Moody Colors to Bold Lighting: Dani Dazey Breaks Down Yelp’s Top 2024 Home Trends

The start of a new year brings about new, almost-literally endless potential for home trends—and if 2024 is anything like 2023, there’s going to be something for everyone. While it’s nearly impossible to predict the surge of niche styles like tomatocore and fairy grunge, design pros have a grasp on what to expect on a larger scale: This year, Yelp’s Home & Living Trend Report predicts moody tones, vintage flair, and personality around every corner.

Dani Dazey, maximalist enthusiast and the designer behind Trixie Motel, partnered with Yelp to offer advice for adding 2024’s top home trends to your space and making them your own.

“It’s funny because I’m applying almost every [single] one of them to my new house,” she tells Better Homes & Gardens. “We’re switching out all the lighting. I’m doing red and pink. I’m, for the first time, committing to really organizing my closet—we did a build-in on the wall and I felt like a bunch of shelves and trays and really organizing it. I’m doing open shelving in the kitchen.”

Between her personal applications at home and her expertise from years of experience working in the fashion and design world, Dazey has all the info on how to incorporate this year's top decor trends at home. Here’s how she plans on getting ahead using Yelp’s predictions.

Dopamine-Boosting Color

Color has fully seeped back into interiors, and Yelp’s experts don’t expect that to change—especially when it comes to shades that bring an element of playfulness. While Danish pastel, checkerboard rugs, and softer hues dominated 2023, Dazey thinks the trend is likely to turn to the darker side.

“I feel like there’s kind of a color shift to a deeper, more moody, colorful vibe,” she says. “All of the Yelp data that they gathered of pinks and reds—we just added this sort of terracotta red to our new house, and it’s super moody and deep and just such a cozy vibe.”

Decorating with red can feel intimidating, but Dazey recommends just accepting that it’s a bold statement and really going for it. Pair it with deep purples, paint an accent wall, and add other textures like wood and other complementary tones to balance it out.

Anti-Cluttercore

Maximalism doesn’t mean clutter. Searches for “professional declutterers” on Yelp went up 182% this year, further proving that it’s totally fine to let an expert organize your space for you. Use trays, split shelving, and color coordination to make your rooms flow and feel put together.

“People kind of associate [maximalism] with cluttercore, but I’m actually very not into clutter,” Dazey says. “My spaces have a lot of print and stuff going on, but everything has a purpose and a place.”

Statement Mirrors

Full-length mirrors are natural focal points in any room, but you should take them a step further in 2024. Find one at your local vintage store (use Yelp for recommendations on where to look) or get one custom made—go with a curved shape, scalloped frame, bold color, or all of the above. Decide what era you’re channeling before making the investment.

Vintage Lighting

Switching out your basic lighting with an eye-catching chandelier and antique sconces can transform your home—and this trend is renter-friendly. 

“It’s one of those things that people don’t realize how easy it can be,” Dazey says. “And there’s actually a lot of really affordable lighting out there that’s really gorgeous and works well—it’s just a matter of swapping it out.”

If you don’t want to mess with your fixtures, look for unique lighting shades for your lamps. Dazey suggests finding small makers to create a custom lampshade for you. 

 Curated Open Shelving

While this may initially seem in contrast to the professional decluttering trend, doing it right can make your space feel even more put together, Dazey insists—especially in a kitchen, where you can show off your coordinating dinnerware and other knick knacks.

“What it’s going to do is open up all of this headspace,” she says. “So in a way it actually declutters, but you’ve got to be very careful about what you curate there—finding really cool statement decor that you can display or getting matching glassware that leans into the design of a space.”

When choosing what to put on your shelves, focus on functional items you use on a daily basis—items you wouldn’t necessarily consider worthy of attention.

“I’m a big proponent of trying to find everything to be special and beautiful in a space if you can,” Dazey says. “Like my dish scrubbers are aesthetic, and I just got a toilet plunger yesterday that has a green crystal handle. So I'm all about making those everyday items aesthetic and part of the design.”

What Else to Expect from the Decor World in 2024

There’s movement toward all things traditional over modern, but with more of a playful feel. With that, shopping secondhand only continues to grow, as we’ve seen year after year.

“I’m sort of leaning into that really vintage aesthetic, with the trim and the pleated lampshades and things that feel a little ‘grandma,’” Dazey says. “I would say that’s a ‘core’ I’ve been exploring a little bit but with my colorful, maximal twist.”

Dazey points out that while the trend cycle can mimic a pendulum (which she’s seen working in interior design as well as fashion), maximalism has solidified itself due to high interest rates—it makes more sense for most to stay where they are, even if it’s longer than they originally planned.

“People are kind of like, ‘OK, well instead of keeping my space neutral for whoever’s going to live here next, it’s time to start personalizing it and changing out the lighting and putting paint on the walls,’” she says. “It’s finally a time when people are wanting to put who they are into a space, and maximalism is an awesome way to do that. I mean, I feel like if you asked most people if they prefer to live in a world of color or black and white, most people would prefer color.”