Looking ahead to home design trends for spring/summer 2012 means looking back in time and bringing the familiar into the future. Trend Bible, a UK-based trend-forecasting firm, gathers data on social, economical, cultural and consumer behaviors in order to create an image of what the future may look like. Trend Bible's forecasts are designed to help predict behaviors that result in commercially successful products for retailers and brands.
Based on four key design, color and material directions, Trend Bible's preview of what's in store for home interiors next year mixes the manmade with the hand-made in color schemes from muted to eye-popping and traditional to eccentric.
Visionnaire
Math and science converge with art to create a modern, almost futuristic, look for the home. From soft pastels like seafoam green and lavender to sharp, near-neon brights like lime green and tomato red, the mood is playful and familiar. A blend of natural and manmade elements lends a polished edge, where angular shapes meet with rough unfinished wood textures. Refracted light patterns from layered transparencies, ombre effects and dripped-like random patterning add to the mix of the new modern interior.
Natural selection
Earth and nature come together in this clean, edited home where everything is perfectly imperfect. Essential pieces bring together the feel of handmade and the familiar of worn and lived-in. Wood is distressed, and leather is aged. With luxe finishes on decorative accessories and textiles, hints of metallic in upholstery fabrics, and shimmering precious metal glazes on earthenware, the look is honest and wholesome without being kitschy or ethnic. The palette of browns, greige, terracotta, muted blues and shots of lavender and rose pink are naturally appealing and authentic.
Palm Springs
The laid-back West Coast style -- Palm Springs circa 1970 -- evokes memories of a leisurely life and the quest for utopian pursuits. Remnants of mod architecture, abstract patterns, loud florals, tropical backdrops, lush velvets and eccentric color combinations fuse to become the new cool in home interiors. Look for sky blues, mint greens, dark purples, gray/greens, turquoise, periwinkle, magenta, and sunny yellows to be your inspiration for a rejuvenating and healing environment.
Sentiment
The Brits are coming … From the resurgence of British textile design houses to next year's London Olympics, it's all about bringing out the best of the Great Britain's post-industrial heritage, celebrating the art of manufacturing, and throwing in some nostalgia for comfort. The focus is on exposing construction while taking the concept of "inside-out" to new extremes. Think chunky metal hardware and exposed zippers and seams. Or mix Liberty's floral prints with utilitarian cottons and canvases to create something decidedly modern yet familiar. It's also a world where tents inspire fabric walls and wallpapering exterior walls stretches your design aesthetic. The colors are as prim and proper as the china for high tea: light pinks; mint, sage and dark greens; and dark turquoise grounded with terra cotta.
We'll be looking for these earthy, modern, industrial and retro trends to bring to our store when we visit the High Point Furniture Market in October. We'll keep you posted and give you an update when we return.
