The Top Countries Inspiring Our Interior Décor Trends

Whether it is a classic film, a bygone era or social media trends, inspiration for decorating our homes can come from anywhere, but one particularly popular source of interior inspiration has sparked our interest recently. With the colder weather and darker nights drawing in, we have been daydreaming about exotic destinations and reflecting on how much our travels inspire how we decorate our homes.

Our trips abroad provide us with plenty of décor inspiration, from taking home beautiful souvenirs such as bedspreads, rugs and ornaments to reproducing our favourite aesthetic designs of the hotels, villas and chalets we stay in.

Immersing ourselves in different countries and seeing how different people and cultures use their living space has had an enormous impact on the world of interiors for many years, and this international influence continues to be huge in modern times. There are thousands of Pinterest boards dedicated to interior themes from countries across the globe, and international interior inspiration is shared in abundance on Instagram posts and TikTok videos too.

From vibrant Moroccan colour palettes and British floral prints to clean Japandi design, we wanted to explore which countries are influencing our home interiors so we conducted a new social and online study to crown the countries that inspire our interiors the most.

We looked at the combined amount of interior themed Pinterest boards, TikTok videos, Instagram posts and Google searches for over 150 countries to reveal which countries are providing the most international inspiration to our homes.

The Top 20 Country Interior Design Trends

Japanese Interior Design

The inspiration behind the popular Japandi aesthetic (which combines Japanese and Scandinavian styles), Japanese interior design is centred around giving a space balanced harmony, with serene minimalism styling being its focus.

Minimalism has been a key interiors trend for many years, with simplicity being at its heart. While not to be confused with ‘boring’ or ‘plain’, Japanese décor is about the ‘less is more’ approach, preferring minimal clutter and removing unnecessary elements from your surroundings to create harmony.

The key fundamentals of Japanese décor can be broken down into the following tips:

• Natural colour palettes - sticking to a strict colour palette is key, with many Japanese inspired interiors making use of a subtle off-white palette. When colours are used, they should be gentle and complement your off-white décor, mirroring the greens, browns and greys found in nature.
• Natural materials - along with a neutral colour palette, embracing natural materials within your colour scheme is a key principle in Japanese design. Opt for bright, natural woods for your furniture and flooring.
• Reduce clutter on display - in Japanese décor you rarely see unnecessary fuss,, such as cluttered coffee tables or bust bookshelves. Japanese interiors contrast the busy and stressful lives outside the home, with a space that pivots on quiet tranquillity, and calm design starts with a super tidy and clean approach.
• Basic furniture - light wood is regularly seen across a Japanese home with similar tones used across statement pieces. Avoid busy fabrics, instead choose clean and simple fabrics free of distraction and neutral colour.

French Interior Design

Making a comeback thanks to the likes of Netflix’s Emily in Paris, France has always been the peak of chic living. With flea markets being a regular stomping ground for those looking to inject some Parisian décor into their digs, French interior design is centred around carefully curated pieces with experimental design mixed in.

If you’re looking to embrace Parisian décor, consider the key principles:

• Experiment with colours and layouts - anti-décor is characteristic of French design, an approach which encourages you to enjoy your surroundings instead of simply following every short-lived, passing trend. Your design should reflect your individual personality with you choosing pieces and colour schemes simply because you love them, and it makes your home an enjoyable place for you to be.
• Embrace vibrant colours – building on the anti-décor theme, the same applies to colours. Like French fashion, being playful with colours and making a statement across your décor is a key principle of French design. No rules apply when it comes to mixing colours and eras in your pieces, but it’s a clever idea to use complementary colours to ensure the room avoids feeling chaotic.
• Choose classic pieces with history intertwined – vintage pieces are a must for French design, in fact buying your furniture at a flea market and thrifting for second hand pieces is especially characteristic. Mixing different time periods across pieces, contrasting retro with contemporary really taps into this décor – the sky’s the limit.

Danish Interior Design

Danish décor is deeply rooted in Scandinavian characteristics, and thanks to the Japandi phenomenon on social media, interest in Danish décor has massively increased recently on TikTok and Pinterest.

Here’s how to channel Danish hygge:

• Embracing the practical - Danish interior design focuses on the usability of your pieces; it’s about investing in a small number of quality pieces that will serve you for a long time. Scandinavian culture places a lot of value on natural materials, and Danish style embraces natural pale wood flooring because it helps to lighten rooms (especially in a country with limited sunshine hours) and is believed to accumulate less dust and dirt than carpet.
• Use space effectively – Danish hygge involves bringing space and light into your home, even if you don’t have a lot of room to play with. Danish dwellings can often be modest, so getting the most out of just a little is key. Danish design creates cosy corners and coffee nooks for privacy but these are balanced with open plan living and spaces for group socialisation.
• Embrace pastels – Danish pastels are currently trending, with 1.3 million TikTok views under its hashtag. Consider colourful pastel prints on your wall or making a feature through colour blocking. Introducing these pastel hues through accessories like vases, candles and lamps is a simple way to embrace the Danish hygge vibe.

Brazilian Interior Design

With Brazil being the home of fantastic architecture and beautiful landscapes, this country’s home décor takes inspiration from the outdoors and bringing the outside in. With a prominent furniture design industry, it’s no surprise that Brazilian interiors are made up of wonderfully crafted pieces.

If you want to replicate a Brazilian aesthetic, you should consider:

• Splashes of colour – as mentioned, one of the key principles in Brazilian décor is taking inspiration from the nature that lives outside of the home. When mirroring Brazil’s landscape, boldness is fundamental; looking at the Historic Centre of Salvador’s Pelourinho district will show you just how much Brazil design embraces bold colours, particularly reds, yellows and oranges.
• Natural materials – on the same theme, using furniture and fabrics made from natural materials replicates Brazil’s great outdoors, but it’s important to keep fabrics and furniture materials simple so you don’t detract from the beauty of the Brazilian landscape outside your doors.
• Invest in your outdoor space – Brazil is popular for el fresco parties and socialisation and so it’s important to invest in an outdoor space if you really want to embrace this trend. Dedicate a small area of your garden in a sunny spot, or if you have a balcony – even better, and setup a decking or patio area. This can be your space for entertaining, or simply enjoying moments of peace with nature, the Brazilian way.

Mexican Interior Design

With its vibrant buildings and historic landmarks, Mexican interior design embraces its heritage opting for hand crafted décor that combines a warm, homely feel with contemporary living. Mexican décor champions the value of craft, with many residents opting to use handmade, local pieces to stay connected to the roots of the country whilst embracing modern design to keep it fresh.

Mexican interior design involves:

• Choosing warm colours – Mexican interior design varies per region, but it ultimately involves creating a vibrant and warm styling to your space. Creating a colour palette of oranges and taupes instantly transports you to the warmth of Mexican evenings and are great to bring this comforting feel into your home, especially in winter.
• Vibrant patterns – colourful is the name of the game for Mexican interiors, with statement walls and loud pieces, but it can be hard to commit to such a big change in your home if you’re not used to such a bold aesthetic. Instead, embrace smaller pops of vibrant colour in your furniture and fabrics with prints; try contrasting an Aztec-inspired or geometric print rug with a clashing statement armchair in a heavily patterned fabric.
• Terracotta – a characteristic feature of Mexican design, terracotta can be integrated easily into your styling, whether it’s using terracotta floor tiles, vases or even in your cookware on display. Partner this warm shade with eclectic prints, to nail the Mexican interiors trend

If you’re feeling inspired by these international interior trends, you can start small and integrate their principles into smaller features such as your bed linen, cushions, and curtains.

Methodology 

Secret Linen Store collated a list of 154 countries and, using Google Keyword Planner, compared the worldwide Google search volumes for ‘country name’ + ‘interiors’ as well as counting the number of Pinterest boards, TikTok hashtag views and Instagram hashtags dedicated to each country’s interior design. These numbers were then combined to produce the ‘Total Online & Social’ score.

Some countries such as Ireland and Uganda were omitted from the data based on negative or unrelated posts using the #irishinteriors or #ugandainteriors hashtags.

Data correct as of October 2022.