New Design Trends
Trends in Interior Design---What Trends??
As an interior designer, the easiest opening dinner party conversation begins with “What’s new?” The answer isn’t as easy as it used to be. Our most recent travels to High Point, North Carolina for the International Home Furnishings Market and San Francisco, for the Pacific Coast Builder’s Conference gave enough information to cause a glazed-over look from even the most polite dinner companion.
Green. No, not the color…the idea. The best thing to happen to interior design in decades is the notion that it is fashionable to buy quality products, maintain them, and retain them, possibly through generations as our ancestors did. Buying disposable merchandise, with payments that start after the furniture is worn out, and filling the landfill with them, is considered out of vogue. The green movement has helped consumers analyze the value of production methodologies, sourcing of raw materials, environmental stewardship throughout the manufacturing process, sustainability of raw materials, the health impact of finished products, proximity of manufacturing and longevity of finished materials. This isn’t anything new to Westerners. Primarily our clients have always been conservative in selections, hoping to acquire items that will stand the test of time for a decade or decades.
Simple. While the home furnishings industry follows the fashion industry, it is not as nimble. It is much easier to change pieces in your wardrobe than items for your home. Even though we are seeing some multi-color patterns in fabrics in the garment industry, the home furnishings showrooms are full of simplicity. This includes strong contrast in colors, but not multiple colors. Whether the contrast was achieved with black and white, or a softer flannel gray and aquamarine, colors are used in a tailored, conforming manner. The strong tangerines and melon colors continue to survive, even through an election year, which has been known to bring out the grays and blues in the best of the country. Blues and blue-greens are stills strong, as was predicted years ago by the Color Design Guild, when they said blues and blue- greens would be strong as the country begins to battle availability of water (back to the Green Movement?). The “Menswear” look continues in evidence with tweeded fabrics, wools, grays, blues and browns.
We are also seeing less clutter. This includes using fewer, larger accessories well-selected and equally well-displayed rather than flocks of small items. Unlike some trends of the past, simple is actually more difficult to do well. It requires the precise combination of items with the perfect complement of scale, texture, color and emphasis to be interesting over time.
Organic. Consumers continue to be drawn to natural products. Whether that is granite countertops, metal stair railings, glass tile, stone and wood floors, or wool carpets. While balancing performance attributes, many porcelain tiles, nylon carpets, and composite countertop materials successfully emulate their natural inspirations. Metals in all colors, whether as a whisper of a shimmer or strong statements, are showing up in fabrics, furniture, and tile materials.
Multiple Trends. Just as the days of “one right skirt length” are over, so are the days of one right interior design trend (no more gray/pink/taupe movement of the year). The last discernable trend was Old World (or Old Worlde, if you were charged a premium). That movement included Tuscan (lots of earthy finishes with rustic complements), English Cottage (lots of quaint items with pleasant colors), French (lots of blue, red and yellow---oh, and don’t forget the roosters), and any other “Old” you wanted to consider (how about China??). These design concepts still survive, but they have been joined by modern design (back to simple?), rustic/lodge, classic and formal traditional interiors, Arts & Crafts or bungalow, Asian, casual elegance, eclectic and many others.
The beauty of current interior design is the array of options available. Global sourcing is not only easy but expected, resulting in beautiful, interesting materials and objects. Wall colors of intensity are shown in shelter magazines following a feature article with a home with all stark white walls. A 100-year old antique furniture piece is placed under a modern glass light fixture. A Tibetan rug is used with a modern sofa covered with linen, surrounded by walls of deep blue. The opportunities for interesting and diverse interiors never end!
In conclusion, the current trend in design, as it should always have been, can be called Individualization. Each individual can and should design an environment that nourishes them at the end of the day and can stand the test of time. The opinions of golf partners, mothers-in-law, and cleaning ladies will have to come second to what is right for the humans occupying the space. As in many areas in the current information environment, the greatest challenge is filtering through the vast array of opportunities to achieve that goal. It may have been easier when we were dictated the current “look,” but not nearly as satisfying. Your home evolves with you, as it should, and a professional can assist you to successfully achieve that evolution.
Joan Adkins is the owner of Carol’s Design House. Carol’s Design House is an interior design firm with a 24,000 square foot home furnishings showroom located in Boise, Idaho. The company, founded in 1977, has clientele throughout the U.S. and Mexico.