In Israel and across the entire world, more and more homes can be found parting ways with shades of white and gray and shifting to warm colors reminiscent of the desert: Shades of terracotta, mustard, and orange. Interior designer Tzvia Kazayoff explained the trend: "Once we tried to escape the desert, today we are simply bringing it into the home, but in a much more sophisticated version."
According to her, "There is something very liberating about earth tones, they do not try hard to be beautiful – and precisely because of that, they look good. They are calm, not dramatic, not 'screaming' – and they still have a presence."
She noted that the transition to warm and natural tones is not accidental. "After years of gray, white, and black, people want to feel a little. Terracotta, sand – these are colors that have depth, but also softness. They do good to the eye, but also to the mind."
"The beauty of desert design is that it does not try to impress you within a second," she said and added that desert design "Is built slowly – through textures, materials, layers. Plaster, wood, stone – everything adds a little more interest, without creating overload."
And what about minimalism? "This is not the cold minimalism we saw in the past," she clarified. "This is minimalism that has warmth in it. Fewer objects, more thought. Less 'look at me', more 'feel me'."
Kazayoff also busted a common myth: "Many think that desert design belongs only to rustic homes, but that is really not the case. You can take the same shades and bring them into a completely urban apartment too – and it works excellently."
She added that designing in shades of brown and earth "Is also very practical." According to her, "These are colors that you do not get tired of quickly, that do not get dirty from every little thing, and that you can live with without constantly being in tension."
So why is everyone falling in love with these colors right now? "Because we are tired," the interior designer said simply. "Tired of overload, of strong colors, of changing trends. We want something that feels stable, natural, real," she added.
She concluded with an unequivocal statement: "If once the desert was something we wanted to escape from – today it is exactly the place we want to return to. Just with a comfortable sofa in the middle."