What we want to see more of in 2025

2025… it feels like an auspicious year, a quarter of a century! Over the last week I’ve had a lot of fun scouring the internet to get some insights into what this year may bring for the world of interiors. I am so inspired and so excited to let you know that one of the main themes seems to be individuality and authenticity. With everything that has happened over the last few years and with what the world is facing, our homes, more than ever, are our havens. They need to reflect our own unique style and be less cookie-cutter. Our homes should be filled with history, character and personality, a place to recharge and fill our cup.

Whilst we don’t necessarily like to follow trends, we prefer our designs to be timeless and ageless with a sense of permanence, there are definitely some slow-burning design characteristics that we are loving and will look to introduce, or continue to use in our designs.

The Pantone® colour for 2025 is Mocha Mousse. A warming, brown hue imbued with richness, it nurtures us with its suggestion of the delectable qualities of chocolate and coffee, answering our desire for comfort. Combining this colour with warm creams, dark chocolates, and burnt coppers is a beautiful answer for those who love a neutral colour palette.

We’ve been moving away from a palette of more cool grey based tones for several years now. The use of these warm tones is cosy and welcoming, like a warm hug.

There are no straight lines in nature and we’ve always loved to work with circles and curves in our designs. It’s a wonderful way to soften the lines and angles found in most architecture - walls, windows, doors - although even a lot of these are being created in arches and soft curves right now. We’re continuing to embrace this attribute as more and more of our suppliers are producing stunning curved furniture and accessories. With an amazing group of skilled furniture manufacturers and contractors at our fingertips we can custom design pieces if we can’t find exactly what we want. The curved and organic forms emphasise the warm, comforting environment that people are craving.

Alongside natural form we continue to love natural materials like wood, wool, linen, stone etc. But we’re juxtaposing those earthy textures with the gorgeous shine of metal and glossy, highly lacquered paint finishes.

Another thing that I’m so happy about is the normalisation of rich, deep colours in our interiors. This is especially exciting for those of us who crave a touch more colour in our homes. Colour can be just as sophisticated as the beautiful neutral palettes of above. I’m seeing a lot of rich reds, burgundys, and deep, browny pinks, as well as our favourite earthy greens and steely blues.

The high gloss paint finish on the cabinetry in this room is contrasted with the dryness of the velvet sofa and the wool rug. And take note of the built-in bookshelves, as custom built-in furniture is another feature we’ll continue to see in 2025.

Coloured kitchens are here to stay, no longer do you have to stick to plain white especially now we’re using a lot of integrated appliances that are hidden behind cabinetry doors. A lot of kitchen cabinetry is designed to look more like furniture.

Natural elements like wood and stone are still popular and look stunning surrounded by rich colours. Don’t forget that art isn’t confined to the living and bedrooms, bringing artwork into traditionally utilitarian space such as kitchens, bathrooms and laundries is a way to emphasise your personality and individuality.

Just another way we’re seeing curves used in our homes is the resurgence of bullnose bench tops. They provide a smooth, comfortable surface to lean against, accentuating a sense of warmth and safety in our homes.

In the bathroom below they’ve used a double bullnose bench top and repeated the look at the top of the splash back. In both images the combination of green with dark brown wood is divine and borrowed straight from nature.

Combining red and green together might be a scary concept for some, but because they’re complementary colours it makes perfect sense. I love the boldness and playfulness of the kitchen below, it’s a great example of the unique, personality-driven design we hope to see more of. The burgundy and cream glossy tiles surrounding the cooktop are the hero, and complemented beautifully by the sage green cabinets and peachy pink walls.

The use of scallops, ruffles and curved edges will be prevalent this year. Using them in small touches such as lamp shades and cabinet handles is a great way to introduce this look into your home. There’s an emphasis on hand crafted pieces, treasures and trinkets in your home that bring you joy and spark memories.

Built-in furniture will always make a home look more finished and intentional. We’ve transformed many of our clients’ homes by designing custom built-in pieces to fill nooks and small spaces. Storage is always welcomed, especially clever storage that utilises the space well. The cabinetry below in a child’s room is not only fantastic storage, but showcases what we want to see more of - bold colours teamed with pattern and personality. They key to mixing this much bold colour is to keep the palette reigned into three or four hues, in this case - red, green, blue and yellow.

Maximalism has been on the rise for a couple of years. The look we’re loving hints at maximalism… less cluttered, more brave and unique. The use of bold patterns; embellishments like ruffles, fringes and piping; sculptural forms and colour drenching.

To summarise, be bold but exercise restraint. Add curves, softness and fun into your home. Surround yourself with things that bring you joy. You do you! And if that means a disco ball inspired rangehood in your kitchen - go for it! I hope you leave this blog post filled with inspiration and excited about the possibilities.

JULL BATHROOM | BEFORE + AFTERS

At Bibby + Brady our aim is to create homes that are a joy to be in. Not only because they look beautiful, but because the functionality of the design changes they way our clients live, making everything easier and more enjoyable. The most rewarding part of the process for us is to see our designs come to life and witness the transformation of the space and life for it's owners.

This is a bathroom we recently renovated as part of a larger home renovation. The room is used by the children of the house and guests.

The layout of the room actually worked well and by leaving the plumbing in the same place we saved time and money for our clients. We wanted a fresh look but one that was still relevant to the character of the villa, so we removed the wall tiles and clad the entire room in Hardie™ Groove lining. We retained a dado rail but took it much higher to line up with the top of the tiles in the shower.

We chose a soft blue paint colour and wrapped it over the walls, ceiling, the door and all the frames to create a soothing, calm space. It also helps to blur the lines in a small room where there are a lot of elements.

The vanity is a similar shade to the walls and by having a wall hung option with air underneath, it creates a more spacious feeling in the small room. A custom mirror runs up to the dado line, and the curved bottom edges of the mirror along with the wall lights add a nice softness to juxtapose the straight lines. Touches of pink and watermelon red are a beautiful contrast to the blue.

The bath tucks neatly into the left hand corner of the room and features a lovely curved right edge, which, again, adds a softness to the small room.

We removed the old shower box and created a new modern shower with simple custom made glass walls on two sides. Inside we chose tiles with an artisanal handmade effect with subtle undulation. A large recessed niches provide a spot for shampoo and soap, with a smaller one below handy for shaving legs.

Because we kept the room very tonal and calm, we could afford to have a bit of fun with the floor tiles. The terrazzo-look tiles combine all of the colours in the rooms - blue/green, pink, black and white.

Colour always plays a big part in our designs, even if it's a neutral palette. By saturating the room in this soft blue we've created a calm, welcoming space, and have been selective with the small bursts of visual stimulation.

Despite what's going on in the world right now, home should always be a place for respite, to relax and recharge. We would love to help you create this in your home. Our goal will always be to effortlessly blend functionality with aesthetics, and make a house feel like a home. If you’re interested in working with us you can fill out this form to tell us more about your project.

See more of this beautiful family home here.

Cameron | Before + Afters

We recently finished '‘phase 2” of a renovation for some favourite clients of ours. The family of seven live in a beautiful old villa that they’re gradually breathing new life into, honouring her original architecture but creating better space, flow and aesthetics. We began this journey several years ago in the kitchen/dining area, which you can see here. This latest renovation involved transforming a mostly unused family room, a dark hallway, and the addition of a small downstairs bathroom.

You can see from this section of the plan (above) by our friends at Architecture HDT - old plan on the left, new on the right - how we’ve closed the entrance to the family (rumpus) room and added French doors, borrowed some space from an adjoining office to create the bathroom, removed an old structure outside the family room, and replaced the small window along this wall with the original office window.

The brief for the family room was to make a space where the whole family could come (or the kids and their friends) to hang out, watch movies, and to make it a more inviting room to be in.

Previously the room featured heavy wood panelling, and quite a large raised stage at the back of the room which cut the room in half, limiting the furniture placement. The TV was tucked into the corner of the room on an angled built-in cabinet with a large unused fireplace taking pride of place. The small leadlight window sits awkwardly on top of the panelling.

This large leadlight window in the adjoining office needed to come out to make room for the new bathroom, so it made perfect sense to use it in the family room to replace the smaller one and let it more light.

We knew we wanted to remove the heavy panelling, but the style of the home really suited wall panelling, so we drew up a plan for the builder to follow with new panelling that had a lighter touch. Brendan Grant (the builder) did a brilliant job with our panelling design, and the entire renovation of this lovely old girl.

Taking the stage right back to just two small steps gave us so much more floor space, so we had a large corner sofa custom made along with a large round ottoman that could tuck under the new oak coffee table. The ottoman can double as seating when needed, and the new orientation of the seating allowed the family to take in the beautiful view out to the pool and beyond. A large rug zones the seating area, a warm white softens and lightens the room, and new curtains in a gorgeous fabric are hung as high as possible for a sophisticated finish.

The wall which previously was the focal point of the room has had quite a transformation. The panelling, built-in units, fireplace and hearth were removed. One of the main things we were asked to do in this room was create a space for a baby grand piano that is a family heirloom but hadn’t previously been able to fit anywhere. We boxed out the right side of the wall, covering the fireplace and creating a built-in shelving unit, also creating a nook for the piano.

The open shelves gave our clients the opportunity to display some favourite pieces, adding personality and interest. The cupboards below store all those things you may not want on display.

The office was cut in half so that a bathroom could be added downstairs. Previously family and friends had to go all the way upstairs to find the first bathroom. The downstairs addition has been life-changing, and great for when the kids want to jump through the shower after a swim.

We chose to clad the walls in HardieGroove™ to add that texture, but also, because it’s suitable for bathrooms, it meant we didn’t need to tile these walls. We added plenty of hooks for all the kids’ towels.

Inside the shower we used a marble chevron tile that echoed the herringbone flooring in other areas of the house. The tapware is all brushed platinum which is a slightly more sophisticated finish compared to chrome.

The last part of this renovation involved transforming the hallway that leads from the kitchen and dining area down to the family room and new bathroom. It’s the centre of the home with stairs leading up to the second floor, but it had a dark feel, once again with a lot of heavy wood panelling.

We knew that by painting the panelling it would instantly lighten and brighten the space, but we understood that this was a big thing to ask our clients. So we created 3D imagery to show them what we wanted to do and this gave them the courage to take the plunge. You can see we kept some of the wood in its natural state, but painted all of the walls.

In the render we had lighter panelling with two shades darker on the walls above, but we ended up flipping that and are really pleased with the end results. New carpet was put throughout to add a cosiness and warmth, it also dulls the noise of kids running up and down the stairs.

Once again we’d like to thank our clients for allowing us to share their home with you all, and for the trust they put in us and our designs. We have loved watching their incredible home transform and seeing how much more functional, as well as beautiful, it has become for them.