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    time to redecorate

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

    Amber Heckler
    May 26, 2025 | 11:30 am

    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 trendsTake 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 trendsFrench 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.

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    give me shelter

    Meet the Houston architects teaching refugees to build permanent homes

    Emily Cotton
    Jun 27, 2025 | 10:46 am
    Every Shelter refugee Africa
    Photo by Moses Sawasawa
    Every Shelter educates communities on how to build homes using brick molds and local, organic materials.

    Two Rice architecture alums, and former Gensler Houston interns, Sam Brisendine and Scott Key are utilizing their top-tier education and expertise to make serious waves on a global level — and Gensler wants everyone to know about it. June is Global Giveback Month at the international design and architecture firm, and Every Shelter, the charitable organization founded by Brisendine and Key, is getting the spotlight with a new exhibit in the lobby of Gensler’s office in downtown Houston titled “Why We Flee.”

    Photographed by 26-year-old war photojournalist Moses Sawasawa, “Why We Flee” shines a light on one of the world’s largest drivers of human displacement today: an endless conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, or DRC. Also on display are the common goods that Every Shelter helps to repurpose into supplies and tools that refugees can then use to design and build their own permanent homes themselves.

    Every Shelter focuses on designing, building, and supplying permanent shelter solutions for homeless and displaced war and natural disaster refugees. Based in Houston, TX, and Kampala, Uganda, Every Shelter works directly with newly-arriving refugees from the DRC in Nakivale Refugee Settlement in the southwest of the country.

    Every Shelter is unique in that they are “community led, expert supported,” and teach communities how to design and build for their own communities. Megan Mark, director of advancement at Every Shelter, tells CultureMap about a design studio that they are currently piloting at their Ugandan office.

    “We have a humanitarian aid architect there and a program manager. They work with the social innovation leads, who are typically refugees who we’ve employed to help us navigate refugees’ needs in the context of the environment that they are in,” she says. “A refugee who is in Turkey doesn’t have the same needs as a refugee in Uganda. Right now we have three architects who are still in school.”

    Humanitarian aid architects spend nine weeks leading an architecture and design curriculum for refugees between the ages of 18-30 years old. At the end of the nine weeks, the students will have designed a solution, or “intervention” as Every Shelter calls it, for a need that they have in the community.

    “We are really excited to see what they come up with,” says Lauren Hanson, community manager at Every Shelter. “We teach refugees how to make things, then certify them to be the teachers. Then they can go make their own, they can sell their own, they can even start their own business teaching others how to make these things. We want to give the power to them to take whatever intervention we come up with and utilize it. They can take any idea and scale it, and that’s what we want to happen.”

    The most coveted shelter solution by far has been the brick molds that Every Shelter supplies to the communities. While brick molds are nothing new, availability has been scarce. With high demand and low supply, local rental fees for these tools skyrocketed. The UN and the Ugandan government supply refugees with land, a UN tarp, a few poles, and a small amount of money to get settled. Refugees tend to spend 10-26 years in these settlements, far longer than the 3-6 month lifespan of a UN-supplied tarp.

    By supplying brick molds and an invaluable education in building and design — especially lessons on making bricks from local organic matter — Every Shelter can get families from living under a tarp to living in a brick home in about a year. The brick molds cost under $10 to make, and the savings from potential rental fees ($130) is the equivalent of three months of food per household, which is a huge savings for families who are trying to get their children into schools.

    Communities band together to share molds and can work together to allocate bricks in an efficient manner. One house requires approximately 1,500 bricks, and with lessons from Every Shelter, families can design and build homes that best fit their individual needs. Skylights are designed and built using recycled water bottles, and decommissioned billboards are treated and up-cycled into roofing and floor tiles, which have a lifespan of about eight years. Lessons in home repair are also instrumental for those who may need them down the line.

    The focus that Every Shelter places on design, architecture, and construction in underserved communities is something that resonates deeply with Gensler. Stephanie Burritt, managing director and principal at Gensler Houston, certainly feels a connection to the organization’s ethos.

    “When they came to us and told us what they are doing, it was just hand-in-glove in terms of how it fit with our global giveback and our focus on homelessness, and it just made a lot of sense,” Burritt tells CultureMap. “We have happy hours here with contractors, employees, vendors, and everyone who walks through here all the time asks us what this is that we are showcasing and how they can help.”

    Gensler’s summer intern class arrived the same week as the “Why We Flee” installation, and Burritt thinks it has been a good thing for them to see. “I think, for them, it was super exciting to see somebody who had been an intern — 12 years ago, or whatever it was — and go ‘Oh, wow! This is the kind of impact I can have at some point in my career that’s beyond what you see in our day-to-day work at Gensler.’ And I think that’s really special.”

    Every Shelter co-founder Scott Key enlisted college friend and curator Ben Rasmussen to oversee the installation of the exhibition. As for the subject matter, Rasmussen wants the show to be experienced in a fluid way. “Wherever you enter is how you experience it,” he says. “It can be moved through in whatever way people choose, and that sort of personal way of moving through the work kind of echoes the sort of chaotic way that people experience it on the ground. So we wanted for that to exist in a way that people can see it, without trying to force an education on a really long-running and complex conflict.”

    One benefit of the exhibition is the amount of exposure that Every Shelter is receiving from Gensler’s local contractors and vendors, with labor and materials contributions for the organization’s new Heights-area office already pouring in. “Why We Flee” hopes to find a new home after its time at Gensler comes to a close at the end of the summer, so check in with Every Shelter if a trip to Gensler this summer isn’t in the cards.

    -----

    See “Why We Flee" Monday-Friday from 9 am-5 pm at Gensler’s Houston office in 2 Houston Center (909 Fannin Street, Suite 200).


    Every Shelter refugee Africa
      

    Photo by Moses Sawasawa

    Every Shelter educates communities on how to build homes using brick molds and local, organic materials.

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