2000s interiors: open-plan living, feature walls and the boutique-hotel look

The 2000s home was shaped as much by television as by designers. Kevin McCloud, Sarah Beeny and the Changing Rooms team taught a generation to knock through, add value and paint one wall a different colour. Kitchens grew islands, hotels became the model for bedrooms, IKEA became part of everyday life, and by the end of the decade the fireplaces that earlier owners had ripped out were going back in. This guide covers the history, the colours and details of a 2000s room, four real rooms to learn from, and how to use the look today.

The decade the house became a project

Grand Designs first aired on Channel 4 in 1999, presented by Kevin McCloud, and has now run to nearly 200 episodes. Property Ladder followed in 2001, with Sarah Beeny guiding first-time developers; she expected the first series to be a one-off. Together they made building, extending and renovating a national hobby, and made the open-plan kitchen-diner the goal of countless projects.

Changing Rooms, which the BBC ran from 1996 to 2004, did the same for decorating. MDF appeared in nearly every episode, and the designer Daniel Hopwood has suggested that the feature wall itself came from the programme. Flat-pack furniture made quick change affordable. IKEA had opened its first British store in Warrington in 1987, and when its Edmonton store in north London opened at one minute past midnight on 10 February 2005, the crowd was so large that the store had to close on its opening night.

Then the mood changed. After the 2008 crash, Kirstie Allsopp's Homemade Home on Channel 4 was greeted as a "credit crunch" makeover show; the academic Deborah Philips notes that it championed vintage goods and craft over mass production. The 2005 room at the Museum of the Home, a high-rise flat shared by three LGBTQ+ housemates, is a reminder that the decade also changed who could make a home together, after the 2003 repeal of Section 28 and the Civil Partnership Act 2004.

The 2000s palette

The everyday 2000s room was neutral and warm. Kelly Hoppen built a career on taupe, sand, cream and grey, and her "East meets West" style pairs those neutrals with warm accents and texture. Against that background sat chocolate-brown sofas, chrome light fittings and, in the kitchen, either dark cherry wood with granite or, later in the decade, white.

The bold colour came on a single wall or a single object: a red throw on a hotel bed, a patterned wallpaper behind the dining table. The swatches below are approximate and drawn from the photographs in this guide, so treat them as a starting point rather than paint matches.

Styles and designers that shaped the 2000s

Open-plan living. Walls came down between kitchen, dining room and living room, and the island became the centre of the house. The National Kitchen and Bath Association describes the island as a must-have of open-plan layouts in the 2000s, alongside stainless steel appliances and granite worktops.

Boutique-hotel chic. Hotel du Vin was founded in Winchester in 1994 by Robin Hutson and Gerard Basset, and in 2004 became a sister brand to Malmaison. Ian Schrager's St Martins Lane hotel in London, designed by Philippe Starck, was Schrager's first project outside the United States. In the City, Conran reworked the Victorian Great Eastern Hotel, which reopened in 2000. Dark headboard walls, good bedside lighting and crisp white linen moved from these hotels into ordinary bedrooms.

Statement wallpaper. In 2004 Design Week reported that wallpaper, written off as naff in the 1980s and 1990s, was back, partly as a reaction against minimalism. The Glasgow studio Timorous Beasties, founded in 1990 by Alistair McAuley and Paul Simmons, launched its Glasgow Toile that year, swapping the countryside of traditional toile de Jouy for city scenes. A version is now in the V&A.

Gloss, chrome and clear plastic. Philippe Starck's Louis Ghost chair of 2002, moulded in one piece from clear polycarbonate, sold over 100,000 in its first three years, according to the V&A. Tom Dixon, who launched his own brand in 2002 after Habitat, followed in 2003 with the Mirror Ball, a plastic globe coated inside with a thin layer of aluminium.

Shabby chic and vintage. Rachel Ashwell opened her first Shabby Chic store in Santa Monica in 1989, selling slipcovered furniture and vintage pieces. In Britain, Cath Kidston, who started in Holland Park in 1993 selling car boot finds and vintage fabric, later added her own "Modern Vintage" designs, from floral ironing boards to statement wallpaper.

Period features return. By 2008 the architectural salvage firm LASSCO reported strong, lasting demand for period fireplaces, as owners of terraces and semis restored the chimneypieces that had been removed and plastered over between the 1950s and 1970s. For how to combine the two today, read our guide to mixing period and modern.

The details that define a 2000s room

• Layout. One large kitchen-diner, often in a rear extension, with an island and bar stools.
• Ceiling. Plain and white, with recessed downlights in kitchens and a chrome multi-arm fitting in the living room. By the late 2000s, restored cornices and ceiling roses in period homes.
• Walls. Neutral paint with one feature wall in a strong colour or a large-pattern wallpaper.
• Kitchen. Stainless steel appliances, granite or dark worktops, cherry wood early in the decade and white by the end.
• Floors. Pale wood or laminate in living spaces, fitted oatmeal carpet in the rest of the house.
• Lighting. Chrome, glass and mirrored finishes; swing-arm wall lights beside the bed.
• Furniture. Flat-pack storage, chocolate leather or chenille sofas, clear acrylic chairs.
• Textiles. Faux-silk curtains, bed runners, and floral or vintage-print cushions.

Real 2000s rooms, annotated

Here are four real rooms photographed between 2007 and 2011: a converted city flat, a suburban living room, an American kitchen and a London boutique hotel. Each photograph is numbered with the features worth noticing. The colour swatches are sampled from the photographs, so treat them as a guide rather than a paint match.

1. The city-centre flat

A one-bedroom apartment in the Rotunda, Birmingham, photographed in August 2008. The 1960s office tower by James Roberts was listed Grade II in 2000 and converted into flats by Glenn Howells Architects for Urban Splash between 2005 and 2008. Kitchen, sitting area and window share one long room.

1. Smooth white slab doors with slim metal pulls
2. Ceramic hob set into a white worktop
3. Built-in oven at worktop level
4. Wall cupboard with a slimline extractor
5. Floor-to-ceiling window with a city view
6. Black leather sofa on chrome legs
7. Chrome arc floor lamp
8. Plain grey floor running the full length

Colours in this photo:
Grey floor #4F5660Black leather #0B0B0D

Take from it: The open plan works because almost nothing interrupts it: one floor, white walls, flat doors. If you copy the look, keep the ceiling just as plain so the light from the window travels.

2. The everyday living room

A living room in a house in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, photographed in November 2009 as the family moved out. It is an ordinary room, and that is the point: this is what the decade looked like when the television crews had gone home.

1. Three-arm chrome ceiling light with glass shades
2. Shiny taupe curtains on a metal pole
3. Chocolate chenille armchair with rolled arms
4. Matching second chair
5. Ceramic table lamp with a metallic shade
6. Oatmeal fitted carpet
7. Plain pale walls
8. White panel door with a chrome lever handle

Colours in this photo:
Taupe curtains #4C4537Chocolate chenille #2F2622Oatmeal carpet #938B75

Take from it: Taupe, chocolate and a little sheen is the 2000s in one sentence. It is calm and easy to live with; add one stronger colour or pattern so it does not slip into beige.

3. The kitchen island

A newly fitted kitchen in New Orleans, photographed in November 2007. The National Kitchen and Bath Association lists stainless steel appliances, islands, granite worktops and dark cherry cabinets among the defining kitchen trends of 2000 to 2009. This one has all four.

1. Freestanding island with a polished granite top
2. Cherry-stained cabinets with raised panels
3. Stainless steel dishwasher
4. Stainless steel gas range
5. Granite worktop with a double steel sink
6. Glass-fronted wall cabinets
7. Timber hood over the range
8. Original sash window
9. Old wooden floorboards, awaiting finishing

Colours in this photo:
Cherry cabinets #551809Green-black granite #434133

Take from it: The island turned the kitchen into the room people gather in. It is an American idea that British kitchen-diners adopted wholesale; in a smaller room, a table can do the same job.

4. The boutique hotel bedroom

A king room at Andaz Liverpool Street, London, photographed in January 2011. The Victorian Great Eastern Hotel was relaunched in 2000 after a Conran renovation and became the first Andaz in 2007. Its bedrooms were not refurbished again until 2017, so this is the hotel's 2000s look.

1. Full-width dark veneer headboard wall
2. Swing-arm wall lights either side of the bed
3. Open bedside table lit from within
4. Cushion printed with London place names
5. Red runner across the foot of the bed
6. Upholstered bench at the end of the bed
7. Crisp white bedding
8. Full-length curtains

Colours in this photo:
Dark veneer #0E1422Red runner #A42D15

Take from it: Dark wall, white bed, one strong colour and good bedside lights: the boutique-hotel formula is easy to borrow, and wall lights do most of the work.

How to get the 2000s look

• Plan the space first. The decade's best idea was the sociable kitchen-diner. Zone it with light rather than walls: pendants over the island or table, softer light at the sofa end.
• Use one feature wall, not four. A bold wallpaper behind a dining table or bed gives the room its point. For a fuller commitment, see our colour drenching guide.
• Borrow from the boutique hotel. A dark wall behind the bed, white bedding and a wall light on each side. Our history of the wall sconce explains why bedside wall lights work so well.
• Keep the shine in small doses. One chrome or mirrored light, one clear chair or one gloss surface, set against matt walls.
• Give a modern room a period anchor. A plaster ceiling rose above a pendant gives an open-plan room a focal point, a move the late 2000s rediscovered. Our guide to the ceiling rose in a modern home shows how.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Removing original features. Plenty of 2000s makeovers took out fireplaces, cornices and panelled doors. Repair them before you replace them.
• Too many neutrals. Taupe on taupe with oatmeal carpet can look flat. Add contrast with dark wood, a strong colour or a pattern.
• A single central light. Open-plan rooms need several light sources. Our guide to layered lighting sets out a simple plan.
• Feature walls on the wrong wall. Choose the wall your eye lands on first, usually behind the bed, sofa or table, not the one with the door.
• Everything new at once. A room bought in one trip looks like a showroom. Mix in vintage or inherited pieces, as the decade itself learned to do.

Where to see a 2000s home

It is unusual to find the 2000s in a museum, but the Museum of the Home in Hoxton, east London, has one. Its permanent Rooms Through Time display includes a high-rise flat in 2005, where three people are personalising a shared home with paintbrushes. The walls are orange and pale blue over a beige carpet, and the objects will be familiar: a stereo, a CRT television and DVDs on white shelves, a white iron-framed bed, CDs, a compact wooden desk with a CRT monitor showing The Sims, and a bright yellow stool.

Compare it with the neutral, chocolate-and-chrome look in the magazines. The real room is brighter, cheaper and more personal, and it shows how the feature wall worked in practice: one or two strong colours, applied by the people who lived there. Entry is free, and the museum is open 10am to 5pm, Tuesday to Sunday and Bank Holiday Mondays. Check the museum's website before you travel.

Shop the look

Pieces from our own range that suit this style, each designed and hand-cast in Shrewsbury.

Bedside Wall LightRing Ceiling RoseLinear Wall LightHalf Moon Wall Light

Bringing the 2000s home with plaster

The 2000s moved between clean modern lines and a renewed love of period detail, and plaster sits comfortably in both. A simple rose above a pendant or a pair of wall lights beside the bed carries the boutique-hotel idea into a real home. The Bedside Wall Light is a compact wall light for either side of a bed, and the Ring Ceiling Rose gives a plain pendant a quiet surround. This guide follows our 1990s interiors guide, and the series begins with the 1900s. Every piece in our Modern Minimal collection is designed and hand-cast in Shrewsbury, and arrives as natural plaster ready to leave raw or paint to suit your room.