How to Create a Comfortable Interior in 2022: 7 Key Trends from the Pros

In 2021, the home stopped being just a home. Now it serves as a workspace, school classroom, gym, and cinema. Today's interior must combine practicality, comfort, and style simultaneously. During the period of forced time at home, people have started paying more attention to small details: space organization, zoning, functional decor. Aesthetics and usability of surrounding items help prevent mental strain when staying at home 24/7.

Together with a psychologist and the design studio, we explored what a comfortable interior should look like in 2022 and categorized all the insights.

Sound Insulation

Noise affects concentration and rest quality. Studies by Perkins+Will Human Experience Lab showed that 68% of respondents become irritable and can't concentrate when noise levels just slightly exceed the volume of normal conversation.

One of the weakest links in internal sound insulation in apartments and houses are interior doors, whose acoustic properties depend on three main factors:

• the thickness of the door leaf,

• the filling of the door leaf,

• the presence and quality of the seal around the perimeter.

Let's talk about thickness. A thicker door leaf better absorbs sound and can be an excellent solution to shield oneself from external irritants. Standard thickness of door leaves ranges between 35–45 mm (depending on the manufacturer).

However, there are also thicker doors available, for example, FILO-60 doors from UNION: the thickness of such a leaf is 60 mm, which ensures excellent acoustic comfort. Additionally, thanks to Italian hardware—special OTLAV hinges with three-axis adjustment and AGB magnetic locks—even heavy doors open easily and close completely silently.

Acoustic comfort is also enhanced by a special threshold-guillotine (an option). It activates only when the door is fully closed, blocking the gap between the door and floor, thereby achieving higher sound insulation.

FILO-60 Door, Alu, model Vox, natural veneer Noce Europeo

Pay attention:

FILO-60 Door, glossy Bianco Gloss paint, hidden frame in Chrome Matt finish

FILO-60 Door, Alu, model Bolla, natural veneer Noce Canaletto, aluminum edge trim

FILO-60 Door, Alu, model Vento, natural veneer Ebano Gloss, hidden frame and aluminum edge trim

Wall Panels with Various Finishes

Natural Materials

Using wooden textures in interior design is one of the favorite and always-effective tricks for designers. For example, wooden textures can add warmth to a room if too many gray tones were used. It's important to consider the conditions of functioning of wooden surfaces. For example, a wooden countertop on a kitchen sinks contact with moisture and household chemicals, which over time leads to damage. However, doors and partitions made of veneer do not come into contact with chemicals or moisture, so they always maintain a presentable appearance.

UNION offers such solutions — doors and partitions with veneer finishes of valuable wood species.

Psychologist Olga Romaniiv: "The impact on the senses occurs visually and tactilely. For calming and beneficial influence on the psyche, textures that evoke the desire to touch them play a major role".

FILO-60 Door, Alu, model Bolla, natural veneer Noce Canaletto

Storage and Order

Order in the house directly depends on well-planned storage and ways to organize space. Start with the simplest—hand-reach rule. Place everything you use daily within arm’s reach; keep the rest further away.

The second step is to plan zoning. This is especially important in combined multifunctional spaces—kitchen-living room, office-bedroom, etc. This is accomplished visually through decorative partitions.

Design Studio ArtMonopolia Experts: "You'll be surprised, but clear timing isn't about time management but about using dead zones in space and how to visually hide a desk in the living room and at what height to install a shelf above the workspace".

Sliding Partition STRATUS in a hidden track in the ceiling

AMPIO Doors Wardrobe. Aluminum profile in Black Matt Colour finish

Functional Decor

Absence of visual noise in the form of numerous porcelain figurines is the best way to decorate a space and stop distractions. Solutions include functional decor. For example, the FILO-60 door, thanks to its elegant structure and finish type, can become a bright accent in a space while leaving air in the room.

Psychologist Olga Romaniiv believes that free focus, i.e., absence of focus on anything and a kind of wandering gaze around the walls, is a luxury in modern times, especially when this world is limited to an apartment. A free and uncluttered space and air in the apartment are definitely necessary.

High UNION FILO-60 Door, natural veneer Rovere Antico. Leaf thickness 60 mm

Neutral Tones and Layering

Interiors assembled from monochrome colors are timeless classics. Paradoxically, building interiors on nuances and gradations of one color over the long term creates a larger field for experimentation than playing with contrasts. For example, tones can be layered over each other without fear of overdoing it.

"One of the ready-made color solutions for 2022 that is gaining popularity is earthy beige tones. Besides colors, the mood in a space is also set by various lighting scenarios,"—experts from ArtMonopolia Design Studio said.

RIGATO Partition, 4 leaves with aluminum NEXT profile, transparent glass, ceiling mounting, hidden rail

Ergonomics

Insulation confirmed that the space around us must be planned down to the smallest detail. Properly arranged interiors at least relieve invisible tension and, at most, save space in the apartment. A door hidden in a panel (in the wall) can visually adjust the room, free up space near the door opening, and significantly increase the usable area of the apartment (see the image below). Moreover, such constructions will be maximally safe for children. For example, they won't pinch fingers when doors snap shut from a draft (the construction has door closers).

Sliding SLIDER Door in ECLISSE Panel

Adaptive Space

Adaptable space can adjust to current user needs. For example, using the TRANSFORMER pivot-fold partition, a living room can quickly be divided into two functional zones—one of which can become a parent’s room or space for guests. Free layout organization is also supported by the absence of bulky and inflexible (both literally and figuratively) furniture.

Transformable Pivot-Fold Partition VARIO, natural veneer

Summary:

1. If you need to create a quiet zone in the room, we recommend paying attention to UNION doors with thick leaves and the "guillotine" option that covers the gap between the leaf and floor, thus improving sound insulation;

2. Natural materials and textures will please the eye for years to come;

3. Well-planned storage systems ensure order and comfort;

4. Functional decor will enhance the interior but won't clutter the space;

5. Neutral tones and monochromatic colors will serve as a universal solution for everyone—those who love variety and visual silence;

6. Proper space organization allows you to gain "useful area," make the room comfortable, and reduce internal tension;

7. Flexibility and adaptability of the interior will adjust to any unexpected scenario—visiting guests, parents, or adding more family members.

Such solutions, constructions, and finishes are available in the UNION Doors and Furniture product range. You can view them on the website or at company showrooms.