DESIGNING FOR LONGEVITY: THE INTERIOR TRENDS SHAPING 2026
Warmer minimalism, tactile materials and wellness focused layouts are redefining luxury interiors as homeowners design for comfort, connection and lasting appeal.
4 min
Luxury interiors are entering a more thoughtful era. In 2026, design is shifting beyond aesthetics alone, with homeowners increasingly prioritising spaces that support wellbeing, longevity and personal expression.
As lifestyle expectations evolve and more owners choose to renovate rather than relocate, interiors are being shaped by a desire for homes that feel deeply restorative while maintaining timeless sophistication.
The result is a move away from stark minimalism toward what designers describe as “warm minimalism,” where softer palettes, layered textures, and natural materials create spaces that feel both refined and liveable.
Homes continue to play a central role in everyday life, influencing mood, productivity and overall health. According to CSR General Manager Marketing Renee McGinty, the growing focus on comfort and emotional connection is driving a major shift in design choices.
“While creating a sanctuary at home is still key, the way we shape our homes is evolving, with homeowners prioritising spaces that feel warmer, more personal and better aligned with long-term living,” McGinty says.
“This shift is reflected in the finishes homeowners are choosing, with a growing focus on materials that feel restorative and grounding.”
Material expression takes centre stage
Walls are emerging as a defining feature in modern interiors, evolving from passive surfaces into expressive design elements that add architectural depth and personality.
Smooth plasterboard finishes are increasingly used as a foundation for textural layering, integrated shelving, and subtle zoning that enhance both function and visual interest. At the same time, natural materials such as stone and timber are gaining prominence for their tactile and authentic qualities.
“Natural materials immediately bring us closer to nature,” McGinty explains. “Evoking the wabi-sabi aesthetic they bring variation, imperfection and warmth, characteristics that are increasingly valued in homes designed for long-term living.”
Stone feature walls and timber applications are being used to introduce weight and texture while maintaining a calm, neutral aesthetic. These materials are often paired with soft colour palettes and pared back finishes to create interiors that feel grounded and quietly luxurious.
Comfort meets performance
Beyond visual appeal, functionality and acoustic comfort are becoming central to high-end residential design. Homeowners are embracing intimate, cocooning spaces designed to enhance relaxation and reduce noise within increasingly multi-functional homes.
Acoustic wall panelling is gaining popularity as part of this evolution, delivering both performance benefits and architectural interest across living areas, bedrooms, home offices and media rooms.
“As interiors move toward warmer, more emotive spaces, we’re seeing greater emphasis on texture and materiality on our walls,” McGinty says. “Acoustic wall panelling allows homeowners and designers to add depth and tactility while also creating calmer, more comfortable environments that support the way people live today.”
Paired with moody colour palettes and woven finishes, acoustic materials are helping to elevate interiors while enhancing everyday comfort.
The return of architectural detailing
Subtle architectural detailing is also enjoying a resurgence, reflecting a broader movement toward craftsmanship and considered design.
Softly curved wall niches are emerging as a key feature, introducing sculptural forms that transform walls into focal design elements. Using flexible plasterboard solutions, these recessed features offer homeowners an accessible way to add individuality and sophistication.
“Architectural details like curved wall niches allow walls to take on a more expressive role within the home,” McGinty says. “Using flexible plasterboard to introduce subtle curves and recessed forms creates a timeless look for an achievable investment.”
Cornices are also being reinterpreted for contemporary homes. Rather than purely decorative, modern profiles are being used to soften transitions between walls and ceilings, delivering cohesion and balance throughout interior spaces.
Harnessing natural light
Light remains one of the most powerful tools in interior design, with natural light playing a vital role in enhancing mood, sleep, and overall well-being.
Skylights are increasingly incorporated into residential design to bring daylight into kitchens, living areas, and transitional spaces, helping interiors feel brighter, more spacious, and more connected to the outdoors.
“Natural light has a profound impact on the way a space feels,” McGinty says. “Skylights brighten darker areas, add visual interest and create a softer, more ambient glow that brings the outdoors in.”
As light moves throughout the day, it highlights architectural features and materials, adding depth and subtle visual movement within the home.
To maximise these benefits, premium plasterboard finishes are being selected to create smooth, even surfaces that help diffuse light and reduce glare. This allows natural materials such as timber, stone and soft furnishings to deliver warmth without overwhelming the overall design.
Designing with the future in mind
Ultimately, 2026 interior design trends reflect a broader shift toward intentional living. Rather than chasing short-lived style moments, homeowners are making considered investments in materials, layouts and architectural details that will remain relevant for years to come.
“2026 is also about investing wisely in the home, making changes that are sustainable and can last the distance, rather than becoming outdated quickly,” McGinty says.
The result is a new luxury aesthetic defined not by excess but by comfort, authenticity, and thoughtful design that supports how people want to live now and into the future.
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Artificial intelligence is making it easier than ever to build a business without building a team. As AI takes over coding, customer support, marketing, administration, and other day-to-day tasks, a growing number of solo founders are scaling startups to millions in revenue with few—or even no—employees. While the trend is lowering barriers to entrepreneurship, it is also reshaping hiring, raising questions about the future of work and how businesses will grow in the AI era.
5 min
Ben Broca launched a company last December that offers AI tools to entrepreneurs. He’s already added 10,000 paying customers and is on track to bring in $10 million in revenue this year.
One thing he hasn’t added: any other employees.
The 40-year-old is part of a class of entrepreneurs who are launching, and then often running, new companies on their own. Artificial intelligence tools answer Broca’s emails, help write and debug code, field requests from customers, sign up new subscribers and grant refunds when issues arise.
Broca relishes his ability to make whatever decisions he wants on his own, often from his sun-drenched Sausalito, Calif., living room. “I think compromises make lukewarm results,” he said.
Once upon a time, running a business of a certain size required a team. AI is turning that assumption upside down, and more aspiring entrepreneurs are going it alone.
An analysis by the payments company Stripe shows there are thousands of solo operators on the company’s platform that are generating over $1 million in revenue, with their ranks doubling between 2023 and 2025. The number of solo operators crossing the $10 million threshold nearly tripled in that same span.
In the past, people without business contacts or particular savvy might not have known how to get their ideas off the ground, said Ernie Tedeschi, Stripe’s chief economist. “Now, AI can be a built-in business partner,” he said.
AI’s ability to handle various administrative tasks makes it potentially useful for launching solo businesses in many fields. But the technology’s ability to also handle key tasks in tech, like coding, make that field a particular hot spot.
Analyzing Census Bureau data, Bank of America Institute economist Taylor Bowley found that among all industries, new business applications in the information sector have seen the biggest percentage increase—nearly 45%—over the past year. At the same time, the rate of information-sector applicants saying they plan to hire workers has experienced the sharpest decline of any measured industry.
This Census dataset doesn’t track solo-operated businesses. But the numbers broadly show—in tech and beyond—that applications are flat among businesses likely to hire workers, but generally rising elsewhere. Economists say that’s a strong sign that solo operators are on the upswing.
“The bar for getting started has never been lower,” said Julian Weisser, who runs a San Francisco-based accelerator for solo founders working in tech. The accelerator—which offers founders seed money and mentorship in exchange for an equity stake—attracted 4,500 applicants for 10 slots made available in its most recent cycle, nearly five times the number it drew when it launched last May.
Going it alone with AI can still be surprisingly expensive. Broca said he was losing money on many customers’ accounts while paying to access Anthropic’s Claude to run his clients’ requests—that AI company, as well as others, charges based on usage. He has since switched to free open-source AI models from China.
Broca said he has raised $30 million from investors and, at the same time, has saved millions in salary since he hasn’t needed a team of software engineers.
Another risk: If it’s easy for one entrepreneur to launch an AI-assisted business, copying them can be easy, too. This creates anxiety for founders like Troy Johnston, who runs an AI-assisted business alone in Orlando, Fla.
“Everybody has the sword and we all have the ability to unsheathe Excalibur now,” said Johnston, 40, who used AI to code an app that helps people get the most out of credit card benefits. The company makes around $3,000 a month in profit, with no employees, and is continuing to grow.
What one-person businesses will mean for the labor market remains to be seen. Polling has shown Americans are worried that AI will replace jobs, and top economists are wrestling with that possibility, too. But AI is also creating lots of new jobs, and the go-it-alone entrepreneurs show how the technology can both open doors and limit employment opportunities.
“If everyone’s hiring less, but you get four times more firms, what does that do to head count?” said Rembrand Koning, an associate professor at Harvard Business School who studies entrepreneurship. He co-authored a recent study that found that among 50,000 startups the researchers examined, those focused on AI tended to operate with 25% fewer employees.
Koning also believes a soft hiring environment that’s left some people mired in long job searches has encouraged more to try their hand at launching businesses.
Some founders cite different motives. “It’s a perfect storm of post-pandemic burnout and a re-evaluation of one’s priorities, and also booming AI and a sense of what’s possible,” said Samir Ahmad, 39, who lives in Breinigsville, Pa.
Two years ago, Ahmad decided to leave the corporate job he had worked at Verizon for almost two decades to start a solo coaching and consulting business. He had been seeing social-media posts touting the ease and virtues of AI, which he used to chart a business plan and help with marketing. “It was like my chief of staff, a second in command,” he said.
The business ultimately petered out within months, though, and Ahmad is now back to a full-time corporate role with a utility company.
For Claire Vo, 41, AI helped her turn a passing impulse into a business. She was working full-time as a tech executive when she tapped AI in late 2023 to help code an app that would help her manage documentation and design for new products, with customers ranging from financial services to healthcare firms.
“I was copying and pasting from ChatGPT,” said Vo, who lives in San Francisco.
She put the app online for $1 a month, and within weeks people downloaded it thousands of times. Nearly three years later, Vo’s company—which she ran solo for nine months before hiring an engineer—now has 100,000 users and is on track to make seven figures in profit this year. AI handles the company’s marketing, sales and customer support.
While AI is a shortcut, Vo said her network and credibility in the industry were key. “I think people over-index on how easy AI is and under-index on how much I did to get to this point,” she said.
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