I'll play. I follow fashion a lot, and decor seems to lag behind fashion. Maximalism and "anything goes" (as in any decade) is big in fashion right now so I predict it'll be big in home decor too. Velvet is in, as is sparkles, gold, and rose gold. Rich colors, bright colors, pattern mixing, over the top playful proportions. But so is 70s boho, 50s retro, and on and on. It's whatever you like, it's a free for all.
Maximalism has recently resurged and as a "trickle down" trend, as the top 1% just got a huge tax cut. We're back to the Reagan 80s or is that the roaring 20s... right before the crash and Great Depression?
Millennial pink started a few years back and is STILL going quite strong in fashion, I note the color looks fabulous on ethnic women in particular. Houzz had at least one article featuring this in decor. I predict it'll become even stronger next year, as we are only becoming more ethnically diverse and that trend will not reverse.
Minimalism will continue to be a hot trend, so sorry, the grey isn't going away quite yet. It will be tempered with pops of millennial pink perhaps. But if you hang around the millennials enough you'll see they're all going towards frugal living, simple living, living off the grid, Konmari'ing their homes, calling their single room rentals "tiny homes." They are making living with less an art form -- even if it's just because those tax breaks aren't helping them, neither is the economy, they have crushing college debt, the great American dream doesn't include them.
I am VERY intrigued by this unfitted kitchen trend, and can totally see that taking off, as so many young folks are living nomadic lives, and this fits in with that. Why remodel that house you just moved into? Just unload the moving van and set up the free-standing kitchen pieces you already own?
I also predict, unfortunately, that home automation and Internet of Things will come crashing down since Net Neutrality got repealed, and there's nothing stopping the ISPs from charging on both ends-- the home automation providers AND the consumers that want home automation. The rapidly disappearing middle class won't be able to afford this any longer. The 1% will, but that's not enough to fuel this emerging market so it'll come crumbling down. Which is a shame, because there's so much potential here, and so much that could fuel our economy, if technology would be allowed to do what it's meant to do, which is get cheaper over time, not more expensive.
Not sure about "coastal" looks... with global warming and sea levels rising, this could either go away (along with the beach homes), OR it could take off in a major way due to nostalgia of what we've lost.
When we inevitably repeat the market crash of 1929, going into the next Great Depression, well... that'll be a different Houzz prediction post. Though few of us will be able to afford to pay our ISP to bring us Houzz, so it may not be around then for us to discuss.
Q