Are you interested in seeing 6 hot interiors trends straight out of the recent Salone Del Mobile in Milan? I am just back from the best interior design event that took place in Italy earlier this month. If you can make it, please try to visit the Salone next year, it is utterly inspiring! It was a good show this year. I have never seen Milan that packed during the event and the exhibitions downtown and at the fairground were super interesting. For me, it was THE best show of the past three years that I've visited. It seems the industry is getting back slowly to its former glory, which is wonderful news for us all. The so-called Off-Salone was my favorite playground this year. Brera, Ventura Lambrate and Tortona are the three districts were I spent most of my time strolling through hidden courtyards and discovering both new and familiar spaces again. In these areas you'll find young talents and established brands who prefer the cool and laid back atmosphere against the business style of the fairgrounds. Looking back at my trends, most of them I'd spotted at the Off-Salone which confirms these areas are the hot spots right now. You know when an area is the place to be when Li Edelkoort decides to have her exhibition there. But let's look now at what I'm calling my 6 micro trends, some are new, others are just evolutions of existing movements such as b&w or marble. 1. MINI SHELVES - Mini shelves are hot! It's not exclusively about storing anymore but the shelf becomes an art object or displays just one or two pieces. It's meant to be an eye catcher, a way of showing your favorite piece, a plant, or whatever treasure you want to highlight. Any material is allowed, there has been a stronger focus on metal though. Image 1: HAY, Pivot by Lex Pott for HAY, Moustache, Bouroullec for Vitra. Image 2: Petite Friture Image 3: HAY.

  2. GLASS FUSION - Glass blowing has always been a beautiful handcraft and is kind of evolving towards a fusion with other materials now. You'll find often round blown glass bodies combined with wood, cork and metal but there are interesting designs too for furniture and lighting. Below: Image 1: Hopf Nordin, Ruben der Kinderen, Giorgia Zanellato and Daniele Bortotto for Moroso, Lee Broom Image 2: Muuto Image 3: krehky

    3. MIRRORS - I've loved seeing this new trend. Mirrors have been the star of all accessories this year. They can be completely tarnished, spread with paint, shapes are different, they hang or can lean towards walls. Mirrors have lost their mere function and become little art objects to be displayed by themselfs or hanging as an ensemble together. My favorite trend of all! What do you think?  Below: Image 1: HAY, Petite Friture, Moustache, Petite Friture Image 2: Lex Pott Image 3: Charming Reflections by Rooms Image 4: HAY

 

4. BLACK + WHITE -  B&W was everywhere in Milan, at the show and in the fashion retailers, in all possible patterns from stripes, to chevron, tartan, dots and herringbone. The interesting part was that even colorful trendsetter brands such as Missoni and Roche Bobois had a large range of black and white backgrounds mixed with bold colors. B&W patterns are designed for fabrics, ceramics, metal, wallpaper and many other surfaces. You'll soon see a lot of b&w/gold combos coming up for a more sophisticated taste. Below: Image 1: Missoni Home, Paola Navone for Gervasoni, Missoni Home, emanuel ungaro, de rosso Image 2: Paola Navone for Gervasoni Image 3: Jaime Hayon for Bosa Image 4: Kose Image 5: de rosso

5. MARBLE  - Ok, I've been seeing now marble on this fair for the past two years. In 2012 only Italian brands would come up with tabletops. There is quite some tradition and local quarries in Italy. Last year marble and already other stone qualities had been shown by other labels too, and in 2014 noble stones are now used in smaller sizes to make them more accessible for a wider public. Tableware, lamp feet, side tables, or smaller furnitures, there is such a wide range of possibilities. My guess is that marble will stay for quite a while. Below: Image 1: Heatty by Claudio Larcher for Clique Editions (marble fan heater), Earnest Studio, Tord Boontje for Moroso, Echo by Claudio Larcher for Clique Editions (bookcase with integrated marble bluetooth speaker), Lens Boxes by Thomas Jenkins - Wrong for HAY Image 2: Earnest Studio and Dana Cannam Design.

6. YELLOW METAL - Good news for all of you who are a bit tired of copper: brass seems to be a nice successor. Yes, there still have been many designs in copper but the yellow metal or similar finishing are getting stronger, and even the copper king Tom Dixon appeared to show a larger palette at his stand. Matte and shiny, both options work, and if not on metal, ceramic glazes are another much seen material. Most of the brand nevertheless offer the three options of white, yellow and rose finishings on metals. I guess it's a way to have something to offer to all types of clients. Below: Image 1: Form by Tom Dixon, Dante, Jaime Hayon for Bosa, Flexform Image 2: Seletti Image 3: Maskhayon by Jaime Hayon for Bosa Image 4: Mass by Tom Dixon

What is your favorite of the trends and is there anything that you spot about that you could easily see integrated in your home? Wishing you a wonderful April, I'll see you again in May with another trend report from Europe!

(text/images: gudy herder editing holly becker)