Cool temperatures, bright blue skies and an optimistic group of furniture retailers and you have all the ingredients for a fun, energetic and successful market. Add the fact that the manufacturers were feeling exactly the same way and had arrived with all kinds of wonderful new things to choose from and you will understand why we are still excited about the last week of shopping.
What were the trends is one of the first things our Design Team ask. It is true that is one of the reasons to take the time to visit as many diverse markets as time and money allow.
The color blue was so prevalent that it “almost” became overkill. Furniture was covered in solid blues of all the different ranges from baby to navy, prints either were predominately blue or had a hint of blue somewhere, walls and carpeting in most of the showrooms were blue. As a matter of fact even our market badges were attached to a blue lariat!
Of course there are few secrets in the furniture business so the rugs, accessories and artwork were also heavily directed to the blue and purple tones. In keeping with the optimism we also saw a fair amount of canary sunshine yellow and personally invested in a couple of bright yellow leather chairs from one of our Italian manufacturers.
Laser cut steel was on some pieces you might not expect – buffets, bedrooms and of course accessories.
Motion and comfort continue to be on the front burner – most of the manufacturers doing motion (battery or not) have figured out how to have every seat move and these are the companies who will get the lions share of the business. The young and older crowd both want luxury, comfort and technology and these pieces offer it all.
The marble coming out of Italy is breathtaking. One is black with random veins of white – paired with a chrome base or brass metal this marble changes an ordinary dining table into a piece of art. Another magnificent stone is really the reverse – mostly white with veins of black – stunning! Watch for them in our store in a couple of months, they will be produced as quickly as possible but they do have a journey by water of about a month. Patience!
One of the most innovative uses of “marble” was seen on another Italian dining table. Looking exactly like white Carrera marble it is in fact ceramic and virtually indestructible. This will become mainstream for sure – imagine the look and wearability story in the same table.
These are just some of the rends we saw. We bought many new exciting pieces, found a couple of new vendors who we look forward to building a strong partnership with and came home rejuvenated and ready to go to continue helping our Design Team make your dream a reality!
