Reflections after CSS DAY 2025

One year goes by so quickly. I know I sound like an old lady saying that, but it’s true. Last week I was back at the conference CSS Day for the third year in a row. This year’s lineup made me even more excited for the weeks ahead.

So many people in the industry that I look up to, all in the same place sharing the same passion. There’s always something special about attending a conference with such a focused topic.

Two days and a total of 14 talks left me super inspired, humbled by how much I still have to learn, and loaded with tips, tricks, and ahaaas.

This year’s topics ranged from what does scope even mean in CSS, to how the IT industry impacts the environment and what we can do. Michelle Barker wrote about some of the impact in a blogg post on CSS-TRICKS. This year also covered what the future of input elements looks like and how to create smart layouts using modern CSS properties. There was even a talk on how to build a computer with pure CSS yes, really! That one was by a guy named Amit Sheen. Just look at the crazy cool stuff Amit does!

Here’s what stuck with me

Well, I’m not about to start building computers in CSS (I’ll leave that to the geniuses). But I came home with a mountain of ideas and TODOs.

Honestly, this was my most valuable CSS Day yet. The list of things I want to try is so long. No, really so, so long. Jokes aside, I’m coming back with tons of actionable insights. From talks on layout and scope to scroll behaviors and practical design examples, I’m genuinely excited to bring fresh ideas into my own projects.

Expect some changes on my personal site soon, a little refactoring, new CSS experiments and definitely a few new CodePens. Don’t worry, I’ve also got some goodies lined up for future Beats and Vibes. I’ve also got some visual treats in the pipeline involving anchor-position and view-transitions. You might just see them on a website near you (hint: mine).

And it’s not just personal. I’m bringing fresh ideas into my current assignment too. We’re deep into work on a design system and this conference sparked thoughts around how we can improve our connection between Figma and code and how we can offer smart, flexible layout components. The goal? Let users build beautiful, responsive interfaces without having to be CSS wizards.

The future of CSS looks exciting. Some of what we saw is still experimental, in early specs or only partially supported. But what’s coming, especially around styling form controls like selects, checkboxes, and sliders, feels like a game changer. And the improvements to multi-column layouts? They’re bringing us closer to the creative flexibility of print design. Yummy!

To be honest, I arrived in Amsterdam feeling a little worn out. The weather forecast wasn’t exactly promising either. But these two days turned out to be exactly what I needed, an energy boost, a spark, a reminder of why I love this field. I started the following week with a completely different mindset.

Conferences like CSS Day help me nurture that creative spark. Like watering a plant, giving attention to that passion keeps me growing. And for that, I’m deeply grateful.

Oh, and one last thing, inspired by Ana Rodrigues, I will ditch the boring old /* TODO */ and /* FIXME */ comments. From now on, when I leave a quick fix or a not-so-perfect hack in my code, I’ll be writing /* SORRY – didn't nail it */

I hope my colleagues will love it to! 😉