Home & Lifestyle Trends: Preparing for 2026

In 2026, how can you capitalise on consumers’ home and lifestyle ventures? 

Here’s how: get involved with trends early. The rise of multi-channel search, and AI search, means that spotting opportunities could make all the difference between breaking revenue records versus losing sales to competitors who recognised the trends early on.

The psychology behind trends stems right back to the early days of human existence. As a species, we like to follow a herd-mentality type of situation because it’s easier to fit in with the crowd than go out on your own; by following the crowd you save yourself time by reducing decision making.

Additionally, going along with a crowd subconsciously plays into our natural human proclivity of wanting to belong to a tribe, which nobody is immune to. Despite there being so much psychological research surrounding trends, they can be difficult territory since they have an unknown expiration date. That’s why acting fast is key.

We’ve compiled the most popular trends from 2025, and researched the most likely trends for 2026 to help you in your endeavours. With one quarter down and three to go, discover what you need to know to help your home and lifestyle brand shine throughout the rest of the year.

WHAT WERE THE MOST COMMON HOME AND LIFESTYLE TRENDS IN 2025

#1 Sustainability Incorporated into Everyday Life

Consumers continue to search for green(er) alternatives to their usual staples, whether that’s reusable items as opposed to single-use, or products made from sustainable materials rather than plastic or rare resources.

The distinction between “eco-friendly” and sustainable products has also become more recognised by consumers, and their buying habits have changed as a result. To a growing number of consumers, it’s no longer acceptable to stock a product that’s environmentally friendly in the short term, it’s all about what the impact of making/selling that product will have on the planet’s future. Take a look at our blog on How to Avoid Greenwashing for more information.

In 2025, WWF’s campaign shed light on unsustainable and unethical coffee farming practices, as well as highlighting the environmental impact of chocolate and palm oil production. The success of the campaign connotes how keen people are to use ethically-sourced products in their home.

This trend will likely persist in some form or another throughout 2026. Recently, Hopes Grove Nurseries received tons of coverage around gardening for bees and bee-friendly plants from publications like Express, Daily Mirror and Country Living. Journalists are recognising that people care more than ever about acting authentically and protecting the environment, and that it’s affecting their purchasing when it comes to home and garden products.

#2 Homes Full of Personality

Over the last few years, home decor trends have shifted away from show-home aesthetics. This is best exemplified by the “messy makeover” trend, where influencers on TikTok and Instagram showcased their authentic homes and promoted comfort and personalisation over clean, manicured perfection.

Whether they’re more inclined towards “characterful” minimalism or “lived-in” maximalism, consumers are aiming to put a stamp on their homes. The focus is often on comfort, with many now working remotely post-pandemic, as well as the rise of “house-poor” homeowners, making it more important than ever to create a home you actually want to spend time in.

Brands can capitalise on this by jumping on massive cultural moments. In 2025, the overwhelming popularity of Severance proved lucrative for IKEA; they quickly put together a Severance-inspired collection that took advantage of media attention while digging into people’s basic needs (ie. comfort, privacy while working, etc).

#3 DIY and Customisation

From unique fittings on wardrobes, to adding tassels to chairs, consumers are seeking out achievable DIY customisation options – they want to be able to add more flair to what they already own, and “beautify” their homes on smaller budgets. This ties into the IKEA Effect, a cognitive bias denoting that people prefer things they helped to create.

Although on the face of it this might seem negative (since, after all, you don’t want your customers doing things that your brand is an expert in) it can also double up as an opportunity.

Rather than targeting audiences with complete finished products, diversify and offer bundles on certain items which make up a DIY kit to help them make it themselves. To promote your bundle to shoppers who might not follow influencers, why not use a Google Ads Paid Search campaign that targets DIY-related keywords for the product(s) you’re offering bundles for? This gets your bundle in front of in-market customers looking to buy.

Moreover, 45% of respondents in our recent SearchPulse survey cited "easy to understand / follow" instructions as the single most important factor when choosing a DIY brand or product, so this is also a great opportunity to review and rework your instructions. Streamline manuals, create video tutorials to reduce friction, maybe even survey your customers for feedback. 

Take a look at our SearchPulse report for more insights on the home and lifestyle industry.

WHAT SHOULD WE FOCUS ON IN 2026 TO CAPITALISE ON HOME AND LIFESTYLE TRENDS?

#1 Authenticity and Value Alignment

Like we said in our blog on the Top Digital PR Trends to watch in 2025, authenticity is everything.

For a great example of this in action, just look at The Ordinary, whose Money Endorsement Pile campaign made a huge splash last year. Through a shop window, an enormous pile of money was viewable, alongside the message: “This is the amount of money we’d have to add to the price of our products if we paid for a celebrity endorsement.” Specifically, they claimed that their products would cost 60% more.

The transparency of this campaign reflects how well The Ordinary understands its customers; they value safe, effective and affordable skincare over more glamorously-marketed alternatives. Within your efforts to showcase your products, ensure the messaging aligns with what your audience cares about. Any campaigns that speak honestly to their customers can illustrate how tuned-in they are to consumer values and needs.

#2 Storytelling

Having a message to convey increases the potency of any marketing campaign.

Many of the stunts that made a splash last year were focused on emotional impact, often through shock value. While there’s less capacity to shock in the home and lifestyle sector, there is space to warm hearts.

With the message to “stay active”, Miller Homes UK partnered with Old Northamptonians Ladies RFC, showcasing them training in and enjoying one of their regional properties. The videos sold the homes and the lifestyle all at once.

What Miller Homes understood so well is that highlighting a local team is more personal and impactful to the local community than a celebrity endorsement. Personalise your campaign to your core audience with stories they will resonate with.

#3 Human-Focus

In January 2026, Kathryn Jezer-Morton coined the term “frictionmaxxing” in her viral column. It refers to how a subset of people are purposely introducing more friction into their lives as a way of resisting technological advances which infantilise and encourage complacency.

Wanda Sachs at House Beautiful describes this movement as “fundamentally life-affirming”, as it “asks us to actively interact with the world rather than optimising our way out of it”. But what does this mean for brands? 

In the home and lifestyle sector, this cultural shift evokes the slow movement and digital detoxing – products promoted to enrich living spaces, and add more texture to daily life, will tie in beautifully. Use people who genuinely love and use the products to promote them, and use immersive content to showcase how they can light up living spaces.

In an increasingly tech-driven and AI-content ridden landscape, campaigns grounded in the human experience are likely to perform well.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

2026 is shaping up to follow 2025’s trends in a few key ways. There’s still a large push for authenticity and accountability from brands, because consumers refuse to give their trust for anything less. One-size-fits-all approaches are outdated; consumers crave personalised or customisable experiences, so translating that to how you sell your products and (working with individuals who align with brand values) is crucial. Lead with emotional and data-led storytelling for campaigns that resonate on a deeper level.

Need help turning trends into creative marketing campaigns? At Reflect Digital, we offer a range of performance marketing services – including SEO, Paid Media, Content Writing and Video Production – but our Digital PR team in particular is the perfect partner for turning trends and timely opportunities into tangible results.

So what are you waiting for? Speak to us today to see how we can support your 2026 strategy, and get ahead of your competition by planning exciting campaigns!

Looking to learn even more about what really drives your customers to buy? Check out our latest Searchpulse report where we do a deep dive into the minds of real customers of home and lifestyle brands to see what makes them tick.