Decorex 2026 has made one thing clear: decoration is back, on condition that it is done well. Reporting from this year's show on October 20, hardware maker Crofts & Assinder describes a renewed appetite for traditional influences, rich colour palettes and decorative details — spaces designed to feel warm, distinctive and full of character.
Art Deco and traditional influences were hard to miss, especially in the decorative details, with distinctive forms and carefully judged proportions giving interiors a renewed sense of character. Aged brass and antique-inspired finishes emerged as a key direction, their warmth and depth offering an alternative to highly polished surfaces. As Crofts & Assinder notes, handles, knobs and decorative fittings are among the easiest ways to bring personality into a scheme: small in scale, big in impact.
Lighting set the mood across the show. Instead of bright, even illumination, rooms were lit in layers, with low pools of light drawing out texture and material — a technique that flatters the season's tactile fabrics and dark woods. The emphasis on craft extended to hand-finished pieces and heritage-inspired forms, a sign that ornament, handled with confidence, feels entirely current again.
The takeaways echo the wider autumn 2026 mood charted by design observers including Aati, which notes Art Deco's return in sculptural curves and glints of polished metal, softened by upholstery made for sinking into — and even animal prints and bold motifs moving from the edges of the room to its centre. After years of pale walls and clean lines, the message from Decorex is that the home is personal again, and it is dressing like it. Small in scale, big in impact: the show's takeaway for anyone updating a home this autumn is to invest in the details. A confident form in the right proportions can carry a whole room, while aged brass and layered lighting flatter everything around them. Decoration, Decorex suggests, is a skill — and this year, it is back in fashion.