The Society of British & International Interior Design (SBID) industry quarterly survey, which explores spending trends, investment, and influences to predict trends in interiors, has identified a shift from investment in the hospitality sector towards residential projects for the year ahead.
Its founder and CEO Vanessa Brady OBE explains. “We have found from our research that investment into scheduled updates of five year refurbishment upgrades in hotels for replacement products is being cut-back to bare essentials in three star or less hotels, or simply reduced, which is often the case when uncertainty due to political influences generates a shudder in the financial markets which impacts on investors.”
Brady also points to more spend on homes thanks to the increase in working from home and people choosing to entertain more at home over going out. “The workplace shift led to spare bedrooms and dining rooms being reallocated to home-work-space for Zoom environments and homeowners at all price levels spending more of their disposable income on their homes for personal comfort. And people spending more time in their homes entertaining means that to entertain costs less and therefore the home is benefiting from additional investment.”
What does that translate to in terms of hardware? The SBID trend report shows that when it comes to metals, nickel is the new chrome, while burnished brass ironmongery for handles and accessories take the lead in residential kitchens and public space washrooms.
And, Brady says the shift to black brassware in the bathroom continues and is for the first time outselling chrome.
“Brass is still huge although matt, burnished and antique finishes are still the most popular,” she’s says, adding “however, we are also seeing polished brass and detailed texture in metals emerging with a deco influence beginning to overtake the knurled and rib texture finishes.”
The continued popularity of brass and the rise in black matt hardware is also predicted by high end British hardware manufacturer Croft. It also expects to see a demand for textured hardware, especially in homes, and predicts a continued trend for contrasting metallic accents with the warmth of darker surfaces and cabinets.
Tom Planck at John Planck Hardware says for 2025, the trends appear to be sector-dependant. “In hospitality, we’re seeing the continuation of specialist finishes being popular and in demand, finishes such as dark bronze, satin and antique brass,” he says adding “but also, the utilisation of a combination of different finishes for differing areas where interior ‘themes’ are designed and created.
“Residential is still very much dependent on the specific project and building with its location also playing a part. Black is still hanging in there with some popularity. Commercial projects are moving towards these finishes also and whilst stainless steel remains popular, with the resilience and variety of PVD finishes widely available on a lot of the designs, boundaries are being pushed more and more in this sector.”
