7 key interior trends to update your home in 2020

With autumn showing its colours, kids back at school and evenings drawing in, our focus naturally turns to the great indoors –  and after the year we’ve had, with lockdowns and working from home, it’s no wonder we’re casting a designer’s eye over our interiors, with a range of elegant cosy new furnishings and fixtures for the new season as we prepare to spend more time where our comfort zone is.

Next is welcoming the new season by launching Modern Country, giving tradition a contemporary twist, while Cocoon emphasises cosiness with statement teal blues and golds and warm neutral tones. With just a few well-placed selections from Modern Country and Cocoon – from colour schemes to accessories to chairs, sofas, beds and lights – you can embark on an effortless AW style-up in the place that matters most.

1: Country living

With a focus on heritage tones and traditional styles, the new season’s classic country look suits a townhouse as much as a farmhouse. Which is why Next’s Modern Country range hits so many buttons. You can imagine Heathcliffe himself taking to the The Sherlock II Armchair (£250) after a long day on the moors, while the Charlbury Large Sofa (£1,299) exudes the kind of traditional, all-enveloping deep-seated ultra-comfort that’s hard to extract yourself from. But have fun trying.

2: Retro fusion

In the kitchen, rustic meets clean minimalist elegance with the Adley Dining Table (£650) and Bench (£299) – think high-end rural gastro-pub – while the Dillon range of ceiling lights, the Globe, Droplet and Oval Pendant (£50), mix a retro feel with mood-setting elegance. They’ll light your dinner settings as if they were artworks. For the table, the Logan 12-piece Dinner Set (£40) from the new Cocoon range reflects the season’s trend for stoneware and simplicity, quietly setting off the artistry of your food like a picture frame.

3: Refined lines

Small adjustments can make a big difference to any room. When it comes to storage, the clean simplicity of the Alma Large Sideboard (£725) or the vertical lines of the Alma Tall Cabinet (£475) are both roomy enough to accommodate all the stuff that otherwise turns into clutter. They’re also a great spot to display a Large Chrome Lantern (£40), perhaps, or a pair of Turned Candlesticks (£16-£22). To bring your favourite decorative objects out into the open, the Murphy Ladder Shelf (£399) is elegance personified.

4: Creature comforts

The Cocoon range oozes cosiness in muted shades that bring a refined sense of warmth and intimacy to your relaxation area, especially when it comes to the bedroom. The Linden Bed (£450-£599), a clean, comforting mix of blond wood and deep silver grey headboard, is easily accessorised with a fleece cable-knit Snuggle Fleece Duvet Cover and Pillowcase Set (£34-£64) under which you can cocoon yourself, with the compact Murphy Bedside Table (£160) for your night-time bits and pieces, and the Wave Table Lamp (£50) setting the tone with suffused lighting.

5: Chaise the dream

Bring home stylish, comforting, contemporary tones with the three-seater Albie Corner Chaise Sofa (£899). Accessorise with dark blue Cosy Faux Fur Cushions (£20) to up the contrast levels, compliment with a beautifully crafted textured wool Chunky Texture Rug (from £75) and bathe the whole inviting ensemble in the warm, woodland glow provided by the Grove Easy Fit Shade (£60).

6: Blue is the colour

The elegantly muted pearl greys of the Ari Accent Chair (£250) sit perfectly beside an Opulent Velvet Pouffe (£50) in the season’s signature teal blue, with a chunky-textured Ashton Cushion (£14) by the arm and a Whistler Soft Rug (£65) for the floor, its smoky silvers and blues encapsulating AW2020 colour trends as perfectly as a zen koan. For a full immersion, try the Elsie Sofa (£599) in dark navy velvet, offset with a scattering of Woven Check Cushions (£16).

7: The light fantastic

With its blue-grey exterior and copper-hued interior, the Grey/Copper Easy Fit Shade (£35) employs the season’s tonal colour signatures and fuses sleek, on-trend art deco texture with a clean contemporary tone. Perfect for a middle ceiling light in a reception room, the Remi Pendant statement shade (£99) will achieve the kind of effects that Hollywood’s golden age lighting directors knew. Add a pair of Kit Touch Lamps (£20 each) in just the right place – and transform your space with eloquent, atmospheric chiaroscuro.