EXCLUSIVE: HGTV's Rock the Block contestants talk trends

Rock the Block Kitchen — (Image credit: Warner Bros. Discovery)

One of the cornerstones of our content here at H&G is featuring interior designers' expert opinions. Imagine our delight, then, when we got to speak to eight of the best in the business.

In a recent chat with the contestants on the latest season of HGTV's hit renovation competition series, Rock the Block, we got some insight into what design trends the interior professionals – Bryan and Sarah Baeumler, Keith Bynum and Evan Thomas, Lyndsay Lamb, and Leslie Davis, and Page Turner and Mitch Glew – are implementing into their own designs.

First things first: the little details are everything. As intentionality has increased within the home over the last few years, it's natural that exquisite decals within the home are on the rise.

'I think artisan trends are really coming back,' says Bynum. 'I see a lot of artisan-level finishes popping up, like plaster work, custom crown molding, plaster molding, antiques... all of the things that harken back to a time when people cared about their home. I loved seeing that handmade tile, there's just a lot of those classic elements are really coming back.'

We were also thrilled to hear that mixing and matching is back in a big way.

'We're doing a lot of designs with mixed woods,' Lamb says. 'For a long time, I felt like it was almost taboo to mix woods in this area. 'We really picked a wood, and then we would design around that. Now, we're doing a lot of designing with multiple woods in the same room, in the same home, and I'm loving that. I think that's a great trend that we probably will see for a while.'

Mixing materials carries over to other elements as well, with Turner suggesting that the ultimate trend is simply following personal tastes and combining preferences.

'We like a lot of mixed metals, a lot of organic lighting, and making the whole house a little lighter... not just using one material, like heavy gold or heavy pewter or whatever you're using. Mixing it up. I think you can really blend your entire personality now in design, and it's just not one thing or another.'

The new season of Rock the Block airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on HGTV. In the meantime, we can catch up on the old series via Amazon Prime here.

Hannah is Homes & Gardens’ News Editor, with a focus on celebrity style and entertainment content. She got her start in media as a digital editorial assistant at ELLE Canada, and has since written about lifestyle and culture for publications such as Nylon and i-D.

Her love of film is rivaled only by one with a great soundtrack, and she hopes to someday decorate a Nancy Meyers-worthy kitchen.