Bertolini Architects

Done right, this trend will create a welcoming, authentic space and utilise your living room’s many display surfaces The average living room is blessed with multiple surfaces for display – from a mantelpiece to shelving, a sideboard to a coffee table – but how can you swerve a messy-looking room and introduce considered curations that will elevate your space, bring warmth and show off your personality? By tuning into a trend from our 2025 trends round-up: intentional clutter.

1. Stagger planters One of the clever ideas in this multi-level plot by Belsize Gardens is the positioning of those Corten steel planters. These have been built strategically to blur the height differences. At ground level, they are filled with reasonably low-growing foliage, flowers and grasses, along with some trailers. Growth is tall enough here to cover much of the retaining wall behind them. The next level of planting, within the wall, further softens the edges of the brickwork.

5. Space to display Warmth is something you’re aiming for and what better way to build that feeling than with collections of things you love to look at. Personal effects and cherished objects have the power to give a room character. But where to put stuff? A slimline shelf or cabinet behind the sofa, as seen in this room designed by Bertolini Architects , is a classic way to make space on a minimum footprint. In fact, anything wall-hung will reduce floor clutter.