For a decade, gray was the answer to every design question. Gray cabinets, white counters, pale bleached floors. It photographed beautifully — and in home after home across McLean, it began to feel exactly the same.
That era is ending. Warmth is back: terracotta and umber, olive and burgundy, richer honeyed woods in place of washed-out finishes. What I find most encouraging is why. Homeowners are choosing color for how a room should feel, not how it looks in a photograph. After years of designing for the camera, we’re designing for the person again.
Clients often ask: will it look dated in five years? Here’s the distinction that matters — gray wasn’t timeless; it was a trend that lasted long enough to feel permanent. Warmth is a return, not an invention. Natural wood, honed stone, plaster, aged brass: these materials have anchored beautiful homes for centuries. Terracotta is quite literally the color of earth. It doesn’t date.
The way to embrace this moment without chasing it: keep the permanent elements quiet and rich — a walnut island, a limestone counter — and bring bolder color in through what can evolve, like a burgundy powder room or an olive-lacquered bar. And design for Washington light: warm tones glow through our low winter months, where cool grays turn flat.
Ultimately, this shift isn’t about color at all. It’s about rooms designed around how you actually live — thoughtful, enveloping, and made to be loved for decades. So don’t ask what’s in style. Ask a better question: what would it feel like to walk into a room designed entirely around you?
Anna Gibson is the founder of AKG Design Studio, a boutique interior design firm serving the DC Metro area. Tailored. Enduring. Effortless.
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