relaxed, pumpkin colours, ambers, silver shot kingfishers, not searing, sugar-soaked tangerine over every available surface.

Styling burnt orange with black and white can be quite stark — try rain greys and white first. Orange is the natural companion of silver rattan weaves and green live plants. Pursue ivies, lavenders, ferns and even a rubber plant (ficus elastic) to stoke late century luxury and your sense of well being and latent creativity. Try floating small plants up onto wall shelves. Philodendrons and Snake Plants are not un-killable, but 007s in the face of neglectful behaviour.

Punching up the bathroom. Louise Dear's utterly fantastic pop art wall panels from Victorian Plumb. Rear printed on acrylic, it can fit neatly over existing materials including tile and requires sealing obviously but hear this: No grout whatsoever. Prices from €799. Victorianplum.com.

BATHROOM PANELS

Big bold, and refusing to behave, there’s a new demand for colour and wit in our formerly well-behaved bathrooms. If graphic tiles are not enough for you — panels and wallpaper can open up a whole new area of full-on, arty decoration to blow the floating vanity straight off the wall and anchor the room.

The most exquisite rebellion against the monochrome or vanilla float away bathroom for my money is Louise Dear’s utterly fantastic pop art wall panels from Victorian Plumb.

Rear-printed on acrylic, it can fit neatly over existing materials including tile and requires sealing obviously but hear this — no grout whatsoever. Prices from €799. Victorianplum.com

WINTER BALCONIES

This year has seen many of us perched outside, 2m apart, sipping coffee and socializing in town in the only way Level 5 would allow. Stapled into our homes, outdoor spaces have retained an importance even into the colder months, and we’re starting to see a new interest in wrapping up and sitting out après-ski style even after the first frosts. 

Garden furniture with all-weather upholstery, storm lanterns to shield LED strands or tea lights, windshields, and even faux planting are creating new all year rooms outdoors.

If you have a balcony, try making up a chest right inside the door to store easy to assemble additions to a small patio set — faux sheepskin throws, and a warming couple of plaid blankets and a seat pad or two. If you have a sheltered patio close to the house, your chiminea and even the BBQ can be put into service on bright, dry days. Have extra charcoal, wood, pellets, or gas on hand as it takes more fuel to get to temperature in cold weather. Jysk does a range of polypropylene indoor outdoor rugs or try rugs.ie

Mindful living spaces: Open all your senses in your 2021 living spaces. What does serenity look and feel like to you? Joe Browns flannel fleece throw, €28. Similar here in Ireland, Scatterbox Halo, €80, arnotts.ie

MINDFUL LIVING SPACES

There are a number of emotionally led trend forecasts for 2021 that swirl around the notion of the mindful interior — places that help us to surrender to the present moment.

It’s not as complicated and you don’t have to twist yourself into a Yoga pretzel to appreciate a softer place to fall — that interface with the world. 

Finding yourself might be taking one room and introducing softer, rounder shapes, more touchable texture and less visual weight (free of heavy carving, hysteric pattern and look-at-me character). A room can be less confronting while retaining an elegant, calming air.

Open-plan, neutral spaces favouring a lot of white, studio art, natural accessories, and often shorn of showy technology are the magazine take on stress-free surroundings. 

Examine everything you put into the room in terms of what makes you happy — meaningful objects you can look at for years without tiring. This could result in something far from hermetical; even Instagram “grand maximalism”.

If you’re feeling uneasy in the spaces you’ve composed over Christmas, explore what soul-nourishing, domestic serenity would really look like to you.

The Mindful Home, Dr Craig Hassed Exisle, €28, Eason has a wonderful Christmas or celebration in whatever way you do over mid-winter. As always, it has been my honour to write for you this year. See you on the other side.