One of our favorite things about design is the ever-changing landscape and amazingly creative new ideas that continue to inspire and excite us. This year, the products we saw at High Point Market in North Carolina and the Milan Furniture Fair in Italy were no exception. As always, the newest trends were evident and the design team at Sklar Furnishings have summarized our top trends to foster your imagination:

Color
The optimism was everywhere! Bright windows on the stores in downtown Milan, stunning color on the locals walking in the spring weather, incredible patterns of color on furniture. Monotone displays of color, whether it was pink, teal, bright green, orange, or various shades of blue, was a stand out at the fairs as it brought together various shades of the same color family to create a powerful palette.

Rope
At the fairs we saw rope on all types of furniture, both indoors and outdoors. On patio furniture, as an accent on rugs and accessories, on chairs – it was difficult to ignore this trend. We also saw lots of different types of rope being used from braided to loop, from thin to thick, some created from actual ropes and other that were synthetic or plastic.

Oval and Shaped Dining Tables
Oval, elliptical and boat shaped tables with soft rounded corners were standouts against the traditional rectangle and round shapes. Furthering the organic resurgence in life and lifestyles, these shapes provide a more fluid and naturalistic feel. In addition to these unique shapes, there were a number of square tables at the fair, many with extensions available.

Leather, Leather, Leather
Not content to just be used on sofas, sectionals and dining chairs, leather was seen on any flat surface imaginable. We saw leather on table tops, wrapped around shelves of a bookshelf, as an insert in a night stand top or lining the drawers of dressers and credenzas, even as a lamp shade. The quality and mastery of applying leather was highly evident throughout the fair and it added an elegance and warmth across all of these applications.

Pleats
Purposefully pleated bedding and blankets were on full display providing interest and character to beautifully made beds. We also saw pleats on the backs of sofas, on ottomans and the doors of buffets adding a feeling of softness and texture. These are small details that made a big impression.

Comfort
Thank goodness for the innovation of combining memory foam and down together, which, when used in seating gives an incredible feeling of sitting on a bag of feathers, with lightness and a slight bounce back when you stand up. Using feathers and memory foam in combination ensures the comfort of down, with the clean lines that memory foam provides. This is really offering the best of both worlds.

Two-Toning
So subtle, but definitely there, the use of two or more colors or textures adds to the intrigue and character of a piece. We almost didn’t see it at first. Chairs and sofas with different color and material on the front and back or even side-by-side bring a unique and creative flair to furniture.

Technology
The impact of technology on furniture design and manufacturing was definitely on display at the markets. From mobile phone apps to improve the fair experience, to furniture that operated with the press of a button (for example, opening and closing an extension dining room table), to materials that were improved using technology (real leather that can be in the rain for over 8 hours!), there are real strides being made in this realm. “Alexa, recline my chair!”

Bunching Tables
Combining various table sizes has always been a trend for the past couple of years and this year we saw it again, but with more varying heights, sizes, materials and shapes. With bunching tables, anything goes really, and it’s a great opportunity to express your personal style.

Curved & Wrapped
Sensual curves belted and wrapped with organic material that ranged from leather to bamboo, was prevalent with every vendors’ designs. We love this new trend and picked up one from our Italian vendors – soon to be available in our Boca Raton showroom!

Textured Fabrics
Detailed and finely crafted, the textured fabric we saw added a richness and beauty to every object they were used on. Many were traditional tone-on-tone and similar to a brocade but we also saw some new intriguing uses of textured fabrics, for example plain leather on one side of a seat and textured fabric on the other.

Finding the perfect rug for a room can be extremely overwhelming at first. After all, it’s an investment piece that will last you a long time and not everyone is an expert in interior design – it can be a difficult task for some! But a rug has the distinct ability to bring a warm feeling to large open concept condos, or tie different looks together, such as when you combine modern and traditional elements into a transitional interior design in your home. To help you make a better investment, we are listing a few important tips to help you feel informed ahead of selecting the perfect area rug.

Find the layout of your space
Are your sofa and chairs up against the wall or are they floating in the middle of the room? Understanding the layout of the room will help you figure the space you’d like to fill. If the sofa and chairs are against the wall, the rug should be large enough to fit under the front legs of the chairs and sofas. However, if you have a floating layout, the rug should be large enough to fit under all four legs of the furniture pieces.

Sizing
Generally, it can be tough to figure out how large area rugs should be. However, a rule of thumb is that a modern rug should be two feet shorter than the smallest wall in the room. For hallways, it’s a good idea to swing the front door open and measure the floor from the end of the door point, so the first couple of feet remain clear. When it comes to contemporary rugs for the bedroom, we suggest you place the rug in a way so that it extends from the bottom 2/3 of the bed. Lastly, in large entertaining spaces, area rugs should fit the configuration of the entire room and its furniture. You’ll want to make sure the area you place the rug is well defined with furniture to ensure a sense of cohesion.

Room traffic
How much foot traffic does the room get? Areas with high foot traffic need more durable flooring as compared to less foot traffic areas. Natural contemporary rugs that are woven from fibers are good for high traffic areas as they are highly durable. Distressed and overdyed rugs are better for moderate foot traffic areas as their textures soften during the process of dyeing and distressing. One thing is for certain – you’ll want to rotate your rugs each year to ensure even wear, and when you consider the impact hot Boca Raton or South Florida sun can have on textiles, by turning your rugs 180 degrees, you’ll ensure the colors will remain consistent if they’re exposed to direct sunlight.

Focus on the room
Avoid looking at a rug as a single piece in isolation. Instead, try to imagine how the it will fit in with the aesthetics of the room your designing for – bedroom, living room, or even your kitchen. Don’t just consider the wall colors, also think about the other pieces of furnishings that already reside in your home, and how they might look. Blending patterns can be difficult, so we always recommend a Sklar Furnishings in-home design consultation to ensure you’re covering off all your angles.

Sklar Furnishings offers a huge variety of modern and contemporary rugs in different patterns, colors and materials. With a huge selection of area rugs in our 23,000 sq ft Boca Raton showroom, we look forward to assisting you in finding the perfect rug for your home.

A personalized and stylish home typically involves mixing and layering different accents and furnishings all potentially from a variety of sources, with different patterns, colors and fabrics. Our budget can often dictate the price of the pieces we select and it is fun to find a bargain and mix and match higher end with lower end pieces. There are some pieces, however, that we would consider an investment piece. This is a piece of furniture which is of high quality and may come at a higher price, but it is something that you plan on keeping for an extended period of time, or that may hold it’s value if you decide to sell it in the future. Investment pieces are also the foundation for your interior design look and feel.

To help you make a better decision regarding the investment pieces for your home, we have come up with three essential pieces that shouldn’t be overlooked:

Mattress
We spend an average of 6.5 to 7 hours per night sleeping and getting quality sleep is of utmost importance for a healthy lifestyle. A good night sleep calls for a quality mattress. A quality mattress doesn’t come cheap but investing in them is worth it. People also neglect how often they should change their mattresses, with the average lifespan lasting no more than 10 years for a quality mattress. While it’s easy to see the everyday wear and tear on a sofa, it’s less obvious with a mattress as they spend most of the time covered in sheets.

Sofa
A sofa is one of the largest pieces of furniture in a home and is typically the centerpiece of living spaces. A sofa acts as a great platform for social interactions, family time, and even the odd mid-day snooze. A sofa can entirely change the look and appeal of your interior design language either by being a subtle addition, or an extravagant focal point. Treated well, a high quality and well-designed sofa can last a lifetime with sturdy construction and high-wearing materials such as leather and fabrics.

Window Treatments
Window treatments are another important investment piece as it helps in protecting the furnishings of the home, all the while adding some style and drama to a room. Window coverings not only cover windows; they protect the flooring, furniture and accessories from sun damage; provide variable light control; improve the acoustics in a room by absorbing sound; and insulate the rooms. With so many purposes to fulfill, window coverings should not be bought cheap.

By investing more heavily in pieces that will make a substantial impact on the look and design of your home, that will bring value to your every day life, and that will stand the test of time, you will be making smart choices for your home décor.

The trend toward consciously selecting sustainable and ‘green’ choices in our purchase decision-making is continuing to rise. With increasing selection and choices in everything from electric cars, solar panels, and sustainable food choices, just to name a few, it is becoming easier to adopt these environmental best practices throughout your life.

One area that is sometimes overlooked but is also making great strides is home decoration and furniture. Sustainable furniture can include anything that aims to reduce negative impact on the environment – everything from the design process, the materials, how the product is transported and the actual manufacturing process.

Sustainable furniture may also be manufactured from recycled, repurposed or easily renewable materials. Products are increasingly made of bamboo and other organic materials, for example.

You can also look to the manufacturing process and evaluate products based on the manufacturer’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions, encouraging eco-friendly practices, and using sustainable and responsible production methods.

There are an increasing number of affordable and eco-friendly furniture options available so it is very easy to find beautiful furniture for a conscious home. Sklar Furnishings is proud to offer stylish sustainable furniture pieces to our clients. Here are just a few:

Chelsea Recliner – Part of the Style in Motion collection by American Leather, the Chelsea Recliner features a quiet reclining mechanism and room for adjustability with foot and back controls. Innovative, stylish and eco-friendly, this beautiful recliner can be customized with a number of fabrics and colors.

American Leather is a proud member of the Sustainable Furshinings Council, a coalition of manufacturers, retailers and designers dedicated to raising awareness and expanding the adoption of environmentally sustainable practices across the home furnishings industry.

Jesse’s products are made in Italy with environmentally conscious manufacturing processes. Their products are the results of business decisions that place ecology and respect for the environment as top priorities.

Pinterest is the ultimate platform for home décor inspiration offering a variety of styling options for all types of decorating. Whether your style is minimalistic, funky and colorful, mid-century classic or modern contemporary, there are more than enough home styling boards to keep your fingers busy scrolling. Pinterest home décor boards are the perfect guides for renovations, redesigns and DIY projects to give your living space a little uplift. Scrolling through the endless decoration ideas can be exhausting, so we’ve listed a few of our favorite home décor Pinterest boards to help you on your way.

Sklar Furnishings
https://www.pinterest.com/sklarfurnishing/
We’ll start you off with ours! Offering the best of our contemporary design offerings, our Pinterest page covers design style ideas and inspiration, latest trends in the furniture industry, latest product offerings, designer highlights, and many different projects. Our home décor board covers a multitude of styling options ranging from modern, contemporary to classic vintage.

Curate & Display
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/CurateDisplay/boards/
A highly popular Pinterest page from the UK that features boards on home décor, current trends and the latest styles.

Thomas Murphy
https://www.pinterest.com/therealmurphy/boards/
From Brooklyn, NY and with over 1 million followers, Thomas’ boards are well organized and include incredibly stylish décor and fashion posts.

Caitlin Flemming
https://www.pinterest.com/caitlinflemming/boards/
Another incredibly popular Pinterest user, this interior designer, stylist, curator and voice behind the lifestyle blog Sacramento Street has some truly inspiring ideas and style.

Christine Martinez Loya
https://www.pinterest.com/chrisem/
With over 5 million followers, it’s clear that the Pinterest boards from California-based Director of Curation and Storytelling for Walmart Home and the author of The Complete Idiots Guide to Pinterest Marketing has some of the most inspirational and fun to discover posts.

 Dwell Magazine
https://www.pinterest.com/dwellmedia/
Dwell magazine’s Pinterest page mirrors their magazine – smart and accessible and dedicated to modern design. Amazing furniture, DIY projects and fashionable stylist products, this is definitely a page to follow.

Architectural Digest
https://www.pinterest.com/archdigest
From the definitive design magazine, which reports on the best in design throughout the world, comes a Pinterest page that further extends their incredible finds. Get lost in the multitude of options, ideas and inspiration!

Real Simple
https://www.pinterest.ca/realsimple/
We love anything that makes life easier and this Pinterest page definitely offers a ton of great ideas for organizing and simplifying life. Their Decorating Ideas for the Home board provides some great products and ideas.

For centuries, meals and get-togethers at home have centered around the dining table. However, in today’s fast paced world, meals are more often eaten around the kitchen island, huddled at the coffee table, or even on the go. While nothing beats family mealtime on a beautifully set dining room table, there are so many modern and interesting alternatives available these days. The dinner sofa is one of our favorite ones. Gaining popularity as an alternative, the dinner sofa is modern and fun, while still enabling families to enjoy quality mealtime together.

Dinner sofas consist of cozy benches for sitting and a freestanding bench that acts as the table. Dinner sofas are an artistic and unique piece of furniture, which adds style to the overall aesthetics of a room. As with any piece of furniture, dinner sofas come in different sizes, styles, and colors. The tables themselves can be round or square and the benches can be an L or U shape, with a back or no back, depending on your needs. Think of the great 50’s style diners – a booth to quickly enter in, enjoy a meal, and then head back out on your way. That’s exactly what a dinner sofa is!

Once you have decided on the style, design and color, it’s time to dig a little deeper into the stability and construction. Test out a dinner sofa by sitting on the sofa bench and consider its comfort level for an extended period of time. Investing in a good dinner sofa should depend a lot on its stability, appearance and construction. A good sofa should last a minimum of five years.

A dinner sofa offers a modern, welcoming and comfortable dining table. A feeling of togetherness is fostered when sitting in close quarters with friends and family and the dinner sofa achieves this perfectly. With a dinner sofa in sight, it’ll soon become the favorite spot for everyone in the house.

Spring is right around the corner and excitement can be sensed from all over. The gardens are starting to show a bit more life and fresh buds are sprouting. For those living in colder climates, it’s finally time to say goodbye to the winter weather. For Floridians, spring is not so much about the weather, but a time of freshness and renewal.

We like to think of spring as bringing a feeling of a fresh start where the longer days and fresh, crisp air makes one want to declutter and bring some newness into life. We also put our darker hued clothes in the back of the closet and bring out the light and bright items.

Our spring mood board takes inspiration from the season’s fresh feeling. It’s time for ultra violet, the Pantone color of the year.

Get trendy this spring by incorporating the color in various aspects of your life. Give your life a little makeover by getting creative and colorful by adding a dash of color to your house and work space with some new accents.

A great way to add splashes of color is with bright throw pillows, or for the more adventurous, the Nana 100 Mobile Light suspended lighting fixture in ultra violet. Another way to add a trendy touch to your interior design is by installing the eye-catching and vibrant Kartell Only Me Mirror in your living room or foyer. If you don’t want to make any big changes, start small with some wall art and shelf decoration changes.

We hope you find some great inspiration from our Spring 2018 mood board to help you visualize some eye catching and vibrant ways to enliven and refresh your home decor this spring. Need more inspiration for your home décor? Visit us in our showroom.

Spring is right around the corner, which means everyone’s favorite pastime of spring cleaning has also arrived. While it may seem like a chore, it’s also wonderfully cathartic to declutter, refresh, and organize your living spaces. For some it can be an overwhelming exercise, but we have come up with some tips and ideas to help you get the job done.

1. Divide your time, between the different sections of the house for a more manageable cleaning schedule. Clean from top to bottom or you’ll end up cleaning the floor more than once. Do not forget to clean out the winter dust from the welcome mats, window blinds, light fixtures and ceiling fans.
2. Use a trolley to help organize objects while you clean. It is also a perfect accessory for the kitchen or common areas all year round. It easily folds when not in use and acts as a table or sideboard when the extra space is required. They come in bright colors that can add some vibrancy to a typically monochromatic kitchen.
3. Organize the bookshelves and shelving units. Donate the books or objects you no longer want to keep so they can continue to be enjoyed. Wipe down the shelves and rearrange the books and small accents for a visually appealing look. If your current bookshelf is occupying a lot of space, or feels too heavy and bold, try replacing it with a minimalistic piece like the Giotto Bookcase, which comes with plenty of storage shelves and add style to the overall aesthetics of your home.
4. Having more storage space is an easy way to organize. Did you ever think of switching your regular nightstand to one with a couple of drawers? Check out the Leila Nightstand for a beautiful single drawer storage option or the Contempora Nightstand for double drawers – we just love the design and the practicality is useful each day. You can also think outside the box, and look for storage solutions that serve a double purpose, like the The American Leather Leo Ottoman, which opens to reveal a generous storage bay.

And there you go! Adding some storage space while decluttering wasn’t so bad, was it? Hopefully you can take the time to prepare your home so that you many enjoy the longer days, and warmer nights of spring. Spring is all about rejuvenation, so feel proud in letting that feeling into all areas of your daily life this season.

Did you recently think about changing a room in your home, or move into a new space and decide you would like to make some design changes? Or did you decide to mix things up and add a little more spunk to your space through finishes? Either way you may now find yourself looking for some design guidance to help with your new project. A quick Google search is a great first step but you may come across individuals whose profession are listed as “interior decorator” or “interior designer”. You are not alone if you then ask yourself, “Aren’t they the same”?

Apologies for shattering the assumptions, but, no, they are not the same.
Interior decorating and interior designing are often mistaken for being the same jobs. Even though there are many similarities and job functions that overlap, they are, in fact, very different.

Interior designers plan functional spaces and interior decorators decorate spaces with objects. In other words, interior designers may decorate and adorn the spaces they plan against, but decorators do not plan the spaces they decorate.

Interior designing involves structural and spatial planning that would include drawing up floor plans. It is a mix of art and technical creativity to create functional spaces based on the occupants’ needs and intentions of the space. An interior designer often works closely with architects and contractors to achieve the right look of a space if major modifications are required. So, if you need to add or remove windows or walls, and you want to incorporate thoughtful and planned design against your renovations, you will want to contact an interior designer first.

Interior decorating, on the other hand, is about adorning and furnishing a space after its structure has been defined by architects or interior designers. An interior decorator helps in choosing the right style of furniture, color scheme or look to meet the aesthetics of the client. So, if you need help in choosing the right lights and furnishings, color scheme for the walls and drapes, then an interior decorator could be a good fit.

Because we value design and always strive to ignite design inspiration for our clients, we employ a number of interior designers at Sklar Furnishings to allow us both the flexibility across a number of client needs, and also to ensure we can provide a greater level of customized service to our clientele. To meet the team, click here.

Millennial Pink, a timeless color with an aura of purity and innocence. This dusty shade of pink, the color that looks like a mix of rose gold and bubble-gum is known as Millennial Pink. It is subtle without being boring, it’s fun without being flashy. The fashion and design industry consider it as the color of the moment. The pastel pink hue has been a mainstay of spring and summer, but the dreary winter months seem to be screaming for it too.

Millennial Pink, otherwise known as Dusty Blush, has slowly infiltrated every aspect of home décor. Given its peacefulness and neutrality, the color adds a spunk to the contemporary and minimalist home décor. Unlike shapes and silhouettes, colors look good even after they are not trending on the ramps. It is also a known fact that colors of the spaces around you influence your mood. A spunky bright yellow accent wall is sure to pep you up and a dusty pink hue is sure to add some peace and serenity in your life. So, go on and add some Millennial Pink to your everyday life for some style and calm.

It doesn’t take a lot of pink to make a statement!

Not ready to oversaturate your home in pink? Try adding small accents. The small accents can take the sweet and soft pink furnishings to a glamorous level. Even small centerpieces like the Pink Flamingo will add a spunk to the otherwise vanilla décor.

Provide an edge to your living room by painting the accent wall Millennial Pink or if that would be a little over the top, try adding a velvet accent chair. A pink rug or some decorative lighting like Simon Says Yes pendant light would be a great addition to breathe new life into the common area.

 Millennial Pink is trendy, yet very timeless. You can incorporate some pink throw pillows, a pale pink picture frame or a playful piece of art in the bedroom for a warm and inviting feel. A pretty pink duvet will do the trick as well. Add a dash of color to your kitchen by getting your hands on a pink marble coffee table or some bubble-gum colored cookware. If you are looking to lighten up a kid’s bedroom, the Moonky sculpture will be a beautiful addition.

Not every piece of furniture or home accessory must be pink. Decorate your space according to the vibe of that area. Don’t overdo it. Decorate your surroundings at your own pace & with your own style.