The Most Compelling Reads Of 2025

This year delivered design news that spanned the globe—from Perkins&Will and A+I’s landmark merger and a spotlight on Gensler’s 60th anniversary to a futuristic floating resort in Saudi Arabia and stunning art deco interiors. Explore how these reads spotlight visionary ideas, people, and spaces influencing the design landscape.

Dive Into Interior Design’s Most-Read Stories Of The Year

Revisit Our 2025 Top 100 Giants of Design 

The Top 100 Giants had a standout year, generating a record $6.3 billion in interior design fees, a 7 percent increase from last year. Confidence also remains high, with many firms reporting they are “very” or “extremely” confident in their outlook for the current year, signaling stability despite ongoing economic uncertainty. Looking ahead to 2026, the Giants anticipate a slight decline, though their forecasts have historically been more cautious than the results that follow. Read the full report.

Explore Stunning Art Deco Interior Design Styles

Inspired by the bold geometry and opulent style of the 1920s and 1930s, art deco interior design continues to captivate with its glamorous, sophisticated appeal. From sleek lines to intricate patterns and rich materials, these nine art deco-inspired designs offer a modern twist on a classic aesthetic. Explore refreshed homes with vintage furnishings, innovative offices, and must-see hospitality locales that exemplify timeless style. Discover these art deco interior design ideas.

Step Into The Lego Group’s Imaginative Boston Hub

At the LEGO Group’s Boston Hub, the Danish toy company’s 157,000-square-foot headquarters by BDG Architecture + Design celebrates the power of play through bold color and inventive uses of actual LEGO bricks. Each floor is defined by its own color identity, expressed through materials like ceramic tile, acoustic felt, and Formica, while LEGO elements appear in unexpected details—from elevator lift signage and barista-bar pendants to playful ducks welcoming visitors at reception. Explore Lego Group’s colorful Boston HQ.

Drumroll Please… The 2025 Best of Year Awards Gallery

Interior Design’s 20th annual Best of Year Awards continued its proud tradition of recognizing standout projects and products across the design industry, with winners revealed by Editor-in-Chief Cindy Allen during an unforgettable ceremony in Manhattan on December 11. See who took home top honors, including the special Best of the Best award, recognizing the most iconic products and projects of the past two decades. Read more about the Best of Year Awards gallery.

Music Meets Design In The High Desert

Joshua Tree is known for igniting the imagination so, naturally, when Interior Design Editor-in-Chief Cindy Allen and singer/songwriter Allen Stone collaborate there, the work takes on the high desert’s air of mystique. When Stone joined Allen for a walk-through of a home designed by artist and sculptor Alma Allen during Interior Design‘s Giants of Design Retreat, he was inspired to record a take of his hit song “Sweet Little Rainbows,” which he calls a love letter to nature. Listen to the song and learn more about the collaboration.

How This Floating Net-Zero Oasis Wows In Saudi Arabia

Over the Red Sea, at Shebara Resort on Saudi Arabia’s Sheybarah Island, Killa Design’s stainless-steel orbs house guest rooms by Studio Paolo Ferrari or restaurants, bars, and amenities by Rockwell Group. Housed in mirror-finished stainless-steel ellipsoids, the guest villas form a dazzling silver-bead necklace that winds over water and land. Despite the buildings’ futuristic aesthetic, their mirrored skins reflect the sea and sky, sand and scrub, making them appear to dematerialize into the landscape. Walk through this visionary resort.

Perkins&Will And A+I Forge A Bold New Era

A major merger between Perkins&Will and Architecture Plus Information signals the future of design, creating Perkins&Will’s first in-house branded-environments practice in New York while nearly doubling its local team. For A+I, founded by Interior Design Hall of Fame members Brad Zizmor and Dag Folger, the union brings greater scale, resources, and access to a multidisciplinary network—enabling the firm to expand its data-driven approach into sectors like higher education, healthcare, and transit. Read more about this merger.

Inside Interior Design’s Hall of Fame Gala At The Waldorf Astoria

Interior Design’s Hall of Fame gala brings together the best of the best to honor exceptional figures who elevate the fields of interior design and architecture. This year’s 41st Hall of Fame gala was held at the renovated Waldorf Astoria for the first time since 2016. The 2025 inductees are Héctor Esrawe, founder of Esrawe Studio; Pierre-Yves Rochon, founder of Pierre-Yves Rochon (PYR); and Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi, founders and partners of WEISS/MANFREDI Architecture/Landscape/Urbanism. Learn more about the newest Hall of Fame inductees.

Celebrating 60 Years Of Gensler

Interior Design joins the A&D community in celebrating 60 years of Gensler’s impact on the business of design. With exclusive Q&As featuring new co-CEOs Elizabeth Brink and Jordan Goldstein, plus a curated look at Gensler’s most recent, future-forward projects across four of the firm’s practice areas, we honor six decades of innovation. Here’s to the next 60! Discover more coverage from the Gensler special edition.

Walk Through A Workplace That Embodies The Spirit Of NYC

Macquarie Group’s striking 260,000-square-foot Americas headquarters by Architecture Plus Information embraces the vibrancy of New York City. Urban-inspired interiors organize each floor into “neighborhoods,” subtly defined by color, materials, and plantings, with terra-cotta tones marking work zones and greenery animating shared spaces, all designed to foster connection, productivity, and chance encounters. Meanwhile, a sculptural staircase finished in perforated brass and oak echoes the city’s sunsets. Tour this office in NYC.