A clear-eyed look at current wall finish trends in the Netherlands and beyond. Which trends are worth adopting, which are already declining, and which represent genuine shifts in how we think about walls.
Understanding Trends vs Shifts
There is an important distinction between a trend and a shift. A trend is a temporary fashion — it rises, peaks, and declines. A shift is a fundamental change in how people think about something. Confusing the two leads to either adopting fashions that will date quickly or dismissing genuine improvements in how we approach wall finishing.
This article aims to separate the trends from the shifts, giving you a clear picture of what is worth considering for your home and what you might want to admire from a distance.
Genuine Shifts: Here to Stay
The Move Toward Texture
After decades of flat, smooth walls as the default, homeowners and designers are rediscovering texture. This is not a trend — it is a correction. Textured wall finishes have been used for centuries; the flat-paint-only era was the anomaly. The return to textured walls (plaster, lime wash, hand-applied finishes) represents a return to how walls have been treated throughout most of architectural history.
This shift is driven by a genuine understanding that textured walls create better rooms — more depth, more light interaction, more atmosphere. It is not going away.
Natural Materials Over Synthetic
The preference for natural wall materials (lime, clay, mineral paints) over purely synthetic products reflects broader cultural values: sustainability, health consciousness, and a desire for authenticity. These values are strengthening, not weakening, which means the move toward natural materials is a long-term shift rather than a passing fashion.
Natural mineral finishes offer tangible benefits — better air quality, humidity regulation, aging with beauty rather than deteriorating — that synthetic alternatives cannot fully replicate. As awareness of these benefits grows, so does adoption.
Warmth Replacing Cool Minimalism
The cool grey, stark white, minimal aesthetic that dominated the 2010s is giving way to warmer, more tactile, more characterful interiors. Walls are becoming warmer in tone (moving from cool greys to warm neutrals and earth tones) and warmer in material (moving from flat synthetic paint to plaster, clay, and natural finishes).
This shift reflects a post-pandemic desire for homes that feel nurturing rather than showroom-like. People want their walls to create comfort, not just look stylish on Instagram. This fundamental reorientation toward livability over aesthetics is likely permanent.
Current Trends: Worth Considering
Limewash Everywhere
Status: Trending strongly, approaching peak popularity
Limewash has gone from a specialist material to a mainstream wall treatment, driven largely by social media. The cloudy, variegated finish photographs beautifully and creates the kind of visual depth that resonates with current design sensibilities.
Verdict: Limewash is a genuinely beautiful finish with centuries of proven use. The material itself is timeless. The current trend is the ubiquity — limewash in every room, on every wall, in every Instagram interior. Adopt limewash because you love the material quality, not because you saw it on social media. Used selectively (feature walls, key rooms), it will age beautifully. Applied everywhere as a fashion statement, it risks feeling like a 2020s cliche.
Earth Tone Palettes
Status: Growing, with strong staying power
The movement toward warm, earthy wall colours — terracotta, clay, sage, olive, sand, warm browns — represents both a trend and a shift. The specific tones are trending (terracotta and sage are currently the most popular), but the broader move toward warm, natural colour palettes is a genuine shift away from the cool grey era.
Verdict: Earth tones are rooted in natural materials and have been used in interiors for centuries. They are unlikely to feel dated because they are not tied to a specific design moment. Adopt them confidently, but choose tones that genuinely suit your rooms rather than picking the exact shade you see everywhere.
Curved Plaster Details
Status: Trending, moderate staying power
Curved plaster arches, rounded wall niches, and sculptural plaster elements are popular in current design. They add organic softness to rooms and create a Mediterranean or minimalist-artisan aesthetic.
Verdict: Genuine architectural curves (built into the structure) have lasting appeal. Superficial curved elements added purely for trend (a decorative arch that serves no structural purpose) may feel dated when the trend passes. If you want curves, commit to architectural ones that make spatial sense.
Dark, Moody Feature Walls
Status: Established trend, likely to mature rather than disappear
Deep greens, rich navies, dark charcoals, and moody plaster tones on feature walls have been popular for several years. This trend represents a move away from the all-white interior toward more characterful, dramatic spaces.
Verdict: Dark feature walls can be stunning, but they are also one of the most context-dependent trends. They work beautifully in rooms with good light, generous proportions, and appropriate furnishings. They can feel oppressive in small, dark rooms. Adopt this trend if your room supports it, not because it looks good in photographs of other people's rooms.
Trends to Watch With Caution
Extreme Textured Finishes
Status: Peaking, likely to moderate
Very heavy, rough-textured plaster — the "artisan cave" look — is currently popular on social media. Walls that look like rough-hewn stone or heavily hand-worked plaster make dramatic statements.
Verdict: There is a meaningful difference between subtle texture (which adds depth) and heavy texture (which makes a statement). Heavy texture is a strong aesthetic choice that can feel like a fashion statement as the trend moderates. Subtle to moderate texture has lasting appeal; extreme texture is riskier.
Pink Plaster and Pink Interiors
Status: Trending, unclear longevity
Pink-toned plaster walls — from soft blush to terracotta-pink — are currently very fashionable. The tones are warm, flattering, and photograph beautifully.
Verdict: Muted, earthy pinks (close to terracotta or clay) have good longevity because they are connected to natural material colours. Brighter, more obviously "pink" tones are more trend-dependent. Choose tones that could plausibly occur in natural materials rather than tones that read as deliberately pink.
Microcement and Concrete on Everything
Status: Established but potentially over-applied
Microcement has become the go-to finish for creating seamless, contemporary surfaces. It is appearing on walls, floors, ceilings, countertops, and furniture — sometimes all in the same room.
Verdict: Microcement is a genuinely useful material when applied where it makes sense (bathrooms, seamless surfaces, specific architectural applications). Applied to every surface in every room, it risks feeling monotonous and cold. The material itself has staying power; the trend of using it everywhere will likely moderate.
Fading Trends
Cool Grey Everything
Status: Declining steadily
The all-grey interior — grey walls, grey floors, grey furniture — dominated the mid-2010s and is now clearly in retreat. Grey is being replaced by warm neutrals, earth tones, and greens across the board.
If your home is grey and you still love it, there is no urgency to change. But if you are choosing new wall colours, cool grey is no longer the safe, modern choice it was five years ago.
Industrial Exposed Brick
Status: Past peak, becoming dated in residential settings
The exposed brick feature wall that defined loft-style interiors is becoming predictable. In genuine industrial conversions, exposed brick is authentic and timeless. In standard residential homes where brick has been deliberately exposed or faux-brick applied, the look is increasingly associated with a specific design era.
Geometric Accent Walls
Status: Clearly dated
Painted geometric patterns, colour blocking, and sharp graphic treatments on accent walls peaked around 2018-2020 and are now recognisably dated. These treatments were always more about trend than timelessness.
How to Use Trend Information Wisely
The purpose of understanding trends is not to chase them or to avoid them entirely — it is to make informed decisions about which trends align with your genuine preferences and which you are attracted to simply because they are current.
Before adopting any wall finish trend, ask:
- Would I have chosen this five years ago? If the answer is yes, the choice is probably aligned with your genuine taste, not just current fashion.
- Does this serve the room's function? Trends that also serve practical purposes (texture for light interaction, natural materials for air quality) have built-in longevity beyond fashion.
- Can I live with this every day? Trends look exciting in magazine photos but you will see your walls thousands of times. Choose finishes that you find genuinely pleasing, not just visually striking.
- How difficult is this to change? Adopt trends on surfaces that are easy to update (paint colour, accent walls) and use proven, timeless approaches on surfaces that are expensive to change (full-room plaster, built-in elements).
The best interiors mix timeless foundations with current sensibility. Permanent surfaces in timeless materials and tones, accented with touches that reflect the moment. This approach keeps your home feeling both enduring and alive — never dated, never frozen in time.