Whimsymaxxing is the delightful trend interior designers are using to make their homes more joyful – how you can do it too

Living room detail with bright orange leather sofa on beige carpet, vintage floor lamp with red shade and tassels, firewood stacked in niche and wall covered in magazine cuttings.

If there’s one word that’s being thrown around a lot this year is ‘whimsy’. We can’t get enough of it. Whether we’re trying to add whimsy to our daily routine or adorn our homes with whimsical decor, ‘whimsymaxxing’ is emerging as one of the biggest trends of 2026. But what exactly is it? And how can we apply it to our interiors?

The biggest and longest-lasting home decor trends always have a human focus. Many we’ve seen in the interiors world have been hinged on the idea of ‘nostalgia’ and unsurprisingly, whimsymaxxing is no different.