Interiors are getting moodier. Darker paint colors are trending, patterns are popping up more and more, and surfaces are no longer just matte and flat. In particular, we’ve noticed an uptick in one type of finish that brings the drama: lacquer. While its long history—as Athena Calderone noted in her Home Front edition, it “has…origins in China as far back as the Neolithic period around 10,000 B.C.”—doesn’t make it in any way new, we’ve seen several novel applications as of late that aren’t limited to tabletop trays and dressers. Pair that with a renewed interest in Hollywood Regency and Art Deco (when lacquer reigned supreme) and we’re betting you’ll start to see high gloss everywhere in 2025. Here are eight fresh takes we’ve spotted this year.
When we stepped into the back salon of the new Trove jewelry store designed by Tali Roth, we were gobsmacked at the high-gloss butter yellow walls. It felt luxe and enveloping to be surrounded by, and the finish mirrors the brand’s jewelry boxes, which are handcrafted in China using up to 12 coats of clear lacquer and paint. The lacquer-like look is just as mesmerizing in a more seductive hue, too; we love the hits of high gloss red-brown at new Paris hotel Chateau D’Eau.
When the tearsheet for Campbell Rey’s latest collaboration with The Lacquer Company came across our desks, we were instantly drawn to their use of color on a selection of side, console, and coffee tables. The duo mixed Bordeaux red and Sienna yellow with chocolate brown on different occasions, and the tonal green look gets our stamp of approval.
Infinitely easier than lacquering walls? Putting up faux lacquer wallpaper. Schumacher’s Ace style is performance vinyl, and lets you go glam in hues of ivory, mocha, navy, and maroon. We could see it working in powder rooms, entryways, and even a traditional-style kitchen.
Instead of in a cabinet, why not hide your bar in a column? And a lacquered one at that. London-based studio Ransom Dunn takes cues from neoclassic design across their furniture and accessories, and their Roman Column Bar is a capital E example. It’s hand-painted in deep green or what they call trench coat lacquer, and they suggest even using it for toiletries in a bathroom. Psst: you can ask them nicely for a bespoke color.
In between all the boucle and brass that Goop debuted with CB2 in September, there are three pieces that nod to 1930s Hollywood Regency style—a coffee table and two dining chair designs. Lacquered in jet black, the chairs sport velvet or, yes, boucle upholstery; we’re partial to the Genevieve (pictured above). The oval Leandre tabletop tips its hat to vintage serving trays with tab details on either end and Arabescato marble makes up the base in an elegant three leg layout.
Richly-hued lacquer is splashed over bar cabinets and tables in the first furniture collection, titled Mise en Scène, from London-based design studio Tatjana von Stein (formerly Sella Concept). The mixed material approach to these pieces—the Pointe Side Table is finished with stainless steel trim, the Bar includes leather and burr wood details—is what makes them all the more intriguing.
Danu Kennedy and Jeremy Levitt, the minds behind Parts and Labor Design, debuted a furniture collection this year that really dug into materiality. Among aluminum, hand blown glass, burl wood, and chenille was—you guessed it—lacquer, too. Applied to their angular cube, ottoman, and plinth, the finish feels positively contemporary.
Lacquer often presents in jewel tones or jet black—not blush. Kate Driver of multi-disciplinary practice West Haddon Hall applied the terracotta color to the sculptural legs of her Chatsworth pedestal table, which is made to order from solid North American oak. The Millwood table also employs lacquer, but in an ivory color on thick dowel-like supports.
