Zooey Deschanel and Jonathan Scott: Period perfection meets future interior trends

Renovation and reinvention are on the horizon. Carol O'Callaghan takes her cue from the trendwatchers

Strong colours are here to stay in 2026 with jewel tones and dark shades trending as seen here in this roomscape by Dfs.

IMAGINE meeting the love of your life and getting a perfect home interior all at the same time.

It’s wish fulfilment for interiors fans to be related to a building contractor and get all those house jobs prioritised at weekends, although often the reality is actually something quite different when they’re too busy fixing other people’s building problems than attending to their own snag list.

The Edegal 2.5-seater sofa from Jysk adds a touch of the Pantone Colour of the Year 2026.

Doesn’t everyone know the plumber with the leaking tap at home and the plasterer who never got around to grouting the kitchen wall tiles, but their clients’ homes are finished to perfection?

One person who looks like she has it all sorted is actress Zooey Deschanel, since she met and got engaged to one half of Sky/HBO’s Property Brothers, Jonathan Scott. According to her Instagram, he won’t stop working on their house until everything is perfect.

Perfection in this instance is the renovation of their New York duplex, which represents the growing trend for creating period-inspired interiors. Not the beloved and timeless mid-century modern look this time, although that shows no signs of disappearing, but Victorian and Georgian influences which suggests we’re all glued to The Gilded Age and The Forsytes.

Walk down a city street at this time of year, just when the light is fading, but no one has yet drawn their curtains, and you get a peek into the interior.

It’s irresistible, as if the eye has a life of its own, triggering a response from our legs to slow to an amble and take in the view.

Almost universally, if the house has undergone a renovation, the interior will be colour-drenched over plaster walls or wood panelling, or it’s a totally neutral finish in warmer creams. But there’s nothing quite so anti-climactic for us interiors types than Pantone Colour of the Year. Last month’s hype culminated in the announcement of a neutral called Cloud Dancer for 2026. It amounts to a white with a warmish edge, elevated by its potential to be a blank canvas for introducing warmer, stronger colours and patterns.

Having gone from minimalism to maximalism, we’re finally finding middle ground with the 2026 trend for minimalism. Colourwise, it’s neither jewel-toned nor neutral but takes us on a revisit to the ‘90s favourite terracotta, although it’s more subtle than the orange undertones of that decade. Think Tuscan holidays under the sun with light wood accents and ochre and creamy colourways in accessories.

Get the look

Fleetwood’s Amber paint is a saturated warm tone for a cosy living room, or the more tan-toned Fired Clay offers an updated version of the 90s preference for orange tones; €56 for 2.5 litres. Add the Cloud blue Bellini cushion or the Soho with its tan, blue and ochre colourway for a contemporary interpretation of a classic 70s colour combination; €29, EZ Living Interiors.

This particular colour family is part of a wider trend for 90s nostalgia, which has been popping up in slouchy sofas and florals, fuelled by social media where millennials are showing off their ‘90s vintage finds, harking back to the homes they grew up in. As interior trends go around in 30-year cycles, a throwback to the ‘90s was inevitable.

Blend the florals of this trend with the trend for darker tones in the Eternal Weave Black Wallpaper; €250 per roll, Grahamandbrown.com.