WE ALL love a little refresh in our home with the change of season and, while we certainly don't buy a new sofa or paint the walls every six months, we do love to inject some on-trend colours in our decor and design.

As the new collections start appearing in shop windows and your inbox, it's important to know what trends have had their time in the sun and what's on the horizon. So, before you hit the local homemaker centre (or get carried away on a click-fest on your lunch break) here's the breakdown.

TIME TO SAY GOODBYE …

This season signals a fond farewell to a few longstanding trends in home decor. We will be washing and then carefully folding away our much-loved millennial pink soft furnishings to make way for some fresh, nature-inspired colours this coming season.

We will be walking past the black and rose gold accessories and tapware when looking to fit out our bathroom projects and heading straight for the antique style finishes of brass and gunmetal grey. And, we will be looking for heavy, wooden coffee tables with room for many a magazine stack, rather than the slim, nordic, or metal framed ones we have seen in abundance in recent years. Minimalist and metallic are making way for sturdy and natural.

LET'S GET BACK TO NATURE

Earthy tones are the next big thing, in everything from tiles to cushions. The shift back to a colour palette inspired by nature will bring back calming vibes through all parts of the home.

With so many different shades of brown to choose from, it's the perfect recipe to explore individual style with a relaxed vibe. The humble (and often underestimated) brown is one of those colours that works in so many different applications - and we're not talking the same brown that appeared in every new bathroom build about 10 years ago as a tiny strip feature tile.

Think gorgeous stone-topped benches in a warm shade of coffee, wood panelling as a feature wall (or ceiling) in the living room, and stunning terrazzo tiles on the floors or walls in the bathroom.

The right shade of brown can bring an incredible sense of warmth to a space, but the key is texture. A flat, cool shade of brown will have the opposite effect.

Forget green with envy. It's time to get sophisticated with sage.

To complete the iconic duo, green joins brown as a frontrunner in colour trends this coming season.

The colour green has long been synonymous with positive energy and can be used to inject life into the home. Summer is in the air and what better way to celebrate than by connecting your indoors with your outdoors with a few pops of green in the throws and cushions and a little lush foliage, like a fern, in your vase.

And of course, the indoor plant isn't going anywhere anytime soon. The health benefits alone of air-purifying plants makes the humble house plant a necessity and, when cared for correctly, a stunning addition to your home decor.

Like brown, there are many shades of green and we recommend sticking with sage, eucalyptus and other similar shades as opposed to the lime and similar vibrant shades.

It makes sense that at a time when home design is focused increasingly on sustainable, energy-saving, and heat-reflective solutions that our interior trends follow suit in embracing colours and finishes inspired by Mother Nature.

Having a green wall in one of our own living areas and regularly using timber in a range of interior applications, the shift to more natural materials is one we can truly get behind.

A beautiful piece of ethical and sustainable solid wood furniture really speaks to the soul and is the type of timeless piece you will want to hold onto and even pass onto the next generation. This emerging trend gets a big tick from us.

See the full Albert Park Project renovation on The Design Duo Series.