time to redecorate

Wood paneling emerges among 8 top summer home design trends, says Houzz

The summer of 2024 proved to be a season for moody color palettes, cozy reading rooms, and focusing on inner tranquility and wellness, but summer 2025 is shaping up to be quite the opposite, according to Houzz.

In the latest annual "Emerging Summer Trends Report," Houzz's interior design experts say homeowners have renewed their interest in bold home design choices. The eight trends were determined using search data from U.S. homeowners, home professionals, and design enthusiasts from January through March 2025, and were compared to results from last year.

These are Houzz's top trends of the summer:

Bold color schemes
The most noticeable difference between last summer's report and this year's is the complete flip on room color choices. Summer 2024 was all about moody spaces and dark decor, while this summer will focus on bold techniques using monochromatic or analogous color schemes.

One popular method is "color-drenching," meaning using a single color across all furniture, walls, trim, and even the ceiling. Searches for cool-toned color palettes have surged in popularity by 206 percent, while warm-toned schemes have also seen a boost in popularity (106 percent).

No matter which hues homeowners use, it's clear that they're increasingly supporting the idea of leaving the sterile white and "agreeable" gray walls behind.

Color drenching, Houzz 2025 summer home design trends Take the paint all the way to the ceiling, Houzz suggests.Photo by Mikey Schwartz, courtesy of Risher Martin

"Wood-drenched" rooms
A modern take on '70s-era wood-paneled walls has also captured public interest, with searches for wood paneled offices up 43 percent since last year. "Wood-drenching" – similar to "color-drenching" – entails covering every wall in a room with natural wood panels all the up to the ceiling. Wood paneling can also pair well with light hardwood floors and white oak storage cabinets, Houzz says, while capitalizing on the "calming, grounding effect" that natural materials bring to a space.

Vintage style elements
Many homeowners may already own vintage furniture that was once gifted by relatives or friends, and it's time to let those pieces shine by embracing their charm and originality, according to the report.

"There’s also growing interest in full-room styling with searches doubling for 'vintage living rooms' and 'vintage kitchens' (up nearly 2x)," the report says. "We are seeing designers on Houzz adding a comforting sense of nostalgia, perfect for creating inviting rooms that feel as storied as they are stylish."

Houzz added that hanging onto vintage furniture can also be a budget-friendly way to avoid tariff-related price fluctuations and supply chain challenges with new furniture.

Warm metal accents
In a move away from builder-grade chrome and brushed nickel finishes, warmer metal accents like copper and gold are entering the limelight through lights, bathroom faucets, and kitchen fixtures like sinks and range hoods. The report says these modern design details add sophistication and luxury to a space, while also creating a "glam-meets-industrial" look.

French country style
Described as timeless and romantic, French country design is making the rounds in Houzz's design forums. This style can be characterized by busy floral wallpapers, "cottagecore" aesthetics, and an airy and open atmosphere.

"The style’s mix of vintage elegance and relaxed comfort is also making its way into the heart of the home, with searches for 'modern French country kitchen' up 45 percent," the report says. "Altogether, this aesthetic offers a perfect approach to home refreshes that feel both tranquil and transportive."

French country design, Houzz 2025 summer home design trends French country spaces can look airy and light.Photo by MB Productions, courtesy of Alair Homes Charlotte

Beverage stations
Going out for drinks used to be a lively way to spend a night with friends, but now homeowners are moving toward hosting dinner parties and cocktail hours in their own homes using customizable beverage stations. These can be entirely what the hosts make it, whether its a bar cart decked out with bartending tools, a whiskey bar, or a dedicated beer or wine fridge for storing favorite beverages.

For non-drinkers, ideas for beverage stations include coffee bars and mini-fridges for other drinks.

"Summer and entertaining go hand-in-hand and homeowners are getting serious about elevating their hosting game," the report says. "These additions reflect a desire for easy, accessible and visually appealing drink setups, perfect for summer evenings with family and friends or quiet mornings on the patio."

Fun zones
Just like kid zones were a popular choice in last summer's report, dedicated "fun zones" like a game room have become more popular as a novel way to entertain at home. Homeowners are specifically interested in poker tables, putting greens, and Lego rooms dedicated to building elaborate sets. Modular game tables that include recessed centers are also a great choice for groups interested in playing "Dungeons and Dragons" or board games.

Low-water landscaping
Summers in Texas are notoriously hot, and a pristine lawn is much harder to maintain during brutal heat waves and droughts. Homeowners are finding unique ways to reinvigorate their yards using low-water landscaping ideas like succulent gardens, decomposed granite pathways, and Mediterranean gardens that prioritize drought-tolerant plants.

Wood paneling, Houzz 2025 summer home design trends

Photo by Todd Goodman / LA Light Photo, courtesy of Meridith Baer Home

Wood paneling is back and in a modern fashion.

home design houzz reports summer

gold pony club

Inside the creation of the rodeo cook-off’s most over-the-top tent

Courtesy of Cotton Holdings

The Gold Pony is the ultra-private VIP lounge behind the stage.

The Cotton Q Club is arguably the glitziest and most exclusive tent at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s annual World's Championship Bar-B-Que Contest. Hosting nearly 800 invited guests-per-night, the 5,000-square-foot space includes a 50-foot bar, a new pop-up martini bar by Sophie Cocktail & Terrace Bar called “The Stirrup,” the ultra-exclusive “Gold Pony Club,” and a full stage for private concerts. This season, county music acts include Gabby Barrett, Sammy Kershaw, Josh Turner and Braxton Keith.

Aside from the obvious, what sets the club apart from the rest is the sheer magnitude of its operation. Once inside, guests are encapsulated by velvet-draped ceilings illuminated by crystal chandeliers, three-layer tartan-topped carpeting, richly-colored wooden-paneled walls, plus thousands of red roses swathed acrobatically throughout.

To coincide with the year of the horse, five enormous ponies made entirely of red roses have been suspended from the ceilings. The second additions this year hang on either side of the bar in The Gold Pony, the club’s even more exclusive VIP area. The kinetic artworks were created by Houston artist Sneha Merchant —all for a three day fête. This begs the question: how do they do it?

Cotton Holdings and its subsidiaries are well positioned to carry out the entire project themselves — so they do. Never bothered or besmirched by the possibility of running into issues with rental companies, everything at The Cotton Q Club is procured, purchased, and stored in-house. As one would expect from a company that provides disaster relief around the world.

“There is a lot of love and care put into this because we’re not in a hotel, we’re not in someone’s home,” Cotton Holdings chief marketing officer Zinat Ahmed tells CultureMap. “So for us to be able to create this entire infrastructure under a tent — down to the walls and chandeliers — it is much more than throwing a party. It’s about the details that make people feel that they are at a hotel, they are in an extravagant room, they are at The Polo Bar.”

Ahmed notes that a lot of the company’s culture is mixed into the tent, such as what Cotton does as a disaster relief company (including providing food by Cotton Culinary).

“Cotton Logistics puts up tents during a natural disaster. Seeing the Cotton team, whether it’s cleaning or moving things around, welcoming everyone, that’s part of our Cotton GDS — we restore communities after natural disasters. Our synergies in different parts of our day-to-day are here,” she says.

Ahmed’s team has complete creative control over the interior aesthetics of the club. Always sourcing anything that cannot be made in-house to local vendors is something she feels is important. Nothing is rented, not even the furniture or accessories.

“Every single thing, unless it was done by a local vendor, was done in-house: design, signage, execution — even the embroidery,” she explains

Everything is checked over during the summer months so there won’t be any surprises when the cook-off comes back around. Every item is organized, labeled, and stored either in Cotton’s warehouses, Conex boxes, or in special climate-controlled safes — down to the matchboxes.

“We are always prepared and ready to go,” explains Ahmed. “It’s not chaotic at all because we’re used to it — it’s a normal day at Cotton.”

When asked for her favorite parts of the tent this year, Ahmed readily answered that it has to be the five rose ponies in the main area of the club. Secondly, the two commissioned works by Sneha Merchant. Sprinkled in diamond dust, one is a female mallard wrapped in a boa, champagne flute in hand, while the other is a smartly-suited jackalope complete with cowboy hat and martini.

Both pieces are lit by antique sconces Ahmed sourced from Round Top, while the taxidermy Zebra heads are on loan from the Columbus, Texas ranch of Cotton Holdings’ Chairman Pete Bell.

“Every detail, down to the swatches of velvet has been thought of with a lot of love and care,” says Ahmed. “You use that mindset with something like this. So, if you have a mindset like before you deploy to a hurricane, you can do it for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.”

Courtesy of Cotton Holdings

The Gold Pony is the ultra-private VIP lounge behind the stage.

houston livestock show and rodeo home-design cotton holdings