Presented by Marvin
In 2026, interior design is doubling down on self-expression. Our AD100 and AD PRO Directory members emphatically agree that the era of pared-back, monastic spaces ruled by neutral hues is over. We’re predicting more maximalism, more saturated shades, and more homes that put personality on full display. Eclecticism is in, and being built with warm, textured layers of color, pattern, and ornamented detail.
In this member-exclusive trend report, we explore the movement defining the year ahead. Personalized tilework is on the rise; old-world trimmings and passementerie are back in style; hyper-specific at-home amenities are building wellness routines into everyday living. Read on for the full industry outlook—and get ahead of the trends shaping design's next chapter.
- All the Extras: Trimmings Return with a Vengeance
- Watch: AD PRO Live: Interior Design Forecast 2026
- Beyond Wallpaper: How Walls Have Become Sculptural Statements
- So Long, Subway: The Rise of Custom Hand-painted Tile
- 11 Designer-Approved Tile Artists
- The Four Wellness Spaces Homeowners Want Now
- From Sensors to Safe Rooms, the Spectrum of Home Security Today
- Designer Debate: Does Wall-to-Wall Carpet Deserve a Comeback?
- Over and Out! The Trends Designers Won't Miss in 2026
All the Extras: Trimmings Return With a Vengeance
Not long ago, “clean-lined” was the design industry buzzword. No more: In the latter half of the 2020s, interiors are embracing a more-is-more mentality, where no cushion is complete without tufting, no curtain lacks a tassel, and every sofa seems to beg for a sweep of silk fringe. To achieve this look, designers are applying classic decorating techniques—passementerie, elaborate drapery and traditional upholstery methods—with a contemporary twist. To assure these old-school techniques feel fresh rather than fussy, AD PRO asked designers how they’re reimagining them for today.
Cording typically plays a supporting role in upholstery, quietly finishing seams and edges. But designers are increasingly using it as a statement element. For the New York City home of Zooey Deschanel and Jonathan Scott, AD100 designer Young Huh collaborated with workroom Stitch NYC to apply a zigzag of contrasting gold cording to the home’s centerpiece living room sectional, alongside fringe and tufting. Without these details, the armless, generously proportioned piece would read entirely contemporary. “A sectional is a modern idea,” Huh said in AD’s November 2025 issue. But with an inventive application of ornate extras, she “made it feel old-world.”
San Francisco–based AD PRO Directory designer Noz Nozawa says she likes incorporating cording in her custom upholstery projects, which “contribute texture and color in ways that invite you closer.” In her own living room, for example, the designer refreshed a bergère with a geometric-patterned fabric and outlined its form with crimson double welting.
“I feel like there can never be enough stripes or fringe or tassels in a house!” Emma Roberts declared in her Open Door video last year, as she toured AD through her Pierce & Ward-designed “grown-up dollhouse.” (Her Los Angeles home included not one, but two pairs of lamps with fringe-trimmed shades.) If the fringe movement was nascent in 2024, it’s now reaching maturity, adding movement to elegant contemporary furnishings.
On New York City’s Upper East Side, AD100 Studio Valle de Valle designed a double-sided sofa for an Ulla Johnson boutique. Not content with a single layer of fringe along the base, the studio doubled it for amplified impact. In Kate Rheinstein Brodsky’s family duplex, a velvet-covered borne settee in the living room sports a Samuel & Sons bullion fringe in split pea green—a color that firmly grounds the historically shaped piece in this era.
“Color scheme and motif bring fringe into today,” explains Adam Greco of New York design studio GrecoDeco, who recently embraced an array of fringe, tassels, and drapery for Villa Inkognito, a boutique hotel in Oslo, Norway. For clients hesitant to commit, Liam Dublin, director of AD PRO Directory firm Post Company, suggests starting small. “Reupholster a chair—or even part of one—in a contrasting fabric and add fringe along the base,” he says. “Small gestures like these introduce texture and detail without going over the top.”
Pairing dissimilar fabrics on single pieces of furniture allows designers to experiment with traditional techniques without total ornamental commitment. British designer Nicola Harding frequently uses this strategy. “Combining highest quality craftsmanship with a modest fabric brings both to life in a dynamic way,” says Harding, who often taps her own line of NiX ticking—historically a lining material—for a fresh look. Young Huh and Post Company employ similar strategies in their work.
Designer Max Rollitt, who owns a workroom in England specializing in traditional upholstery techniques, reminds designers not to overlook structural details when working with ornaments. “Even if it’s just the legs, which often are the only significant pieces of wood on show, they need to be well-manufactured, with interesting detail in the finish, the turning, or the castors,” he says.
Tassels have long decorated curtain tiebacks and valances, their meticulous knotting adding a flourish to window treatments. Today, designers are reimagining tassels’ tradition by playing with scale, color, and placement. This fall, Julian Sebban, founder of Parisian design studio Uchronia, designed candy-colored booths at the Paul Bert Serpette antiques market in Paris, where tassels line the arms and undersides of settees. One supersized tassel even forms a stool’s base. To balance a playful bow-shaped pink window valance in a private Paris residence, Sebban used a traditional tasseled tieback in the same shade—proving context is everything.
For the historic Lafayette Hotel in San Diego, which was recently reimagined by Post Company, the brief specified a “layered, transportive environment,” says Dublin. He employed tassels on channel-tufted banquettes in the lobby, bed canopies in guest rooms, and on-light fixtures throughout.
Where real tassels aren’t feasible, some designers are going faux. AD100 designer Fernando Santangelo applied a trompe l’oeil tassel wallpaper—Kubilai’s Tent by Iksel—to the bedroom walls of Fabiola Beracasa Beckman’s daughter at the family’s Greenwich Village town house. (He also accessorized the four corners of a foldable luggage rack with actual ones).
“Trim on a sculptural valance is very cool,” says designer Hester Hodde, who devised supermodel Paloma Elsesser’s AD cover-worthy home with Gregory Rockwell. And, she adds, “leading edge trim is always chic.”
Perhaps the most dramatic ornamental move is treating fabric as architecture, using drapery to define space, create intimacy, and add theatrical flair. At Villa Inkognito in Oslo, GrecoDeco placed gold pleated panels with generous header fringe behind a bed, turning drapery into a decorative headboard alternative.
At Hotel Saint Augustine in Houston, Post Company suspended sheer textiles floor-to-ceiling, using the drapery to delineate space and frame views. Other designers are swathing whole rooms in fabric, creating cozy cocoons, as Joseph Monsour did for actress Lana Condor.—Lila Allen
AD PRO LIVE: Interior Design Forecast 2026
Beyond Wallpaper: How Walls Have Become Sculptural Statements
Since Tim Butcher and Lizzie Deshayes cofounded Fromental in 2005, the luxury wall coverings company has become known for its exquisite hand-painted designs. But in recent years, even Fromental’s elaborate murals weren’t enough. “Wallpaper itself has become the focal point of a room,” says Butcher, “and now there’s an acceleration of just how luxurious it can be.” Fromental is creating wall coverings that extend physically beyond their surfaces—with embroidery, crystal appliqués, and dimensional detailing that transform walls into sculptural statements.
As Andrée Chalaron, an interior designer and project manager at Austin, Texas-based AD PRO Directory firm Amity Worrel & Co. puts it, walls have become “art you can touch.”
While aligned with the current trend toward maximalist spaces, these three-dimensional designs represent an evolution, says Butcher. “It’s a maximalism not in an over-the-top Tony Duquette kind of way, but rather of fine detailing and craftsmanship,” he says. Laura Cheung Wolf, founder of bespoke wall coverings company Lala Curio, agrees. “Today’s collectors crave layers of expression and tactility; they want to live within art,” she says. Her company creates silk wall coverings elaborately embroidered with faux pearls, mother of pearl paillettes, and gold thread.
Mother-daughter design duo Cindy Rinfret and Taylor Mattos, of Connecticut-based AD PRO Directory firm Rinfret, believe clients’ desire for artisan-level workmanship can be partly attributed to social media saturation. “We had this phase where Venetian plaster and limewash walls were huge, so people were dipping their toes into texture,” says Mattos. But now, “people are really interested in taking it to the next level.”
With numerous opportunities for customization, elaborate wall coverings convey a client’s personality and deepen their direct involvement in the design process. “Clients are becoming braver and having fun again,” notes Wolf. “It’s a reminder that even in the most luxurious spaces, a touch of playfulness and wonder keeps the design human and exciting.”
“More brands are exploring inventive materials and applications, whether it’s raised plaster, stitched silk, or layered paper techniques,” says Washington, DC-based designer Melissa Colgan. “There’s a broader range of styles now, from traditional chinoiserie interpretations to modern, sculptural approaches.”
In addition to Fromental and Lala Curio, AD100 designers turn to de Gournay, Élitis, Phillip Jeffries, Schumacher, Dedar, Maya Romanoff, and Kyle Bunting for 3D wall coverings, each offering unique treatments.
After spotting de Gournay’s Amami Waves wall covering—an aquatic landscape on blue silk moiré with silver metallic thread—in the brand’s Paris apartment during Paris Déco Off, Rinfret created bespoke sea-inspired wall treatments across two recent projects in Florida: a bedroom in the 2024 Kips Bay Palm Beach Show House and Dee and Tommy Hilfiger’s Palm Beach home.
In the Hilfiger residence, Rinfret deployed crushed shells as a textured ground for whole shells on bathroom walls, a treatment Rinfret likens to centuries-old grotto work. The living room features green upholstered walls with custom hand-embroidered raffia palm trees by de Gournay, while the dining room combines Accents of France latticework with a lemon grove print by de Gournay to add architectural flourishes.
Because three-dimensional wall treatments interact with light and create shadows in a way flat surfaces cannot, Chalaron loves featuring them in “spaces where light shifts throughout the day,” where “the changing dimension becomes part of the design story,” she says.
.jpg)
Butcher says that Fromental’s “runaway winner” has been its Hirondelles silk wall covering, a collaboration launched in 2019 with venerable French crystal house Lalique. Atop its hand-painted and embroidered chinoiserie design are swallows (hirondelles) and stylized dahlias in satin-finish crystal. AD100 designer Timothy Corrigan has wrapped a dining room, primary bathroom, and powder room in the wall covering in three different projects in Los Angeles, New York City, and Paris. “In every single case, we presented multiple options, and the client immediately selected this pattern with the crystals because it is so very unique,” says Corrigan.
For the 2025 Lake Forest Showhouse, Wolf worked with Illinois-based designer Lauren Collander to create a wall covering for a Parisian garden–inspired stairwell, customizing each fern, color, and embellishment, which included beads, pearls, and metal leaves. It’s “couture meets the walls,” Collander says of the shimmering space.
Another indicator of the growing popularity of three-dimensional wall treatments in American homes is the recent inauguration of Féau Boiseries’s first New York City showroom, in the D&D Building. Established in 1875, the French company specializes in historically inspired wooden paneling and plaster moldings from the 17th to 20th centuries, though custom finish possibilities are “endless” in materials including resin, molded glass, parchment, and even exotic skins, says director Guillaume Féau. He is currently seeing a rising interest in Louis XVI-style panels. “Elegant, symmetrical, and neoclassical, they are very compatible with modern and contemporary art, so they can mix well in a room,” Féau says.
.JPG)
For “clients who may be pattern-shy” or hesitant about bold colors, plasterwork provides another elegant alternative, says Lynn Kloythanomsup, founder and principal interior designer at San Francisco and New York-based firm Landed Interiors. Since first collaborating with New York architectural plaster specialist Arkada on a wildflower-and-wheatgrass-motif wall treatment for a bedroom at the 2024 Brooklyn Heights Designer Showhouse, Kloythanomsup says that her firm has incorporated plasterwork “into almost all of our projects.”
Amy Morgenstern, creative director at the in-demand plaster specialists Kamp Studios, which is based in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami, has noted a surge in elaborate plasterwork requests over the past year. “From Parisian-inspired to custom floral and Art Deco-style bas-reliefs, it’s a modern nod to historic European craftsmanship,” says Morgenstern, who expects to see “even more layered relief work and richly textured wall treatments defining luxury residential design” next year. In response to this new demand, West Palm Beach, Florida-based antiques and interiors company Casa Gusto recently developed a modular system for its paper-pulp, flour, and water moldings, allowing individual panels to be customized and fitted to entire rooms or walls.
Different rooms call for different approaches. Designer Amity Worrel chose Rayures Jumelles, a padded and fluted wallpaper by Élitis, for a home movie theater in a residence in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. “It adds both softness and additional sound control in the room,” she says, adding that the design’s wide wale corduroy-style pattern “feels preppy, which felt right for a New England project.” Meanwhile, for an entry hall she designed for an artist’s home in Austin, Texas, Élitis’s Shirakawa wall covering, made of white paper and red threads, provided a more minimalist look, mirroring the homeowner’s studio practice.
While 3D wall coverings work anywhere, they “can enliven spaces where you might not have as much opportunity to create depth through furniture—like stairways, hallways, or smaller entry spaces,” Colgan says. “They also shine in dining rooms, where the furniture often reads as a single plane—a table and a grouping of chairs. A mural or wall covering with depth and dimension helps the eye travel beyond that horizontal line.”
The supplemental materials and labor required can easily drive the cost per panel to several thousands. “Embroidered paper is typically two times as expensive as flat, hand-painted wallpaper,” says Mattos. As its popularity grows, it’s likely other companies will find shortcuts to make products more accessible—but Mattos urges opting for authentic craftsmanship. “Embrace the history and the fact that these creations have long been made by hand,” she advises. “It’s through patronage that we’ve kept tradespeople and craftsmen alive for centuries.” —Stephanie Sporn
The Rise of Custom Hand-Painted Tile
When Portland, Oregon-based designer Casey Keasler learned her client collected Blue Willow dinnerware, she saw an opportunity. The delicate earthenware and blue-and-white palette reminded her of Delft, the Dutch imitation of Chinese porcelain-ware made two centuries before. To celebrate the homeowner’s love of ceramics, Keasler commissioned Melanie Nead of artisan wallpaper and tile company Lonesome Pictopia to create Delft-style tiles. The resulting design features portraits of the four family pets, the year the house was built (1927), and scenes of the family’s sons fishing. “It was about creating a visual diary of their time in this home,” says Keasler, founder of AD PRO Directory design studio Casework. The tiles now surround the dining room fireplace.
As homeowners move away from clean minimalist interiors and gravitate toward ornamentation and personalization, hand-painted tile offers one way to leave a mark. “For centuries, tiles were made as a kind of signature for a home, often personalized for a family or to tell a story,” says Greg Santos, founder of Miami-based AD PRO Directory firm Studio Santos. Now, designers are returning to that historic practice, tapping artists to render their clients’ personal stories and motifs in glaze and clay.
“People want soul in their spaces again,” says Santos. “Hand-painted tile is tactile, human, and full of history.” It creates a tangible link to heritage with inherent handmade charm. And, when “permanently embedded in the architectural finishes of the home, it becomes a one-of-a-kind heirloom,” says Garance Rousseau, an AD PRO Directory designer based in Los Angeles and New York.
Santos recently incorporated a client’s collection of hand-painted tiles into a South Miami home design. Each tile depicts a different Arizona landscape, which the designer used to inspire a repeated geometric pattern in handmade Italian terra-cotta tiles on a dining room wall.
AD100 designer Jeremiah Brent and Athena Calderone recently covered the walls in the sunroom of a 1903 Rhode Island home with custom-painted tiles from Portugal. Rendered in a Delft style but updated with an ochre-and-white palette, “the designs are symbols of the clients’ family story,” painted with birds, past houses, and nine other familial emblems framed by colored grout, says Brent. This subtle addition creates a more emotional connection to the room. “If you look around and see your story reflected in your space, I think that’s what makes it really feel like a home,” he says. “We are creating things that hold memories.”
Hand-painted tile offers possibilities across scale. Some designers use individual decorated tiles as accents, while others commission murals that treat entire walls as a blank canvas. Designers say that Delft-style tiles are currently the most popular, but abstract patterns are also on the rise.
Bespoke tile can be an accent or flourish to set off a single room, or it can carry through an entire house. “In a Connecticut home, we used hand-painted tile as a backsplash in the kitchen, around a fireplace, and to tile the entire pantry,” says Rhode Island designer Blaire Moore, founder of AD PRO Directory studio Moore House Design. “We wanted it to feel like part of its architecture rather than just a surface treatment.”
Beyond architectural surfaces, consider applying customized tiles to furniture and standalone pieces. “I recently used hand-painted tile as a border around a simple fireplace, but we’re also exploring a custom-tile commission for a coffee table,” says AD PRO Directory designer Julia Sobrepeña King of Studio Roene in Los Angeles. “Then it becomes a piece that can move with you from home to home.”
For a recent project in Oregon, Mira Eng-Goetz, lead designer at AD PRO Directory firm Jessica Helgerson Interior Design, created a tile mural of sword ferns that wraps around the kitchen’s walls, executing the artwork herself. “I spent a lot of time at Tempest Tileworks painting samples on blank tiles with glaze,” says Eng-Goetz, who studied fine art before turning to interior architecture. This allowed her to control every element, from the format of tile to the glaze colors.
While hand-painted tile is more cost-intensive than non-decorated tile, for clients seeking meaningful personalization, it’s worth the investment. According to Paige Loperfido, founder of AD PRO Directory firm Décor and More Design Studio in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, hand-painted tiles are typically 30% to 80% more costly than standard handmade options, depending on the scale and complexity of the design.
However, “hand-painted tile is usually a feature element on a backsplash or fireplace surround, versus covering an entire surface,” says Loperfido. “Because of that, it allows us to add artistry without dramatically increasing the overall project cost.”
Once you’ve settled on a motif or artistic direction, working with a ceramic artist is key to bringing the vision to life. “It’s a collaboration,” says Florida-based designer Laure Nell of AD PRO Directory firm Laetitia Laurent. “Sometimes the artist leads, especially if they have a signature style we love, and other times we sketch motifs that hold personal meaning for the client.”
Prototypes, Keasler says, are essential to the process. “We’ll review sketches from the artist first and then actual tile samples to finalize details including the imagery, proportion, glaze color, and final finish,” she explains.
Sometimes, giving the artist creative freedom can be the ideal formula. “The best results usually happen when there’s trust and a little room for interpretation,” insists King, who suggests engaging a ceramic artist to craft the entire tile, rather than painting atop mass-produced tiles. “I love the imperfection of handmade tiles—the uneven edges, the subtle shifts in glaze,” she says. “For me, those flaws are the charm.”—Lauren Gallow
11 Designer-Approved Tile Artists
Northeast
Farmington, CT
Contact: katherine@kvtiles.com
Instagram: @kvtiles
Earthenware tiles, often in historic European formats, are handmade with proprietary clay bodies and fired on-site by artisan Katherine Verdickt in her Connecticut studio.
“Katherine Verdickt of KV Tiles specializes in custom and historically inspired designs. Her work is beautiful—she has an incredible sensitivity and does a lot of research to get it right.” —Garance Rousseau, AD PRO Directory designer in Los Angeles and New York
Philadelphia, PA
Contact: jordan@jordanmcdonaldstudio.com
Instagram: @jordanmcdonaldstudio
Jordan McDonald’s hand-cut, hand-painted tiles are crafted in Philadelphia and distinguished by custom glazes, distinctive textures, and thoughtful patterns.
Baltimore, MD
Contact: bmoreartstar@gmail.com
Instagram: @artstarbaltimore
Employing trompe l’oeil patterns, familial motifs, or large-scale murals, decorative painter Kelly Walker turns tiles into bespoke works of art.
“They are incredible artists!” —Ann Gottlieb, founder of AD PRO Directory firm Ann Gottlieb Design in Fairfax, Virginia
West Palm Beach, FL
Contact: studiolojs@gmail.com
Instagram: @joseph.steiert
Artist Joseph Steiert can paint elaborate scenic wall murals or delicate individual designs on any tiled surface, from floors to walls to furnishings.
Portland, OR
Contact: hello@lonesomepictopia.com
Instagram: @lonesomepictopia
Former tattoo artist Melanie Nead and her team create lively, playful takes on both mural and Delft-style tiles, handmade and hand-painted in Portland, Oregon.
“Melanie Nead has a deep knowledge and appreciation for the decorative arts. She and her team have a lot of experience working with interior designers and they recently created a customizable line of hand-painted tiles that are absolutely gorgeous.” —Mira Eng-Goetz, lead designer at AD PRO Directory studio Jessica Helgerson Interior Design in Portland, Oregon
San Francisco, CA
Contact: yonderpacifica@gmail.com
Studio owner Linda Fahey hand-makes tile for custom installations, including large sculptural tile walls. For her flora or fauna decorated tile, she uses a unique porcelain clay body.
“I like the work of Yonder in San Francisco for custom-sculpted tiles with some hand-painted details.” —Julia Sobrepeña King, founder of AD PRO Directory firm Studio Roene in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
Contact: calpot.sales@gmail.com
Instagram: @calpotofficial
Custom-glazed tile can be personalized with bespoke designs while terra-cotta flooring is made in-house from locally sourced clay.
Detroit, MI
Contact: info@pewabic.org
Instagram: @pewabic
These stoneware tiles are handcrafted with custom clay made in a 1912 clay mixer and finished in proprietary iridescent and colorful glaze finishes. Each is pressed and finished by hand by a team of artisans in their National Historic Landmark pottery studio on Detroit’s East side.
“I love this Detroit classic. Their hand-painted tiles are the perfect homage to iconic buildings and city gems.” —Alexis Elley, principal of AD PRO Directory firm Textures Interior Design in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan
Milford, MI
Contact: info@kellyventura.com
Instagram: @kellyventuradesign
In collaboration with local ceramist Carolyn Adkins of Muddy Dog Pottery, Kelly Ventura creates stoneware tiles, featuring hand-painted botanical motifs.
“We adore that Kelly’s painterly hand is visible in all of her goods, from these newest tiles to her textiles and wall coverings.” —Krista Nye Nicholas, partner and principal interior designer of AD PRO Directory firm Ramsay Nye in Ann Arbor, Michigan
Inverness, Scotland
Contact: info@petrapalumbo.com
Instagram: @petra_palumbo
Petra works with two trusted suppliers—one in England, the other in Turkey—who produce their white-bodied ceramic and terracotta tiles. Each tile is coated in a high-gloss glaze and fired in the Scottish Highlands.
“I worked with Petra Palumbo on tiles for an East Hampton project. Her United Kingdom-based artists hand-painted each design to our specific direction.” —Lauren Carlucci, founder of AD PRO Directory firm Lauren Carlucci Studio in New York
Dorset, England
Contact: avivahalterhurn@gmail.com
Instagram: @aviva_halter
Handmade and fired on-site in Dorset, England, Delft-style tiles and white slip on earthenware tiles are decorated with cobalt, manganese, and copper carbonate.
.jpg)
The Four Wellness Spaces Homeowners Want Now
Home gyms and lap pools were merely the opening act. Today’s luxury homeowners are commissioning entire resort experiences within their property lines—pickleball courts, private Pilates studios, meditation rooms, and bathhouses with cold plunges. These aren’t amenities tacked onto floor plans as afterthoughts, but carefully integrated places that signal a homeowner’s commitment to wellness and self-care. Here’s how designers are elevating these most requested specialty spaces.
The pickleball craze has rooted itself into backyards across the country, especially those harboring disused tennis courts, says AD PRO Directory landscape designer Russell Wightman, whose Altadena, California-based firm recently completed a tennis-to-pickleball court conversion in Beverly Hills and is currently working on another in Malibu. Whether renovating or starting anew you’ll want to choose the right court finish, says Wightman. While acrylic is the go-to surface for pickleball pros, PVC or vinyl sport-court flooring is better suited to a wide skill set (and softer on the joints). Ensuring proper drainage around the court is important to avoid damage caused by standing water.
The real design work happens around the court. “I like grass or a softer plant surface there so players aren’t worried about tripping if running for a ball,” says the designer. Site the court a safe distance from tree canopies, spiky plants, and other obstacles to avoid lost balls and bruises.
Distance from the main house requires calculation. The sport’s notorious “pop-pop-pop” carries surprisingly far, and court lighting can bleed into bedroom windows during evening games. Wightman’s solution: Treat the court as its own destination. A gazebo positioned between court and house—ideally with comfortable seating, a fireplace, and wet bar—creates a delightful gathering place that helps absorb noise and gives players a reason to linger. Low hedges help define the space without compromising sight lines, creating the feeling of a private clubhouse.
- Minimum square footage: 1,800 (20 by 44-foot court plus clearance for active play)
- Cost per square foot: $15 to $40
- Specialists required: Licensed concrete contractor
- Suitable materials: Compacted gravel or crushed-stone road base layer, concrete slab or asphalt structural layer, vinyl or PVC sport-court product for play surface
Ample space, good ventilation, and natural light are what make an at-home Pilates studio inviting, says designer Nabela Noor, who recently built her own inside her historic home in Pennsylvania. If given the choice between siting the studio in a basement or an above-ground space—such as a garage—she recommends the latter every time. “You can open the garage doors and have that natural air and light gush in,” she says.
A hundred square feet accommodates a single Pilates reformer with enough clearance to perform full-body exercises around it—though mat-only practices can get away with less. The reformer machine itself often represents a significant part of the budget: studio-grade models run from $3,000 to $12,000. Noor recommends the brand Your Reformer for its range of customizable finishes (including a rose gold) and rental program (a hedge against the reformer becoming an expensive clothes rack).
A large mirror is essential as is integrated storage to keep mats, dumbbells, and Pilates rings from cluttering the area. Max Obata, cofounder of San Francisco architecture and design studio ONO, recommends natural wood floors for their warmth and resilience. “We typically like a matte finish, which allows for a really gentle movement of light across the floor,” he explains.
Since many reformer exercises are performed on one’s back, the ceiling and overhead lighting demand special attention. Obata opts for “simple paper or fabric pendants and a few carefully placed linear fixtures that create an even glow,” while Noor favors dimmable wall sconces. The goal, stresses Obata, is lighting that feels “as diffuse, warm, and quiet as possible.”
- Minimum square footage: 100
- Cost per square foot: $20 to $100, depending on renovation type, material cost, and equipment choices
- Specialists required: None
- Suitable materials: Hard flooring such as wood, concrete, or tile; sport equipment (a reformer, mirror, floor mats, resistance bands, etc.)
Any quiet, protected space can serve as a meditation room, says AD100 designer Jeremiah Brent. Privacy is paramount. “It doesn’t matter how beautiful or restful a space is if you don’t feel you can truly get away from it all,” he adds. Brent gravitates toward unusual spaces that often get overlooked in a floor plan. “I love the idea of finding a spot that feels too small for a living room or too central for an office,” he explains. If the space is not fully enclosed, “a chic room divider, rug, or even a shift in lighting can help define it.”
.jpg)
In his family’s former Los Angeles home, the designer transformed an atrium with a vaulted ceiling into a meditation room, employing antique Spanish-marble tile underfoot, a low wood table from a Paris flea market, and a vintage club chair upholstered in a Carolina Irving Textiles stripe. The wood, stone, fabric and other natural materials helped create an environment of rest.
Accessories should be minimal but sensory, says Brent, who leans toward palo santo, selenite logs, and grounding scents. If natural light is scarce, add a lamp with a soft, diffused glow. A discreet speaker for guided meditations, binaural beats, or nature sounds completes the setting.
- Minimum square footage: 50
- Cost per square foot: $10 to $150, depending on material and furniture choices
- Specialists required: None
- Suitable materials: Dependent on homeowner preferences, but natural materials recommended
.jpg)
The at-home sauna was just the beginning. Now clients are leveling up, commissioning entire bathhouses—custom hydrotherapy suites that might include hammam-style steam rooms, jetted tubs, cold plunges, and experience showers with aromatherapy. The ultimate at-home indulgence, it requires both technical precision and design restraint to avoid feeling clinical.
“These rooms should balance form and function, and invite you in because they feel calming and grounded,” says Alison Downey, principal of AD PRO directory design firm Downey in New York. She specifies nature-derived materials such as “limestone, hand-made clay tile, natural river rock and warm woods like walnut, fir, and oak,” usually in a “light, earthy color palette.” Behind any cladding, a waterproof membrane and insulation are essential to prevent mold and maintain temperature control. And finishes must also be waterproof (tadelakt, a Moroccan plaster, has become a favorite among designers for its seamless, organic look).
At Gwyneth Paltrow’s home in Montecito, California, Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch of AD100 firm Roman and Williams designed a pale-green tiled spa with an in-ground hydrotherapy pool and exposed thermostatic showers from Waterworks. In New York City, architect David Mansfield excavated an entirely new basement at Fabiola Beracasa Beckman’s Greenwich Village townhouse to accommodate a sauna and cold plunge, creating a hidden wellness sanctuary below street level.
Going underground is a good strategy for any client looking to maximize wellness square footage without compromising their property’s visual footprint, says Downey. “A deeper foundation creates square footage for additional amenities such as an indoor pool, gymnasium, or golf simulator, creating a true sanctuary beneath the home.” Maybe it’s time to get digging.
- Minimum square footage: 200
- Cost per square foot: $250 to $800, depending on project scope, materials, labor, and required permits
- Specialists required: Plumber
- Suitable materials: Fiberglass and Rockwool for insulation; vapor barrier; waterproof membrane; ceramic tiles, natural stone, or tadelakt for surfaces; a steam generator, showerheads, spa jets, et al.
—Sheila Kim
The Spectrum of Home Security
From crypto execs targeted at home to brazen museum heists that feel ripped from Netflix, this year’s headlines have even well-secured homeowners looking twice at their doors and windows. The upside is that residential security has quietly caught up to the paranoia. Today’s systems are more discreet and easier to install than ever—and don’t have to make a home look like the inside of a bank. For much of this, we can credit advances in AI, says contractor Jonathan Scott, one half of HGTV’s Property Brothers. “Features like AI-powered facial recognition and smart zone detection that used to only be available for stadiums and commercial buildings, can now be enjoyed at home,” he adds. For designers and architects, security is no longer an afterthought. It’s another layer of the project’s design.
Level 1: Basic Sensors
The non-negotiables are simple: motion detectors and glass-break sensors on doors and windows, especially anything on a ground floor, says Scott. “These can be wireless and are very easy to install.”
The devices have also become far more design-friendly. “Motion sensors and glass-break detectors are smaller, cleaner looking, and much easier to integrate without disrupting the architecture,” says Matt Jackson, principal and studio director of AD100 design studio Marmol Radziner’s New York office. “Whenever possible, we locate sensors on the ceiling rather than the wall to keep them from becoming visual distractions.”
One easy-to-install option for entry-level sensors is the Abode Security Kit, which includes a sensor, key fob, and smart hub with built-in siren. A subscription is not required to set it up and the system can be later expanded with additional multiple sensors, cameras, and even 24/7 human monitoring, as needs evolve.
Level 2: Security Cameras, Video Doorbells, and Smart Locks
If Level 1 is “Know when something opens,” Level 2 is “See who did it.” High-definition cameras and video doorbells are both deterrents and evidence gatherers, and can often link directly to mobile apps for live viewing or playback. “For most residential projects, I prioritize smart locks, video doorbells, and exterior floodlights,” says Thornhill, Ontario–based designer Wendy Lau, who recommends products from Ring as well as Yale’s Assure Lock 2. For her, these pieces are “foundational,” adding both security and convenience without disrupting the look of the home.
Cameras are now surprisingly discreet. Compact models still offer great image quality, says Jackson, who advises using more of them, rather than a few larger ones, to maintain full coverage. “It is a good balance that keeps large, bulky devices out of sight,” he adds. To further disguise security products, Lau recommends color-matching models with existing hardware and placing them where they “feel intentional rather than intrusive.” A video doorbell, for example, should be “a few inches away from the doorframe so that it maintains a clear sight line but doesn’t compete visually with the front door.”
Most video systems now store footage either in the cloud or locally on a memory card. Cloud storage usually wins on practicality, since footage is accessible from anywhere. Retired Illinois police sergeant Aaron Shirley notes that in many of the cases he investigated, the biggest issue with the recording was not the camera quality, but “that the footage was not accessible when needed.”
There is a caveat. Many cameras depend entirely on Wi-Fi, which opens another vulnerability. “There are criminals who drive around in vans with signal jammers that essentially knock out any Wi-Fi cameras and render them useless,” says Scott. “So, hardwired cameras are always a better way to go. If you’re doing a full-gut renovation or a new build, hardwire while you have the walls open.”
Level 3: Fully Integrated Smart Home Systems
Once the cameras and sensors are in place, smart-home features can turn them into a more convincing illusion of occupancy. Presence simulation uses lighting, shades, and even audio or video (like a TV turned to a sporting event, partially visible through a window) to mimic everyday patterns, making it seem like someone is home. Many smart-home assistants and products—including Amazon Alexa (via Alexa Guard), Samsung SmartThings, and Kasa Smart Wi-Fi switches—offer such features.
Because smart homes are infinitely customizable, clients can be tempted to overbuy. Shirley suggests starting simple: “Don’t buy a bunch of features you won’t use. Cover your doors, cover the spots someone would hide, and build up from there if you need to.”
Level 4: Externally-Monitored Systems
For clients who want someone else watching the dashboard, there are three broad categories: human monitoring, AI, and hybrid. All come with monthly fees, with AI typically the least expensive (from $10 to $40 per month) and professional monitoring the most (from $20 to $60 per month).
AI-driven systems have quickly become sophisticated enough for many homes. Scott points to UniFi by Ubiquiti as an example. Its cameras can recognize faces and license plates, and even allow you to search across footage for specific items. “For example, when I misplaced my Sun Scooter, [UniFi] found it instantly in the back lawn!” he says.
A hybrid service lets the homeowner choose which specific systems are self-monitored, AI-monitored, or human-monitored. “While it might sound like science fiction, the combination of AI and trained agents enables home security providers to proactively deter threats in real time,” says Hooman Shahidi, chief product officer at SimpliSafe. Its Active Guard outdoor protection monitoring service “uses AI to detect when a human presence is approaching a home, which alerts a trained security agent,” who can respond in real time with two-way audio, lights, or a siren.
Level 5: Perimeter and Environmental Defense
Think of this as the modern version of a castle wall and moat, but with better landscaping and no alligators. Perimeter security extends protection to the entire property, blending physical barriers with smart tech. On the analog side, fences, gates, and “defensive planting” (i.e. thorny bushes and tall hedges) still matter. Landscape designers like AD PRO Directory member Quincy Hammond, Fernando Wong, and AD100 studio Wirtz International have used laurel and yew hedges, dense tree groupings, and woven willow “wattle fences” to create natural privacy for their clients’ homes. Pruning foliage around points of entry helps maintain clear sight lines and eliminate hiding spots.
High-profile clients who have trouble with paparazzi often have to worry about the airspace over and outside the house. Scott says there are solutions for that, as well. “There are [systems] now that allow drone detection and defense, which take control of a drone over your property and bring it down,” he explains.
Level 6: Safe Rooms
Think less doomsday bunker, more “insurance policy you hope you never use.” In the last few years, high-profile, high-net worth individuals have begun building safe rooms (also known as secure rooms)—typically reinforced spaces with independent ventilation, external communications systems, and backup power. The newest versions are far more discreet than the movie versions, often hidden within existing spaces in a home or disguised behind features like millwork or mirrors.
Despite popular perception, most safe rooms are not intended to be impenetrable, notes Jackson of Marmol Radziner. “In most cases, the goal is to slow intruders down long enough for emergency responders to arrive,” he says. “We focus on reinforcing key access points and creating a few secure interior zones that feel natural within the house.”
Level 7: Human Security Guards
And now, for the “You definitely live in a prestige drama” tier. For a tiny slice of households, the ultimate protection is real-life home security guards who maintain an on-site presence. “Criminals don’t want confrontation,” says Shirley, who has worked as a private security guard for high-profile clients. “There’s no doubt having a real person on the property changes the thought process.” Shirley estimates that a guard can easily cost $60,000 to well over $100,000 a year. “It only makes sense if you’re high-profile, facing a real threat, or protecting something extremely valuable,” he adds.
For everyone else, it’s about layering smarter tech with good design. —Stefanie Waldek
Designer Debate: Does Wall-to-Wall Carpet Deserve a Comeback?
Few flooring choices provoke stronger reactions than wall-to-wall carpet. Love it or hate it, broadloom floor coverings create an undeniably enveloping effect—whether it’s sisal or shag, engineered for high-traffic hallways or plush bedrooms. It can be awash in maximalist pattern or kept strictly minimal like Halston’s 1967 New York City party pad by Paul Rudolph.
For years, wall-to-wall carpeting conjured images of midcentury conversation pits and dated hotel corridors. Then, AD100 designer Beata Heuman broke the internet by installing a bold-green fitted carpet (as the Brits call it) in a Manhattan bathroom—edges, corners, and all. Lily Allen and David Harbour’s now-notorious Brooklyn bedroom and bathroom, fully swathed in a floral Pierre Frey floor covering, only amplified the conversation. The rooms sparked debate: Is it kitsch or the height of chic?
Wall-to-wall carpet is clearly having a moment again. AD PRO asked top designers if they consider the floor covering a fleeting trend or a legitimate design choice.
“I grew up in a home that was mostly covered in wall-to-wall carpeting,” says David Mann, principal of New York AD PRO Directory firm MR Architecture + Decor. “That led me not to like it as a general rule.” However, it’s not just over-familiarity that has turned Mann off. “I’ve worked with many clients over the years who have allergies,” he says, “or a fear of materials that may contain dust, spores, or off-gas hazardous chemicals.”
Katie Cunningham of Oregon design studio Light and Dwell agrees. “Carpets tend to hold onto more than memories,” says the AD PRO Directory member. “Dust, dander, and allergens are never ideal for family living—so while I appreciate the comfort, I approach it with caution.” For clients who insist, Cunningham says he has specified wall-to-wall carpeting “begrudgingly,” but adds: “I miss the life and texture of layered rugs and wood floors. The mix of materials tells a story while wall-to-wall can feel visually flat to me.”
San Francisco-based AD PRO Directory designer Michael Hilal understands the appeal of wall-to-wall carpet, though he doesn’t share it. “The current obsession with wall-to-wall probably started with designers romanticizing those saturated carpets that made you want to lounge in silk pajamas all day,” Hilal says. “But those rooms don’t always translate to real life. Imagine vacuuming sand out of plush pile in Joshua Tree!” Cleanliness is also a factor. “If there’s humidity, beware,” he warns. “Black mold is very real, and decidedly not a design feature.”
For other designers, the time for wall-to-wall is now. “I was raised to think that wall-to-wall carpeting was a sin,” says AD100 designer Adam Charlap Hyman. “So much of taste is reactionary, so, of course, it piqued my interest.” Recently, for a child’s bedroom in a Greek Revival town house in Brooklyn, he specified it with great success. “It’s a wonderful way to infuse color and pattern across the plane of the floor,” he notes. “And in many ways it creates more flexibility in the floor plan than a rug because you do not have to worry about whether or not the furniture is on or off it.”
Instead of dominating a space, wall-to-wall carpet can bring all its elements together, says designer Kristen Wolff of Costa Mesa, California–based Brandon Architects, “In one project, the layout of a home office made the rug feel awkward and disjointed,” she Wolff. “Wall-to-wall unified the space and created a cozier, more intentional feel. When done thoughtfully, it can make a space feel grounded, calm, and cohesive.”
It can also form striking connections between spaces. “Recently, we used a wall-to-wall material as a custom stair runner, cut into panels, and reassembled into a pattern,” says Peter Hüsemann-Odom, cofounder of Atlanta-based studio Dixon Rye. “It became a showstopper.” In another project, he says, “we installed it in the guest bedrooms to create a welcoming, cocoon-like atmosphere. It felt right for the space: comfortable underfoot, visually soft, and a budget-friendly alternative to hardwoods and area rugs.”
AD100 Marmol Radziner’s interiors studio director Ashley Nath also praises the luxurious thrift of wall-to-wall carpet. “We used it in the guest rooms of a recently completed Malibu residence, where the design decision was a budget-friendly move that also helped make the small rooms feel larger,” she describes. Although, it’s a good option no matter the budget, she adds. The firm also installed it in the bedrooms and den of a Modernist home in Beverly Hills’s swanky Trousdale Estates. “It has merits in every space,” says Charlap Hyman. “The only one I cannot really wrap my mind around is the bathroom. But I am aware that many chic people have carpeted bathrooms, so I probably need to get with the program there!”—Jesse Dorris
Over and Out! The Trends Designers Won’t Miss in 2026
—Jennifer S. Li
