Home, interior decor tips: Avant-garde design treatments to look out for in 2023
Avant-garde are often characterised as innovative and daring designs, transforming interiors into art. Here are a few design treatments to look out for in 2023
As the design pendulum sways from minimalism to maximalism, over the years designers have been inspired by what has always been around. Tracing back to roots, design choices from materials to wall finishes and even furniture were purposeful and aligned with the cultural opinions of the masses.

Avant-garde is an edgy, artistic style that goes against traditional style genres where they are often characterised as innovative and daring designs, transforming interiors into art. Avant-garde is “re-imagining the old”, a nuanced design treatment that is in constant dialogue with the context, scale and proportions, design brief and most importantly, the inhabitants of the space.
This often means curating astonishing elements in spaces via wall panels, artwork, furniture pieces or even through an architectural element. In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Shalini Chandrashekar, Principal and Director at Taliesyn, revealed a few design treatments to look out for in 2023 are:
- Materiality
Falling back on natural materials and finishes, which celebrate the ageing of the materials in their raw state. Red oxide has been reimagined with modern materials like pigmented cement, where red pigments are added to the admixture to render vernacular treatments.
- Furniture
Investing in vintage furniture pieces and re-tuning the older furniture to align with the contemporary state of space-making. Vintage furniture brings back memories from the past and adds nostalgia to a space.
- Emotions
Retrofitting older furniture and vernacular materials to modern spaces alters the inhabitants' emotions–adding a layer of nostalgia and narrative that dates back to our ancestors.
Devika Khosla, Creative Director at The Works Interiors, added to the list of design treatments to look out for in 2023:
- Geometric play of form
These structural and bold details can play an inputting role in defining the new avant-garde in 2023.
- Deep colours, high contrast and saturated hues
Play of deep colours will be seen as a big trend for mood setting in interior spaces this year. In our recently completed residential project in Gwalior, a highly saturated graphic wall highlights the double-height contrasting to the muted and neutral palette.
- Cutting-edge techniques
This year, an infusion of exciting design elements through advanced techniques will also be seen in multiple designs.
- An element of surprise
Adding an element of surprise through a lighting fixture or furniture piece, when juxtaposed with the rest of the space, results in an exciting look in terms of scale, material and texture.
Such statement pieces can add drama to any space.
