Step up your home’s interior design for 2025
By Kaitlyn Finchler
Engaging in modern-traditional home styling, Reflections Interior Design in Oakwood Village is a women-led team of interior designers working to fulfill concept-to-completion designs. Led by Marissa Matiyasic, principal at Reflections, she shares with Jstyle readers three ways to incorporate new trends and themes for 2025, while balancing them with timeless pieces already in your home.
LAYERED ROOMS
A layered traditional look features decor and furniture from different eras, Matiyasic says.
“It could be different pieces that people have collected and using them in their spaces in more of a traditional way, but kind of updated as well,” she says. “So, not in a stuffy, fussy, old grandma’s traditional home, but in a way that makes them feel curated among the pieces that they might have that are new and fresh now.”
Different textures can introduce a warm and inviting feel, creating rich layers. And while some may not want the stereotypical “traditional” look, they can incorporate clean lines and simple designs through mediums such as wallpaper.
“I don’t want to say (wallpaper) ever went out because we’ve always used wallpaper, but I think finally now the consumer is feeling more comfortable with it,” Matiyasic says. “And using it in different ways, like on their ceilings and patterns on their walls, I think people are not afraid of it anymore, which is great.”
INTRODUCING COLOR, ENGLISH STYLE
Another direction Matiyasic sees furnishings and decor going in is the “English design” look. She visited London in September and says she can attest to the power of its trends.
“A lot of what they do is color drenching, and you’ll see a lot of that now,” Matiyasic says. “Which basically means that you take the color all over the walls and the trim and the casings, which we’ve done in the past and it’s kind of making its way around again.”
Color drenching allows for a lack of stark contrast, meaning not having light or dark trim against a colored wall. An interesting example of this could be a burgundy wallpaper and painting the trim and crown burgundy as well, she says.
“The most important thing when you’re trying to introduce color is to not use the same tone of that color everywhere,” Matiyasic says. “That’s just expected. So, we want to do it in a way that you’re using similar tones of that color throughout your room so that it feels a little bit more unique and unexpected.”
Another example of this could focus on the color blue, like a darker navy, and then incorporate a medium or lighter-toned blue to add dimension.
UPDATING TRADITIONAL PIECES
Some homeowners or renters might want to maintain the classic, historical aspects of their home aesthetic, but update some pieces to create a more modern feel. Furniture arrangement and reupholstering can be small but substantial ways to do this, Matiyasic says.
“A room that’s very symmetrical, that has a classical feel – maybe doing something with the furniture that is asymmetrical” can create a contemporary touch, she says. “Changing the way the arrangement of furniture is, or even taking a piece of furniture that is classical and putting more modern fabric on it.” This also allows for an unexpected element of surprise, she adds. For example, an old coffee table could be upholstered in leather to bring it into the new year stylishly.
“A good way to do that is reupholstering some pieces of furniture or changing some lighting out,” Matiyasic says.