Designer Finishes Inspired By Interior Design

So, here’s what’s wild—these “designer finishes” are sneaking in while everyone’s distracted by whatever TikTok is yelling about. Designers are weirdly obsessed with subtlety now. Layered matte, weird textures, nothing shiny, and suddenly I’m rethinking every wall in my house.

How Interior Designers Select Modern Finishes

I watched a designer stare at paint samples for, like, an hour, then cover a wall in Farrow & Ball spots and still complain “none of these feel right.” No one wants plain flat white anymore. They’re all chasing limewash (looks cloudy, kind of old), ultra-matte “soft touch,” or clay-based chalky finishes.

Shiny stuff is basically banned. “Natural-looking, tactile materials calm the eye,” says Adah Brohman (interior specialist, apparently quoted everywhere). “Organic texture” is the phrase of the year. Everyone wants walls that look like stone or at least don’t look cheap. European brands (Little Greene, Pure & Original) are suddenly everywhere because their paint “breathes.” I used regular eggshell on a dining nook last year—looked fine for a bit, then just felt wrong. Instagram’s fault, probably.

The Influence of Color of the Year

Color of the Year is a circus. I’ve got Benjamin Moore “Blue Nova” samples all over my car. Experts don’t just pick a color—they build entire rooms around it, then you see it everywhere. Sherwin-Williams and Pantone do these workshops with exact pairings—paint, trim, rugs, probably even your dog’s collar.

This year’s “Color of the Year” is more like an order than a suggestion. Designers use it with weird finishes—mineral washes, suede walls, shiny doorframes, never baseboards (is that a real rule?). 2025’s picks are soft sage, muted terracotta, creamy off-whites—always in layered, slightly messy finishes, never flat. People are ditching basic eggshell for anything that looks complex, because everyone’s scared of “dead” flat walls.

Natural Textures and Metallic Accents

Ever notice how a weird ceiling glare can make your plants look sharper? That’s paint finish, not magic. Mixing stone granules into matte paint—why did no one tell me plaster comes in so many textures?—makes regular flat paint seem boring. I love the look, but, heads up, scrubbing tadelakt walls is way more work than Pinterest ever admits.

Blending Color with Natural Textures

Venetian plaster, limewash, Moroccan tadelakt—honestly, these sound way fancier than they actually are. In real life? Either they’re a gritty dream or a nightmare to patch, and “natural” is just code for “will drive you nuts if you ever need to fix it.” I keep seeing decorators bicker about tadelakt’s water resistance—sure, it holds up in Moroccan riads, but in a 1970s Midwest rental? I have my doubts. Earthy shades like terracotta, sage, and that moody blue everyone’s obsessed with—they don’t bounce light like glossy paint, so the color shifts around all day. Sometimes it’s cozy, sometimes it’s like, why is my hallway suddenly green?

I slapped a waxed lime finish over some sad drywall and, weirdly, it started pretending to be stone. Restoration guy told me—test natural paints on a tiny patch first, because humidity does freaky things to undertones. Last thing you want is a hallway that morphs into swamp-green after a rainstorm. Matte finish? Sure, it hides fingerprints better than eggshell, but let’s not kid ourselves—scrubbing still messes up the texture. Some days I just want plain white walls again, but then I remember how dust on textured color sort of looks… intentional? Maybe I’m just tired.

Integrating Rose Gold and Metallic Sheens

Okay, can we talk about the metallic thing? I can’t pick between rose gold and brass, and every “expert” online says both will look dated in like five years (design historian Jennifer Ott says metallics cycle every 7-10 years, which is weirdly specific). But a brushed rose gold sconce with clay tile? Doesn’t look glam at all—just kind of glows at sunset. Not mad about it.

Once, by accident, I put a matte charcoal wall with shiny copper hardware and my bathroom instantly looked like it belonged in a magazine. But why does “satin bronze” always look better in the store than at home? I don’t get it. If you go wild with metallics—like mirrored ceiling panels, brass pulls, tiny rose gold pendants—it only works if everything else is muted and textured. If Instagram says a trend is dead but the fancy showrooms still push it, you’ve probably got a year before knockoff versions take over Target.