Every January someone announces a color of the year, and by February everyone has moved on. The changes that really shape how the top of the market builds and renovates move more slowly, and they matter more. These are the eight we're following into 2026. They come from the projects our contributing designers are working on right now.
1. Material honesty over gloss
The big shift is toward surfaces you want to touch. Lime plaster walls, unlacquered brass that darkens over time, honed stone instead of polished, and solid wood that's allowed to age all get better the more they're handled. It's the opposite of the high-gloss, seal-everything look of the last decade, and it carries all the way through to how cellars and baths are being finished.
2. The broken-plan home
Fully open plans are loosening up. Clients still want the long views, but they also want a room with a door they can shut, like a library, a salon or a real dining room. The 2026 house is open in the middle, with a formal room or two coming back around the edges.
3. Wellness built in from the start
The home gym has turned into a wellness floor, a full spa suite with a sauna, a cold plunge, a treatment room and lighting that's been properly thought through. Architects now plan it from day one instead of fitting it into a spare bedroom later. Our features desk covers this in depth under wellness, spas and gyms.
4. Kitchens that hide
The showpiece kitchen is being replaced by one you barely notice. It's a fitted room with cabinet fronts everywhere, and the appliances and even the main prep area sit behind the joinery. The money goes into the surfaces you do see, which is why stone budgets keep going up even as the rooms look plainer.
5. Color drenching in muted tones
When color does come back, it goes everywhere: walls, trim and ceiling all in one deep, grayed-down shade. Navy, olive and oxblood are the favorites. The room feels wrapped in color instead of dotted with accents.
In 2026, luxury is something you notice when you touch it. Nothing in the room is trying to get your attention.
6. Furniture as collectible
More clients now buy furniture the way they buy art, by maker, edition and provenance. The houses we profile, from Minotti to Poliform, are responding with limited runs and reissues from their archives.
7. Outdoor rooms that work year-round
The terrace has become a room with everything a room needs: an outdoor kitchen, heaters, retractable glass and good lighting. In warm markets it's the most-used space in the house, something you'll see again and again in our waterfront and California listings.
8. Technology you don't see
Home automation is disappearing from view. Lighting, climate, shades and security run on their own, with the hardware tucked into the walls. The best smart-home systems this year are the ones where you never have to look for a switch.
If you can only act on one of these this year, make it the first. Paint, furniture and even layouts can change later, but the stone, plaster and wood you put in now are what you'll live with longest.
