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Nordic Design Trends Balance Comfort With a Wild Streak

Soft shapes and chameleon materials make an impression at the Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair 2018

Cajsa Carlson February 17, 2018

Redaktör, Houzz Sverige / Staff Editor, Houzz Sweden

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When the world outside grows increasingly absurd, you might think we want to retreat indoors to home design that is safe and comforting. And to a certain extent, exhibitors at the 2018 Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair showed rounded, kind, organic furniture made from fingertip-friendly wood and eye-candy pastels that fit that bill perfectly. But there was also an underlying current of an uproarious nature, of seeing the world through both rebellious and joyous eyes. Is the Nordic design scene taking a walk toward the wild side?

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Planet of the Plants

The guest of honor at this year’s fair was Italian architect, product designer, interior designer and artistic director Paola Navone. She livened up the entrance hall with a fantasy forest of oversize snowdrops and daffodils to counteract the February chill outside. Her installation encouraged visitors to see beauty in the unexpected.

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Swedish lamp manufacturer Ateljé Lyktan collaborated with Norway’s Snøhetta to introduce a new take on Ateljé Lyktan’s Riff pendant lighting design. The most smile-inducing lamp was without a doubt this cactus prototype.

Rätt i vår: Nya trenderna från Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair

Young Swedish design studio Haha Sthlm returned to the Stockholm show with a collaboration with Canadian lighting company Lambert & Fils. Their slimline lighting was camouflaged in a canopy of exotic greenery in an exhibition suitably named Symbiosis. The lighting collection, called Mile, was created by Guillaume Sasseville and is available from Lambert & Fils.

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Chameleon Materials

The main trend exhibition commissioned by the fair was curated and created by Halleroed’s Christian and Ruxandra Halleröd. The pair focused on materials that weren’t quite what they seemed, like this woven rug printed to look like an animal skin.

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As original materials become scarcer, expensive or ethically unsustainable, copies of and variations on the originals are cropping up. This wall looks as if it’s made from Carrara marble, but in fact, it’s covered in ceramic tiles from retailer Kakelspecialisten.

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Stockholm-based Note Design Studio created the installation The Lookout for manufacturer Tarkett, which showed that flooring doesn’t have to stay on the floor. The designers used floor materials in eight colors and textures to build stairs, tables and seating in the exhibit.

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Another flooring manufacturer, Sweden’s Bolon, took carpeting to new heights. To celebrate its Elements collection, made with a new thread that creates a linen-like weave, the material was shaped into trunks and raised to the ceiling, so visitors walked through a hanging forest.

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Dark Pastels

The pinks and yellows from recent years were joined by blues and greens that are darker and chalkier, giving every room a boutique hotel feel. At Johanson, the new furniture line was dark and complemented by light accessories.

Nadja Endler | Photography

The Houzz exhibit, designed by Studio In, used a palette of lush pastels from Alcro . The powder pink on the shelf to the right looks extra prominent against the deep green chair from Sofacompany.com and a paneled wallpaper from Rebel Walls.

Find chairs in all shades of green

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Pastels also were found on accessories and lighting. The Sawaru cylinder lamp by Nendo for Flos, originally launched at Euroluce 2017, has a turquoise hue reminiscent of the 1980s.

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New Ways with Wood

Plenty of blond wood is a must at Stockholm Furniture Fair, but there are always new takes on the material. At the Swedese display, visitors got a sneak peak at prototypes by Swedish designers Monica Förster and Design Front, created by waste materials from the factory in central Sweden.

Trenderna från Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair 2018

In Greenhouse, the area where design schools and universities show their work, many use wood since it’s easily accessible, relatively cheap and pliable. One of this year’s favorites was the Keinunen rocking sofa by Finnish designer Sakari Hartikainen. If any manufacturers pick it up, we’ll soon be able to rock in parks and public spaces.

The simple yet beautiful furniture prototypes from Norway’s Dofe were worth a look. The modules can be changed and combined to create shelving, seats, daybeds and much more — perfect for the modern nomadic generation.

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Strong but Kind

The light wood and easy-on-the-eye pastels marry well with the contemporary desire for kind interiors — we saw a lot of rounded shapes, squishy upholstery and plenty of textiles. Perhaps home really is, more than ever, a sanctuary? This is how Denmark’s Eilersen sees how we will live the next year.

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Another Danish company, Fritz Hansen, fights the insecurity of the world with kindhearted textiles, like in this throw used as a wallhanging in a dining room. It is by designer Jaime Hayon and comes in two colors.

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Mini Trend: Exotic Animals

In many exhibits, animals took prominence in playful ways. At Woud, a cluster of elephants, rhinos and hippos brought a smile to visitors’ lips.

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Italy’s Seletti had slightly more domesticated animals. Its mice carrying bright lights look great in any room.

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Even Finnish company Iittala, known for glass and tableware, showed a wild side. Its glass foxes looked more surprised than crafty, and they fit in perfectly with the glass lamps in 1970s colors.

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