Interiors
Welcome to the New Year Neutral Reset
It’s clear that the Style Sourcebook community has always loved a stunning neutral palette. Now, going into 2026, it’s no different! Welcome to ‘The New Year Neutral Reset’: a reminder that calm is about creating spaces that feel grounded, considered, and ready for the year ahead. We’re here to help you refresh your space for a reset; whether you’re starting a new project or simply refreshing your home, it’s the perfect time to explore inspiring, flexible mood boards that set the tone for forward-thinking design.
As we discussed in our 2026 Interior Design Trends Predictions, we expect that interior design will continue to empower neutrals, Japandi, and Biophilic Design, with a definite focus on wellness. There’s no better way for a new year refresh than to embrace these restorative palettes, creating calm and balance ready for 2026.
Whilst we’re here, we hope our design community had the best festive break and are ready for 2026 as the best design year yet. Now, let’s delve into how you can enhance the shift of 2025 trends to the 2026 forecast for your upcoming design projects.
Design: Tameka Moffat Designs | Photography: Nat Spada Photography
Design: KJK Interiors | Photography: Alyne Media
Happy New Year from the SSB Team
There’s something quietly powerful about the start of a new year. Not the all-or-nothing resolutions, but the gentle reset, and this translates into our design elements for planning ahead. It gives us a chance to re-centre and refine, and in interiors, that feeling often shows up through neutrals: layered, intentional, and anything but boring. It’s a Happy New Year from us, and we’re here to inspire you for a design-centric 2026.
First of All: Start Room by Room
Sometimes we begin a project that we feel could be overwhelming. Of course, for interior design, our mood boards help to create the concepts of your styling refresh. However, the beauty of a neutral reset is that it can be tackled one room at a time. Each space becomes an opportunity to layer intention, texture, and emotion, so let’s spark some inspo for the home.
Entry: Start with calm, grounding surfaces that set a welcoming tone. A neutral rug, soft timber console, and sculptural accents that welcome you into the home, and give a sense of calm.
Living Room: Layer textiles, soft throws, cushions, and tactile furniture to create a space that feels both curated and comfortable. Play with subtle tonal contrasts to add depth without clutter.
Kitchen: Opt for warm, muted cabinetry, matte finishes, and natural stone surfaces. Neutrals here provide a timeless foundation for both functionality and style.
Bedroom: Make it a cocooning retreat. Linen bedding, wool throws, and soft lighting help the room breathe while encouraging rest and renewal.
By resetting each room, the home transforms into a cohesive, calming haven to cultivate in the year ahead.
Image Credit: Photo Credit: Villa Styling | Design: Our Next Project
Design: Aesthetic Developments | Photography: Nat Spada
The Neutral Mood Shift
Pantone’s move from Mocha Mousse in 2025 to Cloud Dancer in 2026 reflects a subtle but powerful evolution in neutral design. Mocha Mousse grounded interiors with warm, earthy, tactile tones, creating comforting and lived-in spaces. Cloud Dancer, in contrast, signals freshness, clarity, and openness, offering a light, versatile backdrop for layered textures and natural materials.
This shift encourages designers and homeowners to think of neutrals as more than a colour choice, but as a framework for mood, materiality, and emotional connection. Light, airy walls paired with layered timber, stone, or soft textiles allow interiors to feel open, calm, and emotionally restorative.
This neutral shift doesn’t mean a complete refurbish or renovation, but subtle changes to refresh a space.
Layering with Textures
Think about how textures can create a neutral reset for the home: a neutral sofa becomes more inviting with layered cushions in varying weaves, a calm bedroom comes to life with crumpled linen, a wool throw, and softly curved bedside forms. These subtle details make spaces feel intentional and lived in, enough for a minimalist refresh.
When texture steps forward, this is where a neutral palette becomes rich and tactile rather than flat. Once you’ve considered the 2026 mood for the home, try these subtle textural changes on your mood boards for your new year reset:
Softness: Linen, bouclé, wool
Warmth: Timber in oak, walnut, or smoked finishes
Variation: Stone, travertine, or terrazzo
Character: Matte ceramics and handmade finishes
Mixing finishes adds to the colour scheme whilst creating visual movement and depth, like smooth against rough, or matte against softly polished.
Rebalance and Redefine
One of the most refreshing things about working with neutrals is how forgiving and adaptable they are. A new year reset doesn’t require a full renovation, often it’s about editing, rebalancing, and refining.
Try this:
Swap heavy or overly dark accessories for lighter, textural pieces
Edit back clutter and replace with new accessories
Introduce one grounding element like a timber coffee table, a neutral rug, a sculptural lamp
Small changes can dramatically shift how a space feels. And neutrals allow those updates to integrate seamlessly rather than feeling like a temporary trend.
Mood Before Mood Board
Before choosing paint or finishes, the neutral reset encourages one simple question: how do you want this space to feel? Mood-first design shifts the focus from trends to emotion, where you can refine for future-proof design. A calm mood might translate into layered linens and soft wool, a grounded mood into earthy clay and timber tones, and a refreshed mood into Cloud Dancer walls paired with natural textures. By letting feeling lead the design process, neutrals become a language for emotional connection, creating interiors that feel alive, personal, and welcoming. Perfect for deciding your mood, create a vision board on Style Sourcebook with Pinterest images, integrating with our mood board tool to add products and bring your vision to life.
A Fresh Year and Refined Perspective
As we step into a new year, ‘The New Year Neutral Reset’ is an invitation to do things with clarity. To choose materials thoughtfully, layer slowly, and design spaces that support how we want to live and work this year. Looking to the year ahead, the design community aligns with the trends for the new year.
Whether you’re refining a current project, starting a new one, or simply seeking inspiration, neutrals offer a grounding point as a way to begin again with confidence and calm. To begin the refresh, take it point by point, room by room, and mood before the mood board.
Here’s to a year of considered choices, beautiful textures, and spaces that feel as good as they look through our mood boards and Project Studio. Welcome to the reset and welcome to 2026!
