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EDITION Interior-design trends lead to new products to meet consumer demands |
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Contemporary Style-savvy consumers today want more than the simple monotone palette that contemporary décor once offered, and manufacturers have taken note—particularly those making wall coverings, floor coverings and fabrics. The demand is growing for bold, graphic and colorful patterns—especially those that merge antique aesthetics with contemporary appeal, such as Julien MacDonald’s designs for Graham & Brown or Cole & Son’s Classix Exotic Flock collection. Designs from rug and tile manufacturers are changing as rapidly as those from haute-couture fashion houses. The number of floral designs is increasing, but the new patterns have a more modern look, without traditional borders and intricacy. Examples of new contemporary rugs include creations by Lapchi, Endless Knot and Emma Gardner. Even iron design has been affected by the minimalist modern movement. Interior railings form the greatest portion of the Iron Design Center’s business as many homeowners take out walls and seek a more minimal replacement. Green “It’s not granola—it’s very sophisticated, it’s very beautiful and it has lots of applications,” Draheim says. Two socially responsible textile lines that Draheim carries in his showroom at the Seattle Design Center are Q Collection and Twill Textiles. Other green products are following the same sophisticated suit. In furniture, for example, there is a revival of work in which the shape of the tree dictates the shape of the piece. But unlike the 1960s-style rough redwoods and driftwoods that were liberally coated with lacquer, today’s furniture is more subtle, with clear, matte finishes and contemporary styling. Buyers are also moving away from short-lived furniture and toward lasting quality as a way to reduce landfill waste. As green grows, manufacturers are raising the quality bar on their eco-friendly products. Painting contractors once charged extra to work with products low in volatile-organic compounds because low-VOC products took longer to dry and more paint to cover the same area and because of the learning curve it took to work with new products. But these differences are disappearing—installation times are improving and pricing is dropping. The list of items now available with reduced toxicity—and the number of manufacturers producing them—is growing too. Low-VOC caulk, primers and even colorants are now on the market, in a broader range of colors. Low-toxicity products were previously found in only whites and pastels, but Sherwin Williams, for example, recently created a low-VOC colorant for its paint line. Perhaps most important to this trend, however, is the fact that consumers and designers are becoming more aware of health risks associated with interior products and are asking vendors directly about toxicity and environmental impacts. Although lighting manufacturers have been working with more efficient and eco-friendly products, such as halogen and fluorescents, for some time, they are moving toward new energy-saving heights. While fluorescent lighting retains its popularity and now has light coloring that resembles the golden warmth of incandescent, the future belongs to light-emitting-diode technology, according to Taisa Djakow, of Alexander Lighting. “LED is going to rule the world soon,” Djakow predicts. It uses very little energy, the bulbs are phenomenally long-lived, it comes in all different wattages and it does not have the mercury gas that compact fluorescents do. LED is currently available in spot lighting and table lamps, but LED chandeliers will have to wait until manufacturers are able to dissipate heat from the semiconductors that power the lights.
Color A mix of rich, deep color, especially earth tones, with a soft-color accent is hot right now. Think dark chocolate with baby blue. Another example is rich reds paired with golds, or a “gender-neutral pink” that some would call coral, Chayer says. For traditionalists, he also says it’s becoming more common to paint woodwork in colors such as pale olive green rather than the traditional white. Wood colors have moved toward darker finishes such as walnut. And in metals, satin nickel is going out, and bronze and old-world antique brass are in. Looking Forward |
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"A
trend is something that moves the market, moves it in a different direction,”
says Polly Teeter of Del-Teet Furniture. “A major trend, such as
the current one toward smaller scale furniture, will cross demographic
and style barriers. So what are some of the biggest home décor
trends and ideas right now? Seattle designers in the know say that current
trends fall into three camps: contemporary, the green movement and color.
