Burgundy is making a major comeback this Fall, dominating runways and interior design trends alike. From rich merlot hues in fashion to deep cherry tones in furniture and decor, burgundy’s resurgence signals a shift towards warmer, more luxurious color palettes for 2024 and beyond.
Burgundy is trending
Burgundy has been trending for a while in fashion and interior design but it’s been on the edges. However this Fall it’s ALL over the runways. Which means cherry wood furniture and floors are right around the corner. 👀
Source
Does this mean your 90s cherry cabinets are in again? Unfortunately no. My first post about cherry cabinets coming back was in 2021 here.
Oak kitchen cabinets are on trend as well and have been for over 7 years (I wrote about them here) but that doesn’t mean your 80s oak kitchens are current either.
Back in 2014, Pantone announced Marsala (close enough) as their 2015 colour of the year and influencers dug deep to post burgundy items in social media posts. Personally? I scratched my head because no one and I mean no one, was asking me for burgundy. I was still pulling it out of my clients dining rooms which I had been doing for almost 20 years.
I remember they even did an elaborate photo shoot with models and combined it with grey (below). They had to, because you couldn’t find it anywhere on the street or off the shelf.
The same thing happened with mint green.
In 2012, I immediately wrote a post about the day a client said these words to me:
“Could I see something mintier?”
I’m sorry but no one had ever asked me for a mint green in my entire colour career yet because the 80s, was the last time mint green was trending and I started my career as a colour designer in the late 90s.
Ever wondered exactly who you should be following to keep up with trends?
Well, look no further because I can tell you almost down to the month when certain colours start trending.
Last week, a follower asked if I would write a post about mid-toned beige on exteriors. That was also a “Newsflash-mark-it-on-the-calendar” moment for me because the last time I was asked for a mid-toned beige (that I didn’t specify because it was required to relate to existing finishes) was probably about 15 years ago.
Beiges is back with brown and burgundy
Beige is back my lovelies, along with brown and burgundy and the sooner you learn to work with it the more successful you will be as a designer and the happier you’ll be with your house as a homeowner.
What about the black and white trend?
Brown has also been on the fringe in fashion and interior design. It’s taken 16 years for brown to come back because that’s how long it takes for a trend that got overdone (like the tuscan brown trend) to be forgotten.
The same will happen with black and white.
Because each trend starts out beautifully done by enough designers that everyone falls in love and starts to copy it. But then it goes very wrong as this photo on the right demonstrates (below).
A follower sent me the house on the right along with the price tag of $1M. It’s hard to even count the number of things that are wrong with that house but we could start with the terminator eyes above the garage.
This is why I’m always flashing the caution sign when I’m talking about trends.
Because my mission in this world is for everyone to love their house forever. And that’s only going to happen if timeless design becomes a trend. In the meantime, I’m working very hard to save one house at a time from going in the above direction.
Stay on top of colour trends. Join the community.
If you’d like to hang out in a community where beauty is the goal and you can be guided on colour choices that make or break your house, join us here. The lamp module bonus will only be available for $9/month decorator level until October 4! Join for only $99 a year and you’ll still pay less than the cost of the Mood Board course.
Plus, you’ll get access to our live & recorded eDesign meetings where me and my team share insider tips on current projects and what’s trending in colour and design. It’s a fun way to stay in the know while working on your own projects!
September is sold out but there are still spaces left in my October 10 & 11 online training, Create your Dream Home event, register here.
And if you’re a professional or a colour enthusiast who wants to learn how to add colour consulting as a side business, sign up here to attend my free Bootcamp happening this Thursday and Friday.
Related Posts
My Take on Pantone’s 2015 Colour of the Year: Marsala
I live in a small town in NW Washington State. A row of six small homes were being built this summer and they just painted them. Every other one is all black and the others are painted all white. All six have black roofs. They look awful!! I can send a photo if you’d like.
That happened in Southern Oregon too in a small development. It could have been so charming, but no, they had to do white and black. Thankfully, none of the houses are all black. That’s horrible!
Currently on vacation in Italy and noticed many of the ladies wear stores are featuring fashions in burgundy, browns and greens for fall. Now it makes sense 😜 I thought it was just retro. Not my fav colours…then or now.
Ugggh….burgundy and brown are my least favorite colors. Hopefully, this will be short-lived trend! 😂
OMG, this is unbelievable! I just moved into a condo with medium oak cabinet and brand new dark chocolate brown granite countertops in the kitchen. And wood blinds. The walls were varying shades of mauve from medium to dark, and even the ceiling was mauve tinted. OMG, I hated it! We had the ceilings painted white and all the walls painted SW Shoji White. It’s better, but I still hate the countertops. Even if it’s the next big thing. I so miss my timeless brighter white neutral kitchen! What would you do with this?!
I’m good with this trend as an Autumn with auburn hair… warm and rich is 100% my thing 😀 You can understand why I sat out the gray trend completely! Still no to cherry wood in suburban homes though… yeah, no.
I love the burgundy. My first sofa in my first apartment was a (thrifted) burgundy damask satin. It was very much NOT on trend in 2014, hence why I got it for $50, but I had a vision of a room that was dark, dramatic and moody. I didn’t have the skills or budget to execute my vision, so it looked pretty bad. But now as a homeowner, I have a room with dark red carpets, and I’m going to try again to make my dramatic, moody burgundy room!
I don’t care how “in” these browns, burgandies, and other warm tones become, I’m sticking with my light and airy blues, whites, and greens!
I’m with you Jac! Love my blues and greens. Calm and cool. Happiness.
And here I am about to finally pull out my brown curtains and replace them with new!
I LOVE burgundy. My last home was a taupie gray brick and the new owner has added a burgundy awning and a few other burgundy accents. It looks so much better than the previous accents that I had used, primarily black but had experimented with green and with a red front door. My living room was painted a shade of purple, BM Cinnamon Slate I believe was the colour. I miss that bright west facing room. AND the bridesmaid dresses at our wedding were burgundy and that was 45 years ago this month. They were a classic style, (not frou frou) so could be reused today. I, for one, am glad to see it back. I did removate my last kitchen using your timeless principles, soft white cabinets, white subway tile and carrera look granite. Moved to a newer home that has the orange oak cupboards and I’ve decided to decorate around them. The warm colour trend is helping this.
Can I please know where your necklace from your burgundy post? I love it and have several that are similar.
Maria, one thing I keep in the back of mind from you is that “if it’s your favorites color, it will never go out of style.” Red is my favorite color. I guess people will think I’m on trend for the next several years—or ahead of the trend for a bit since we live in an area that’s always slightly behind trend. I’ve learned enough from Maria to know that I can do red for the rest of my life while I weave in connections with the hard finishes I’ve inherited—and all the other lessons I’ve learned. No need to poo-poo anyone’s favorite color because if we are good at decorating, any color can be the star.
Very true! I feel like the better I get at decorating (and dressing) the more I can appreciate all colors. It’s not about what color you use, it’s about how you use it and what you combine it with.
Thank you Maria. I like the burgundy with the light grey blue, it easy on my eyes. I would not want a burgundy wall, maybe if I see enough of it I will get ‘brain washed’ into liking it, stranger things have happened to me.
Maria– you’re no landscaper. Box wood hedges and expanses of lawn are so 1980. We’re losing the lawn, leaving the leaves and doing ecological planting. We’re had a dramatic loss of insects, including butterflies and native bees, birds and BIODIVERSITY. PLANT NATIVE.
And YES, the right size of shutter is essential.
Haha I definitely am not. . .just wanted to make the house look finished. Maria
Burgundy and brown are such refreshing choices! They bring a sense of warmth and sophistication that’s perfect for creating a cozy, inviting space. I love how burgundy adds a modern twist to the classic red, making it feel a bit more refined and versatile. And brown—what a comeback! It’s so grounding and pairs beautifully with so many textures and materials. As for black and white, it’s true that trends come full circle, and while it’s timeless, the charm of newer shades like these definitely feels fresh and exciting.