Among designers, retailers and homeowners, there's little consensus on where home decor and design are headed except that the watchword will be "ease."

Whatever our personal style may look like — whether we embrace the past, with traditional furnishings and warm colors, or go sleek, functional and space-agey — a simple, beautiful space "is the design equivalent of comfort food" in tumultuous times, says Design Public's head blogger, Becky Harris.

Some experts think we'll want tailored, uncluttered living spaces — a refuge from the muddle of life outside. Others think we'll find comfort in surrounding ourselves with the stuff of travel and memory. Monica Letourneau, Savannah College of Art and Design's interior design chairwoman, sees a middle ground, in which old family photos are used decoratively "but displayed in a clean, organized, contemporary format."

Likewise, color mavens foresee a split personality. Gen Y, one of two influential demographics, prefers "the fantastical colors of the World Wide Web. Bright, escapist colors," according to Dee Schlotter of Pittsburgh Paints. Consultant Barbara Schirmeister agrees, "Because color's our most affordable pleasure, we'll utilize it to enhance our mood. The new brights allow us to be excessive and indulgent in an acceptable way."

At the same time, aging boomers, the other big trend-driving demographic, will seek respite from the "chatter" of the world in "cooler, calmer shades of taupe, gray and grayed-down brown," Schlotter says.

She also thinks that a heightened interest in craft and craftsmanship will inform color. "We'll see patinated, worked-on colors of leather like reds, browns and blacks."

Many think decor will gravitate toward what Verena Paepcke Hjeltness and Scott Boylston, design professors at the Savannah design school, call "handmade, unique quality items that will last for decades, creating less waste in the process." That could mean glamorous, sumptuous, rich fabrics and luxurious furnishings. Or the trend could take the form of repurposed industrial-style furnishings, with wear and imperfection part of the appeal. Raw, rougher-textured materials. Aged wood. Steel.

"It's a look that has roots in the Shabby Chic era from the past 10 years," says Harris, " though now it's less shabby, and tea roses and lilacs have been replaced with twisted pieces of driftwood and rusty metal."