Special Report: Interior Design News From Cologne
Take a Photo Tour of the Latest Furniture Innovations Headed Our Way
Last week I was one of 100,000 design fans from around the world who descended on Cologne, Germany for the Internationale Möbelmesse, or IMM. Along with the Salone di Mobile which is held every year in Milan, the IMM is considered to be the world's premiere furniture and design trade show.
IMM is a massive show, much larger and better organized than its counterparts in the US. It was a trend watcher's amusement park, and although much of what I saw may never cross the Atlantic, many of the overriding themes and trends I saw will.
I was one of six U.S.-based design bloggers brought to IMM by Blanco, a German sink and faucet manufacturer. I took these photos as I walked around the show on Thursday and Friday last week. Can you see any of the trends I'll identify here working their way into your design? If you're a member of Houzz's international community, are any of these trends already part of your country's design scene?
IMM is a massive show, much larger and better organized than its counterparts in the US. It was a trend watcher's amusement park, and although much of what I saw may never cross the Atlantic, many of the overriding themes and trends I saw will.
I was one of six U.S.-based design bloggers brought to IMM by Blanco, a German sink and faucet manufacturer. I took these photos as I walked around the show on Thursday and Friday last week. Can you see any of the trends I'll identify here working their way into your design? If you're a member of Houzz's international community, are any of these trends already part of your country's design scene?
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by Paul Anater
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| Eclecticism ruled the day in Cologne last week. European designers seem to revel in the contrast between classical shapes and bright colors. For every neutral room setting I saw, I saw three that made heavy use of bright colors. |
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by Paul Anater
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| Sectional sofas were everywhere and they were longer and lower than the sectionals I see in the U.S. Surrounding sectional sofas with multiple coffee and end tables was an easily-discernible trend. It makes sense today to design with multiple surfaces to hold laptops and other electronics. |
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by Paul Anater
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| Arcing floor lamps and complex wall units were everywhere. The floor lamp has come a long way since Achille Castiglione's Arco lamp made its debut in 1962. Could you ever see yourself using a lamp like this instead of a ceiling fixture? |
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by Paul Anater
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| This beautiful wall unit from the Danish manufacturer Montana stopped me in my tracks. |
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by Paul Anater
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| The big trend in wooden furniture was natural color. The complicated stains and glazes we see in the U.S. were nowhere to be found. |
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by Paul Anater
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| In keeping with the movement toward natural wood tones, the arm of this sofa is made from bamboo strips and leather, and the upholstery is unbleached linen. |
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by Paul Anater
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| Acid greens and purple accents were everywhere, despite what Pantone says about this year's color of the year. |
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by Paul Anater
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| Most of these bright colors have just enough black in them to make them near-neutrals. So despite their brightness, they're usually not jarring. |
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by Paul Anater
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| Classics like Hans Wegner's Clamshell chair were out in force with updated, striped upholstery. |
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by Paul Anater
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| Here's a great example of these near-neutral brights. It's the addition of black pigment that allows these colors to blend so well with wooden end and coffee tables. |
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by Paul Anater
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| Here's another shot of more brights playing against neutrals. Carpets tended to lie low, and the emphasis was up on the furniture itself. |
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by Paul Anater
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| Here's IMM's trend watch in a nutshell. Bright furniture, neutral carpets and multiple, horizontal surfaces surrounding sofas and chairs. What do you think of this multiple coffee table look? Does it enable life in the electronic age or is it too much? |
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by Paul Anater
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| Here's another arc floor lamp and a sectional. Notice the deconstructed arm on the left end of the sofa. |
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by Paul Anater
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| Another vignette with brights, neutrals and multiple horizontal surfaces. Do you think you're ready for two coffee tables? |
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by Paul Anater
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| Here's another sectional, but what's interesting about this vignette is the thickness of the coffee table surface. That marble is one centimeter thick — a thickness we never use in the U.S. Those thin sheets of marble make this room setting distinctive and light. That same thinness shows up in European kitchen design, which I'll write more about later this week. |
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by Paul Anater
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| As often as coffee tables were thin, they were low. This coffee table is just above floor height. Would this help or hinder the design of your own living room? |
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by Paul Anater
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| Many European mattresses are more like futons than what we know as mattresses in the U.S. Low-profile platform beds are easy when your mattress is only six inches deep. This headboard and armoire are spot-on with the trend toward more natural-looking woods.
Even so, do you think you could trade in your walk-in closet and bedroom dressers for a free-standing closet system like the one shown here? |
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by Paul Anater
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| This is a bath vanity series from Hansgrohe that will be released in the U.S. and Canada at some point in 2011. Multipurpose designs are becoming very common; and in this case, the faucet doubles as a bath shelf. |
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by Paul Anater
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| This is a room setting designed by Patricia Uriquiola, a Spanish architect who works in Italy. Despite the simplicity of the chair and bench, notice that this vignette has three end tables ganged to the left of the chair. |
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by Paul Anater
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| This is another Uriquiola setting. That chair is a masterpiece of veneers and thin, clear lines. |
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by Paul Anater
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| There were a handful of times when the warm pink Pantone calls Honeysuckle showed up at the show last week. It usually appeared to be forced when it did show up. This is one of the few examples of a warm pink that appeared to be an honest use of that color. |
by Paul Anater
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This photo isn't from the show. Rather, it's the lobby of the hotel where I stayed. I took this shot because it's a terrific use of a two-toned, random-width floor and ceiling treatment. Its combination of maple and walnut planks is certainly unexpected and would be really easy to recreate.
In looking over all of these trends from Germany last week, can you see any of them in your home now? How long, do you suppose, does it take trends such as these to start showing up in real people's homes?
Next: Browse more home design photos
In looking over all of these trends from Germany last week, can you see any of them in your home now? How long, do you suppose, does it take trends such as these to start showing up in real people's homes?
Next: Browse more home design photos
Ideabook updated on Jan. 26, 2011.
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Our furniture is modern and very expensive, so we just don't buy new stuff every other year. But there's a lot of inspiration in these photos and they let me think about new accent colors, the use of different side tables (maybe not AS different as some of the examples) and my liking for arc lamps.
Scrapabby: What's interesting about these shows is that they set the tone for the coming year in a very broad way. The colors and themes that ran through the IMM will end up trickling down through the market and will impact contemporary and traditional furniture and interior design.
Lizaveta: A lot of those covers were removable and washable...
Ellie: Thanks for your comment and I agree, it's nice to say goodbye to espresso.
Hasdesigner: You are welcome. I have a bunch of great design shows lined up for this year so you'll be seeing what I see at them.
Funny how the wall-mounted cabinet mix "stopped" you- A couple of weeks ago, I saw this similar concept on your blog (an old post, photos below)...and it stopped me in my tracks - I'm crazy about both versions.
The hidden and stashed away micro-appliances make sense for Europeans since they live in small apartments. They are also VERY expensive and less reliable and they get less use out of them the we do in the US. Style over substance, just like runway fashion shows. Splashes of color and fabric and "ideas" that don't make sense in everyday life cause you have to cook, clean, sit, stand, walk around your place and not only look at it from a distance.
Limited utility.