How to stay on trend without overhauling your home (or blowing your budget!)

We're constantly reading about trends - what's in, what's out, what you should be buying next. But as the world moves increasingly towards a less consumer-driven way of life, should we be giving credence to these transient whims?

"Trends are important because you want to feel connected to contemporary culture," says Lisa White, head of lifestyle and interiors at global trend forecasting firm WGSN, but she is quick to add that you do not need to follow anything that does not look or feel good to you.

"The important thing is to stay curious and listen to how you feel and what you would like. If you are sensitive to this, you will always be on trend."

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When asked about the cost of staying up to date, especially in interiors, which require expensive purchases, White says that from a foundation perspective trends can last two to 10 years, while from an accents perspective they can change every six months.

Her solution is to buy foundation pieces in neutral colours that you can keep for 10 to 20 years or longer. "Put money into your tables, sofas and chairs. Then buy decorative items that make you feel happy: a yellow knitted throw, a furry carpet, high-quality towels."

Trends can seem random to the novice, but for White interiors trends often take their cue from fashion and food. "We are seeing people dressing their bed like they dress themselves, mixing and matching prints, adding in fresh lace and linen for summer and tweeds and chunky knits for winter.

With our taste for juices, salads and vegetables, we are seeing interiors inspired by orange mango smoothies, green kale salads or beetroot dishes. These are appealing shades in interiors."

If you do opt to stay up to date with trends and bring new shades into your home, White advises against a complete overhaul. "If a certain colour, material or object appeals to you, ask yourself how it will fit in with what you already own. Will it complete a look you already have? Will it update some traditional items you already possess? It has to be personal and heartfelt. If this is the case, the change will be successful and on trend."

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For those looking to incorporate current trends into their home, White cites greens and indigo blue as colours we'll be seeing more of this year, as well as bright yellows, oranges and pinks.

"These bright colours are important for the happy factor they bring; like a sunrise, they enhance your mood," she says. "Conversely, we are also seeing 'golden hour' sunset colours such as ochres, rusts, and saturated earthy tones of brown or beetroot coming in for this year and next."

When it comes to materials, White sees wood, wool, wicker, linen, fur, suede, brass, tinted glass and velvet as materials that are trending now and into the future.

It seems then that you can stay on trend without completely overhauling your home and, more to the point, White is adamant that we, as consumers, define trends, rather than follow them.

"Our scouts and analysts are constantly researching consumer behaviour and how it is shifting, in order to advise our clients on what consumers will want from six months to 10 years in advance. If a product does not meet a customer's needs, then it is the product that is not on trend, not the customer."

• For more on global trends, visit Know What's Next or follow WGSN on Instagram.