I was recently on a business trip in Hamburg doing some consulting for a top magazine here and was able to break away a bit from the boardroom to pop into some favorite shops like Eden Living. I spotted lots of furniture from Italian design firm Gervasoni that I really liked and wanted to highlight so you can see a few of the local trends in my part of the world.

First, I see rattan, wicker and cane in furniture and lighting again this year -- especially since it's nearly summer and we're having an amazing spring ever since mid March with warm temps and sunny skies. Most are out shopping for furniture to "spring-up" their home, balcony, patio, garden... and rattan and other nature materials curated from nature, in addition to synthetic "faux" versions that are water-safe, are all the rage. You see them used both indoors and for outdoor furnishing. It's common to find them in grey-brown finishes, or just gray, or natural, but also black or white -- you'll occasionally see them in bright colors like red, yellow and hot pink, too. I love the chairs shown above that are both white and natural... that's a look you don't see very often is it? Oh, and rattan and metal combined is something you can see too.

I've also notice seating (sofas in particular) with unusually high backs (seen above, bottom right). Have you spotted any of those in your part of the world?

Another pretty trend I've noticed more and more is relaxed, cozy seating in stone gray, white and black with exposed seams. You can spot this "exposed seam" trend in both modern sofas and seating as well as the more country styles. If you look at the images above, notice the gray and eggplant chairs with the exposed seams -- I love this look. When you sew, it's normal to hide the seams by tucking them in and then sewing on top but for this trend, the edges are sewn on the outside for a rough "exposed seam" and I totally love this look right now, especially when the sofa has clean lines and is kind of squishy or the chair has nice lines like the one shown above.

Chunky tables, gray-brown and gray wood, exposed seams, rattan, round backs on chairs, rattan lighting painted in high gloss black or white (or gray), these are things that I'm liking at the moment in the world of interiors trends. Of course, that gray headboard with the white edging is gorgeous too - wooden headboards with exposed boards are also a trend - though mostly kept natural and left with a straight edge -- but I love how the one above is so fancy - quite a nice look I think, especially if your bedding is kept simple yet layered, with the focus more on texture and materials over pattern. Stripes would look amazing on a bed like that!

What trends in home interiors are you spotting where you live? Do you like any of these things shown above?

(images: gervasoni)