Metropolis Digital Optimism Talks logo

Join us every second Tuesday of the month for a dose of optimism with thought-provoking guests who are revolutionizing their fields. Innovators will lead virtual workshops for an hour of discovery, inspiration, and community. Led by editor in chief, Avinash Rajagopal, these workshops will be guided by our audience, where questions are not only welcome but encouraged.

Register Now
natural habitat cold spring home exterior

Metropolis Editors, Natural Habitat, sustainability, sustainable architecture

METROPOLIS Introduces Natural Habitat, a Sustainable Homes Video Series

The series debuts with a tour of a tranquil upstate New York retreat designed with Passive House principles.

Read more
A Sense of Place: Design & Color Trends in High-Traffic Spaces

Partner Content

A Sense of Place: Design & Color Trends in High-Traffic Spaces

by Metropolis Staff

As residential warmth has become second nature in commercial interiors, the conversation has turned to how color, materiality, and performance work together to shape the experience of a space. Across hospitality, multifamily, workplace, and senior living projects, layered neutrals, expressive woodgrains, earthy greens, and tactile matte finishes are lending kitchens, bathrooms, and other high-use spaces a residential character matched to the practical demands of everyday use.

Surfaces sit at the center of that conversation, shaping how a space looks, feels, and holds up over time. Crystal Morris, Product and Design Manager at EGGER Wood Products, frames this relationship through the idea of “a sense of place,” emphasizing the role of “warm, inviting hues combined with tactile, wood-inspired surfaces” in creating environments that feel welcoming while standing up to the demands of high-traffic spaces. The kitchen and bath bring those ideas into sharp focus, asking surfaces to carry both the atmosphere of a space and its heaviest daily demands.

Courtesy of EGGER Wood Products.

Designed for Gathering
Kitchens, breakrooms, and amenity spaces have evolved well beyond their functional role, a shift Morris sees firsthand. These environments are becoming “less institutional and more hospitality-driven,” she notes, with wood-inspired finishes and nature-based color palettes creating spaces where people genuinely want to gather. Across workplaces, multifamily developments, and hotels, dimensional, woodgrains, muted greens, and soft neutrals sustain that residential character while supporting the performance commercial settings require.

Within the Decorative Collection 26+ from EGGER Wood Products, finishes such as Brown Bolivar Wood, Stone Green, Reed Green, Soft Beige, Caramel Beige, and Misty Blue reflect this direction. Rich wood visuals pair with restrained solids to create layered palettes, while matte surfaces add visual depth alongside fingerprint resistance and easy maintenance. 

Learn more about the latest kitchen design trends.

Courtesy of EGGER Wood Products.

Built for Calm
Bathrooms have followed a similar arc, becoming opportunities to create environments that feel calm, restorative, and thoughtfully considered. “The most successful commercial bathrooms combine wellness-inspired aesthetics with finishes engineered for long-term durability,” Morris says. Moisture-resistant, easy-clean surfaces support that performance, holding their appearance through the daily realities of humidity and frequent cleaning.

Courtesy of EGGER Wood Products.

Wood-inspired finishes soften contemporary palettes, while understated neutrals reinforce a spa-like atmosphere without losing sight of the practical requirements of daily operation. Natural Dimaro Walnut, Brown Bolivar Wood, Natural Bolivar Wood, and Graphite Sheffield Acacia from the Decorative Collection 26+ pair expressive woodgrains with surfaces designed for demanding environments. Soft Beige and Caramel Beige extend the palette, creating warm, cohesive compositions that support both everyday performance and a welcoming experience.

Learn more about the latest bath design trends.

The relationship between color, materiality, and performance will keep evolving, and surfaces remain central to how commercial interiors are experienced. Through color, texture, and finishes made to endure, the Decorative Collection 26+ from EGGER Wood Products reflects that conversation across the spaces people use every day.