Maison de objet trend in fabrics and furniture for 2011

Sadly, I didn't travel to Paris this September....

No people watching,
eating delicious french food
or
taking in the many architectural wonders on the Parisian avenues.
Quite frankly there is no better place than Paris in Autumn.
Of course I missed the amazing Paris home furnishings exhibition
Objet Maison as well....

But, I did experience the next best thing, an invitation from IFDA -The International Furnishings and Design Association to hear firsthand from design industry expert and journalist Hermine Mariaux's thoughts on the current 2011 design trends based upon what she saw at this past premiere exhibition in Paris. The Maison Object home design show takes place twice yearly: this past January 22-16 and again September 3-7. The show attracts designers from around the world who exhibit their wares, and has become the Paris version of New York's Fashion Week for home furnishings.  Maison Objet sets the tone for upcoming trends in design around the world. Hermine gave an informative hour-long slideshow and discussion to a packed audience in Grange Showroom at 200 Lexington Avenue in Manhattan last week. She has a long history as an expert in the interior design industry and is very well regarded by her peers. In addition to many industry insiders and designers, there was an entire home products class from FIT in attendance taking detailed notes. She spoke about what the year will bring for interior design. It was fascinating!

The Grange team hosted the event and breakfast
Here I am with Hermine after the slideshow

a group of design student from FIT - taking notes
Hermine noted several significant trends that

were strongly emphasized at Maison Objet:

upcoming trends in design according to Hermine:

• large seating areas, as if rooms within rooms that envelope you and enables the user to shut out the world. These are ultra modern in style and reflect the overload of information we are bombarded with regularly.
• religious symbolism in accessories
• tribal fabrics are still strong, but with a twist
• a fascination with feathers, fossils, the animal kindgom, taxidermy, stuffed birds (like victorian era for goodness sakes), and just birds everywhere on fabrics, wallpaper and furniture
• continued use of metal in furnishings, but more so and painted, sometimes black
• a return to wallpaper
• more elaborate detailing on fabrics and increase in crewel fabric
• crafts and handmade items galore
• very basic pottery - more primitive than in the past
• the use of wooden furniture in modern styles
• the color black everywhere: wall colors, furniture, lighting, fabrics
• Colors: a big emphasis on black, rich golden yellow, black and white, brown (everywhere brown), and goodbye good old grey (except dark charcoal grey), more purple (really?), Indigo and midnight blue, dark green, ruby red,

a continuation of tribal but with a twist

black back grounds with white pottery

However, there were two strong, yet polar opposite styles that Hermine outlined - I found these both interesting and feel these will most likely affect us here in the United States in a more toned down version. Two points: a return to traditionalism with darker, heavier furniture and fabric colors and a dramatic change in color popularities for walls and accents. Secondly, a continuation of popularity in modern furnishings but even more dramatic in scale and shape, with an emphasis on natural products, recycling and oversized seating areas with privacy accentuated. Here are examples:

1). An emphasis on traditionalism; lots of detailing, richer colors and darker wood and heavier furniture

Could this be our future? Baroque style re-visited?

with lots of embelishments, nods to 16th and 17th century period styles - Baroque, Dutch Colonial, and William & Mary. A return to heavy furnishings, ormulu and inlaid and dark woods and fabrics. Hermine pointed to the current furniture lines she saw at Highpoint - dark wooded furniture lines by Michael Smith (Baker) and Martha Stewart (Bernhardt). This re-surgence of traditional furnishings with an emphasis on dark wood will bring about many changes, albeit maybe less so around these parts.  She showed examples of carved mirrors, flemish paintings (noting the recent overwhelming popularity of two seperate art exhibits - one at the NYC's MET and Bronzini's exhibit in the Uffizi -Florence, Italy museum) as examples. There will be a return to the Dutch Colonialism styles with ormulu and dark brown/almost black furniture. Fabrics will be richer in color, more detailing, more embelished, with lots of emphasis on crewel, tooled leather and rich woven fabric.

lots of details on fabric

interesting takes on animal skins, horns, and taxidermy everywhere!

a tradional room, toned down and with Baroque undertones

Martha Stewart's furniture from Bernhardt

Michael Smith's County Collection

My take: With the surging economies in countries like Russia, China and India these styles will become very popular. Many consumers will gobble up expensive and elaborate furnishings of this kind. We have leaned away from these trends for some time in much of the U.S. It will be interesting to see how this plays out here. I believe this shows our collective desire for comfort and safety. During uncertain times, many desire comfort and to return to what they know as good quality over quantity. A look at the historical roots of our design industry makes sense, and this may be good for craftsmen and artisans as well, but I believe it will be tastefully edited, used sparingly and more stylized than probably shown at Maison Objet. The influences will show in homes here, but subtly. However, the color changes will be prevalent and a drastic change from all the light and bright colors we have seen for a long stretch. I am happy that wallpapers' popularity is on the rise.

rich colored fabrics, details such as crewel work and tooled leather - thank you sensationalcolor.com for the above photographs to illustrate this point

look for tooled leather like this one above

2). the Modern trend -

a continuation of the modern furnishings, colors and fabrics that has been going forward for many years. But, newly oversized, unexpected shapes and unusual shapes and textures in lighting, combinations of juxtaposing metals and raw woods, more exaggerated scale and as I mentioned much more black as a backdrop on walls and furnishings: black with white, black with pops of color, rich colors and some whites referred to as "refrigerator white" very stark. A big japanese influence with lacquer finishes even more influencing.

My take: Again, the modern push has been awhile in the making. Many designers are thinking outside the box of design with unusual shapes and artistic pespectives on home design. Recycling and green motivations are probably playing a big part in this movement looking ahead. This is nothing new, however, the oversized scale, taller in height and larger seating areas reflect something new that may be percolating: to create a room within a room or a space in which to have a sense of privacy. This growing trend I am sure we will see more of in the future. I also like the use of natural raw materials set against the metals and industrial. Although this is also not new, it seems to be even more defined. The return to craftmanship in modern furnishings is seen as well in the ultra raw pottery, the unusual lighting with wood and metals. Using natural materials, like wood, in modern furniture all reflect the desire to bring craftsmanship to the modern approach. Very interesting use of black and white and this will be a very new addition to the modern approach to design

overscaled seating unique texture and shapes in lighting

Jean Paul Gaultier for Roche Bobois - tribal, black and white and scaled furniture

tall furniture that seems to encapsulate "refrigetator white" the starkness set against black lighting and splashes of bold colors


recylcing metals everywhere

lots of bright colors against black, such as yellow

more black and yellow - Karl lagerfeld