Visualista January Digest: Insights from Britain’s Top Interior Design Magazines
- Alla Yaskovets
- Dec 17, 2025
- 9 min read
The Visualista January Design Digest brings together key insights from Britain’s leading interior design magazines. This month, we focus on four influential titles — The World of Interiors, Homes & Gardens, Livingetc and House & Garden. Elle Decoration UK is excluded from this edition, as its combined December–January issue is released earlier, in November.
Although dated January, these issues land in early December, and their tone reflects this transitional moment. The overt gloss and high-energy festivity of December editions give way to a more reflective, atmospheric approach. Christmas décor recedes into the background, replaced by timeless interiors, quieter material stories and projects driven by personality, place and narrative rather than seasonal styling.
Homes & Gardens
Editor’s Letter
In January, editor Jo Bailey captures that quiet pause between the festive frenzy and the new year’s ambitions - the moment after the last mince pies have been eaten, when the home settles and we take stock. This issue moves beyond interiors alone, turning the spotlight to well-being, slow-down moments, and objects designed to destress.
This Month’s Focus: Well-being & Hosting
The issue gently transitions from celebration to restoration. There is a renewed appreciation for tactile comfort, soothing materials and sensorial details — interiors that not only look beautiful, but make us feel grounded. Hosting remains in the spotlight, but in a more intimate, unhurried way. Alongside this, an early look at bathroom trends for 2026 signals a future of textural richness and wellness-driven design tricks.
Design Trends: Moulded Forms
Editors notes that moulded forms are set to be one of the most in-demand, bringing softness, fluidity, and sculptural character to interiors.
Another major design feature in the magazine explores bathroom design trends for 2026, offering a carefully curated look at the year ahead. From twelve standout ideas, Visualista has selected five of the most exciting trends. These include textured wall plasters such as tadelakt, integrated shower seats, and tile drenching, where tiles sweep elegantly up to the ceiling. Bathrooms are also embracing fabrics, introducing softness and tactility into traditionally hard surfaces, while rich, comforting hues like burgundy add warmth and depth.
Spotlight on Product Designers & Brands
For brands, this issue is rich with editorial opportunities. The Objects of Desire pages expand their usual scope, spotlighting pieces designed to de-stress and restore.
The Edit continues to champion new launches and design destinations, from tableware and entertaining essentials to statement lighting that elevates smaller gatherings. Meanwhile, Movers & Shakers introduces textile studio Nest Design, celebrating craftsmanship that feels both modern and deeply rooted.
A feature by Amy Moorea Wong looks ahead to the products shaping the future of well-being — a key placement for accessories and innovations that support better living through design.
Spotlight on Interior Designers
The print issue of Homes & Gardens usually focuses on British projects, while its digital content takes a more global perspective. In January, four standout homes are featured in print, from a charming Oxfordshire period house to a stylish London townhouse.
Beyond these home tours, there are plentiful opportunities for interior designers to be featured, quoted or contribute expert advice throughout the issue. The Colour of the Month focuses on ochre, with designers offering insight into how this warm, sun-baked hue is being incorporated into contemporary interiors.
In the Hallway Design feature, Arabella Youens shows how entranceways set the tone for a home, offering designers a chance to showcase bold, creative ideas for foyers that make a lasting first impression.
Design Rules, the magazine’s longstanding expert advice column, features Hubert Zandberg this month, sharing tips on creating welcoming, guest-ready spaces. Editor Emma J Page extends this theme in The Art of Hosting, gathering guidance on crafting spaces that foster connection and effortless entertaining.
The issue also includes designer profiles, such as Billy Cotton, whose eclectic, international approach underlines the magazine’s appetite for individuality and cross-cultural inspiration.
Since this issue highlights bathroom trends for 2026, editors invited Nina Campbell and Sean Symington to share their insights on creating dreamy, personal spaces. Their feature shows that truly inspiring bathrooms are defined by personality, narrative, and comfort.
Finally, the Lifestyle section offers designers a key opportunity for inclusion. In My Life in 10, Jo leGleud of Maddox Creative reflects on the objects, places, and rituals that define her world.
Livingetc
Editor’s Letter
Editor Pip Rich opens the January issue with a meditation on prediction - how certain we can be about the future, and how delightfully wrong. After five years in Somerset, he was convinced he’d never move back to London; yet here he is, writing this letter from a rented flat in the city once again. The issue opens with a major trend report - bold, imaginative and packed with the early signals of 2026.
This Month’s Focus: Trend Forecast 2026
The January issue pivots from festive design to forecasting. The emphasis is on emotional interiors, tactile materials, surrealist influences and the rise of expressive colour.
Design Trend: Cherry Lacquer
The hero trend this month is cherry lacquer. According to the editors, red is the shade making the strongest statement across both catwalks and interiors. In high-gloss finishes, it becomes modern with a retro edge - a look that feels glamorous, energetic and perfect for mood-lifting January stories.
Another trend gaining traction: murals. Large-scale illustrative walls -whether hand-painted or digitally printed - signal a move toward immersive, personal storytelling at home.
Spotlight on Brands & Product Designers
January opens with Livingetc’s Design Report 2026, a wide-lens look at the materials, makers and ideas set to define the year. The narrative is anchored by new materials, with Greek studio Koukos de Lab introducing a composite created from waste olive pits.
With readers still in a season of gathering, the issue also features a substantial dining story by Rory Robertson - spotlighting tables, chairs, sideboards and dinnerware. It’s a clear opportunity for tableware designers, furniture makers and lifestyle brands whose collections speak to hosting, conviviality and elevated everyday rituals.
Livingetc has launched its new Design Lab, a service guiding homeowners in selecting products and styling their interiors with input from the magazine’s own team. For product designers and makers, this makes it more important than ever to proactively share news, launches and fresh insights about collections.
Spotlight on Interior Designers
This month, the magazine invited a selection of leading designers to share their predictions, offering readers a first-hand glimpse into the trends and directions driving 2026 design.
Visualista has highlighted three of the most compelling insights:
Alex Dauley predicts interiors will become more emotional and lifestyle-driven, moving beyond trends to create spaces that truly reflect how we live.
Maddox Creative champions textured wall hangings and tactile interventions, embracing “emotional materiality” to bring warmth and personality into interiors.
Minnie Kemp flags a resurgence of surrealism, with playful forms, unexpected juxtapositions and imaginative details returning to the home.
In-Depth Interview: The magazine features a conversation with Joseph Dirand, offering an in-depth look at The Chancery Rosewood hotel.
Traditional Q&A: This month, reader dilemmas are answered by Amy Stoddart, who provides clear, approachable guidance. The Q&A remains one of the simplest pathways for designers to contribute expertise - especially for those adept at translating design thinking into practical, everyday solutions.
As the new year begins, readers are looking to refresh, declutter and create spaces that feel calm and restorative. The Projects section, which functions as a hub of expert advice, focuses on clever built-in furniture and smart storage solutions - helping homes feel organised without compromising on style. It also explores principles for designing relaxation zones, from meditation rooms to cosy corners that encourage rest and mindfulness.
House & Garden
This Month’s Focus: A Festive Interlude
Although dated January, this issue lands in early December and is firmly rooted in the festive season. The pages are devoted to Christmas-decorated interiors, considered gift ideas, and an expansive travel guide designed for winter escapes and forward planning.
Editor’s Letter
In his January letter, editor Talib Choudhry sets the tone with an emphasis on warmth, nostalgia, and thoughtful consumption. He highlights a carefully edited Christmas gift guide by Remy Mishon, guided by the principle "buy less, buy better".
Among the editor’s personal highlights are two projects: a 300-year-old Swedish house redesigned by Studio Ramson, defined by quiet restraint and craftsmanship, and Anne Hardy’s home in Connecticut, New England, decorated with Christmas heirlooms collected by her family over several decades.
Design Trend: Sugar Rush
A subtle yet striking trend in design plays with melted, moulded forms in soft pastels, taking cues from food’s textures and shapes. Think Faye Toogood’s butter-inspired collection — furniture and objects that feel sculpted, tactile, and just a little surreal,
Spotlight on Brands & Product Designers
As ever, stylist Ruth Sleightholme opens the shopping section with her edit of objects that have caught her eye this month. She then turns her attention to glassware, curating a dedicated editorial shoot photographed by Olivia Bennett, celebrating both everyday elegance and artisanal detail.
Remy Mishon’s festive gift guide champions the magazine’s mantra buy less, buy better, while Laura Normanton’s decorating resources curate the finest new bathroom products - practical, elegant, and forward-thinking.
This issue also spotlights British craft and design, with Willow with Roots telling the story of a mother-and-daughter studio that reimagines traditional willow weaving in innovative, contemporary forms, blending heritage craftsmanship with modern sensibilities.
Spotlight on Interior Designers
As with December’s issue, the January edition offers limited coverage of interior designers, reflecting its focus on festive, Christmasy, and winter-inspired interiors. Just four residential projects are featured - including one UK-based home, alongside projects in Sweden, Switzerland, and Connecticut. The emphasis is on atmosphere, seasonal decoration, and storytelling.
The World of Interiors
Editor’s Letter
In her January 2026 editor’s letter for The World of Interiors, Emily Tobin reflects on cities as palimpsests - layered, messy and rich with personal and collective memories. Drawing on her own experiences in London, she explores how places accumulate stories, emotion, and meaning over time. This theme of urban layering and lived experience sets the tone for the issue’s selection of interiors and locations, from London to Brussels, Marrakesh and Los Angeles, reinforcing the magazine’s focus on narrative, history and the deeper human connections embedded in spaces.
Editorial Shoot
While The World of Interiors generally avoids seasonal content, this issue highlights a subtly festive feature: decorative candlesticks, currently one of the most popular design accessories of the season. Styled with playful refinement under special adviser Rose Eaglesfield and photographed by Yuki Sugiura, the shoot demonstrates how WOI can nod to the holidays without embracing overt seasonal décor.
Spotlight on Brands & Product Designers
Each issue opens with a news section curated by David Lipton, showcasing objects that caught his eye. This month, standout pieces include bespoke creations by Studio Derive.
Spotlight on Interior Designers
As with December, the January issue deliberately avoids Christmas-decorated projects, reinforcing The World of Interiors’ editorial independence from seasonal expectations. Instead, the Visitors’ Book presents a tightly edited selection of interiors from across the globe, with just two UK projects, underscoring the magazine’s highly selective approach.
Highlights include Adelle Lutz’s Los Angeles home, an expressive reflection of her multifaceted identity as artist, activist, and designer, and a flat in Ernő Goldfinger’s Trellick Tower, decorated by Adam Bray, where a London landmark becomes a layered portrait of urban living.
True to WOI’s ethos, the focus is less on promoting interior designers and more on personalities, narratives and the cultural context behind each space.
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