Few trends have been as important to home decor in the past few years as hygge (pronounced as hoo-gah). But the Scandinavian principle of simple cosiness is starting to make way for something new.

These four new trends in interior design for 2020, as seen at the interior design trade fair Ambiente in Frankfurt, Germany last month, can take your hygge home to the next level.

1. Glitz and glamour

The Hollywood Regency interior style emphasises black and white patterns, mirrored surfaces and above all, gold accents.Another retro trend is doing the rounds: Hollywood Regency, named for the interior design so beloved by motion picture stars in the 1940s and 1950s. It’s a little ostentatious, just like Hollywood, and is all about adding a little glitz and glamour to your life.

Striking black and white patterns are flanked by saturated colours and mirrored surfaces. Lacquer, chrome, glitter and art deco elements are all in – but you don’t have to go overboard.

“Hollywood Regency can be easily integrated into the hygge style by adding individual statement pieces to the current furnishings, ” says Ambiente director Nicolette Naumann.

You could add a glamorous velvet chair to a living room that’s otherwise dominated by muted colours and natural woods.

“You can quickly change the feeling and style of an apartment without completely changing your style for a trend, ” she says.

2. Hearty earth tones

Hygge is dominated by light-coloured wood, white and beige, but now more colours are coming into play. Intensive browns, perhaps a deep rust or burnt orange, are a new take on the Scandinavian natural look. Naumann says intensive blues, greens and yellows are also suitable here.

If you find Hollywood Regency too glamorous or even kitschy, adding these deep earth tones to your home is a way to upgrade your hygge look without a complete redesign.

Strong earthy colours such as intense yellow are the order of the day this season.

3. Steel and dark jewel tones

Another trend in interior design is the combination of steel with dark tones to make an industrial look with a dark edge. It’s what style industry insiders are describing as “precise and architectural.”

You might consider furniture with polished or blackened wood, or fixtures of steel and bronze with more matte surfaces. For upholstery, think leather and heavy textiles such as cord, tweed and boucle.

Dark tones are becoming increasingly fashionable again, often in combination with gold accents.

4. White and neutral tones

Going in the other direction, there’s also a trend of focusing exclusively on shades of white and neutral tones: off-white, beige, greige (a colour between beige and grey), perhaps a peachy pink. With such understated colours, the forms and materials used become much more important.

This style of furnishing is popular with trendsetters including Kim Kardashian and her husband, Kanye West. They recently showed off their home in the magazine Architectural Digest: a minimalist, even empty, mansion in white and grey. – dpa

The trend towards bright, friendly Scandinavian-style furnishings is slowly fading – and reinterpreted with new influences.