New Year, Renewed Perspectives: 2025 Design Forecast

Our A&D market leader shares insights on key design trends that are making an impact, from richer tones to personalized spaces, to inspire your design journey in 2025.

With every new year comes renewed perspectives. It’s a natural time to take stock of what drove your work over the past year and to think about the trends and topics that will inform your decisions in the year ahead. If 2024 was characterized by a resounding focus on enhancing wellness within spaces, 2025 promises to build on that foundation while shifting the lens to a more individualized approach.

The spaces designed in 2025 will not only continue to promote healthy interiors but will also prioritize a closer focus on the individual. Spaces will be tailored to not just the tasks at hand but to the specific preferences, identities, and needs of the people inhabiting them. Across the board, designs will push boundaries to be more comforting, inclusive, flexible, and customizable than ever before.

Here are the trends that will lead the way.

Darker Tones Will Ground Us

For the past few years, pale hues like Barbie-inspired pinks and Pantone’s Peach Fuzz have dominated design schemes in everything from corporate offices to retail environments. These soft, optimistic colors provided a welcome respite from the bold, overstimulating tones of previous trends.

In 2025, color palettes will continue to support our well-being, but the tones we favor will skew darker and richer, evoking a deeper connection to the natural world. Colors like Pantone’s 2025 Color of the Year Mocha Mousse, Benjamin Moore’s Cinnamon Slate, and Behr’s Rumors will set soothing bases. These hues will serve as a backdrop for pops of color that inspire and delight.

Alongside this shift, textures and patterns will also play a vital role, with organic materials and bio-inspired designs—like tactile wood grains and textile patterns mimicking nature—further enhancing the grounding effect.

Darker colors create a calming tone; textured materials evoke organic forms. 

Forms Will Follow Purpose

“Form follows function” is a timeless tenet of good design, and 2025 will see this principle elevated to new heights. Designers will prioritize forms and materials that serve clear, intentional purposes.

Whether creating sensory features for neurodivergent users or shaping furniture to accommodate diverse users and uses, the focus will be on ensuring inclusivity and accessibility. This intentionality will push product design beyond aesthetics, setting new standards for functional and thoughtful solutions that meet the evolving needs of workplaces, educational environments, and public spaces.

Cogni’s shape supports diverse body types and postures; it also includes a built-in sensory element for neurodivergent users.

We’ll Continue to Cut the Cord

As interiors become increasingly flexible, the demand for portable power solutions will grow. In 2025, we’ll see more traditionally hardwired elements—like sit-to-stand desks and lighting—transition to wireless, rechargeable sources. The integration of battery-powered designs will free furniture and fixtures from the constraints of fixed power sources, enabling unparalleled adaptability.

Even charging stations themselves will evolve, with wireless technologies allowing users to power their devices wherever they want, not just where traditional outlets dictate. These innovations will redefine how people interact with their environments, promoting seamless mobility and functionality.

(L) Vesta battery-powered, mobile charging station; (R) Custom Toggle table powered by an internal rechargeable battery

You’ll Have It Your Way

Personalization will take center stage in 2025. As we better understand that individuals work, learn, and interact in diverse ways, design will step up to offer agency over personal spaces.

Interiors will provide not only a variety of environments to choose from but also the tools to customize those spaces to meet specific needs. This could mean adjustable furniture, modular configurations, or integrated technologies that adapt to the user.

Furniture customization will also become more sophisticated, allowing clients to personalize everything from materials and shapes to sizes and features. These tailored solutions will empower users and create spaces that truly support well-being and productivity—leading to better focus, higher output, and lower absenteeism.

Custom workspace pod designed through Infinity From KI to solve a client’s unique spatial requirements.

Designing a Meaningful Future

At KI, we believe that 2025 represents a unique opportunity to shape spaces that are not only functional and beautiful but also deeply attuned to the individuals who use them. By embracing these trends, we can collectively create environments that foster wellness, inclusivity, and innovation.

As the year unfolds, we’re excited to see how these ideas come to life in commercial architecture and design, and we remain committed to being at the forefront of this exciting evolution.

Here’s to a new year of renewed perspectives and inspired design! Let’s make it one to remember. Connect with me on LinkedIn or email me at jason.lazarz@ki.com to discuss additional insights and design perspectives.