Design trends in Toronto right now favour the big, bright and beautiful. Decorating your home will be a fun task thanks to the whimsical styles and pieces that are soaring in popularity this year. I spoke with a host of design experts across the city to find out the hottest trends right now.

Bringing colour back

Gone are the days of a monochromatic life. "Thanks God we're moving out of grey!" says Urban Mode owner Myrlene Sunberg. Her shop has been around for 40 years and she's noticed a big move back to colour. Expect to see dusty greens and pinks .

"People are being a bit more adventurous in Canada, moving away from neutrals into moody rich tones, purples and dark blues," says Michael Murphy, the marketing director at Avenue Road. Textures, colours and a move away from the perfect Etsy-looking living space is where we're headed.

Fun shapes and bright, light colours like this pink Muuto living room will be popping up in home design this year. Urban Mode

A punch of personality

Along those same lines, Rebecca Meredith, the buyer and curator at Style Garage, says the trend is more playful and messy. It's about "fusing colour and individual personality in your home as opposed to this monochromatic aesthetic we've been seeing for years," she explains.

She continues: "We're not trying to make everything picture perfect and beautiful, we want to make things individualistic as opposed to everything looking the same."

The large magnolia rug by Vivienne Westwood for The Rug Company at Avenue Road. Avenue Road.

Slow Furniture

"Handmade is a major movement," says Murphy of the many pieces Avenue Road is seeing made by artisans in Europe. People want to go behind the scenes to see how pieces are made.

"There's a huge push for local, natural products, fibres, materials ... and recognizing where your product is from, who's making them and the stories behind the process," says Meredith.

"Locally designed or crafted items are more popular then ever because of this. There are a lot of brands in Canada and people are more and more interested in that," says Cheryl Wilkinson, communications manager at Light Form.

The Circa floor lamp has pedestal for objects and USB port. Light Form

Functional lighting

As living spaces in the city get smaller, it only makes sense that design becomes more functional. "Now they have features like USB ports to charge devices, they have shelving built in or lights that are built to showcase objects inside of them," says Wilkinson.

She's noticing a big sway towards functionality in lighting design, such as lamps that are also tables or have built-in sound systems. "We need to be smarter about what we're putting in our space," she says. "Designers are thinking more than ever about how we live."