4 Top Furniture Trends From the Spring 2021 High Point Market

New products built on recent trends with lots of black, striking details, polished rustic style and bold curves

Becky Harris June 11, 2021

Houzz Contributor. Hi there! I live in a 1940s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe as "collected." I got into design via Landscape Architecture, which I studied at the University of Virginia.

Houzz Contributor. Hi there! I live in a 1940s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe... More

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High Point Market was back in full swing this week in North Carolina, with furniture and accessory makers presenting their latest products under the theme “Remix, Refresh, Reimagine.” Designers and manufacturers continued to build on trends from recent years, with products featuring organic materials, botanical prints and Art Deco inspirations. But the spring 2021 market (June 5-9) also was marked by dramatic black artwork and furnishings, attention to details, a polished rustic sensibility and bold, whimsical curves. Here is a virtual look at some highlights.

1. Black Is the New Black

Black was big at the market, following the trend of dark and moody rooms. One impactful way designers bring in dark tones is through artwork. While botanical prints in their natural colors had trended at the past few markets, this year these prints were rendered in black, with strong contrast from creams and whites.

“Sedum I + II”: Susan Hable for Soicher-Marin

This large woodcut-like piece has the organic look of tree rings, with a black-and-white palette that will bring compelling contrast to a room.

“Tree Rings II”: Angela Harris collection for Paragon

This piece in honed Negro Marquina marble can serve as sculpture as well as table. For those who want a lighter looks, it’s also available in white marble.

Cubist table: Thomas Pheasant for McGuire

High Point Market: Hump Black Console by TOV Furniture

This minimalist black console can add drama to an entryway, living room or dining room.

Hump console table: TOV Furniture

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Black also featured prominently in patterns and mixed with other materials. This entertainment center from Hooker Furniture features black in a mix of mango wood and inlaid bone.

Caned furniture and details have been trending at recent markets, usually mixed with light-colored wood. But this year, makers featured caning mixed with black for more dramatic contrast.

Sierra Noir desk: TOV Furniture

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Like desks, bars have gotten a lot more use in the home during the past year. This bar’s cabinet doors are a mix of black vellum with inset blackened brass circular details. The inside offers an elegant surprise with verre églomisé on the back, illuminated by LED lighting strips.

Gins drink cabinet: Julian Chichester

2. All About That Base

Sometimes a dining table base is just a dining table base that’s purely functional. But in 2021, eye-catching bases were all over the market.

Aqueducts and Brutalist architecture inspired the limestone-colored concrete base of this dining table from Casa Ispirata.

An hourglass was the inspiration for this dining table base by Paolo Vernier for Midj. The table’s name is Clessidra, Italian for hourglass. The base is composed of two conical shapes and is available in solid or two-tone steel or in wood. The top is available in a crystal ceramic or wood finish.

This dining table is a great example of the table base trend and the trend toward polished rustic style. Hand-forged in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, it has an unexpected asymmetrical trio of metal legs that stand atop a tiered base. Woodworkers in the same factory hand-plane the top, which is available in maple or walnut.

Biscayne dining table: Charleston Forge

3. Polished Rustic Style

Interest in handcrafted looks has grown, and furniture designers have responded with pieces that combine old-world craftsmanship with elegant and modern twists. The result, polished rustic style, sounds like an oxymoron but is a successful pairing of handmade elements with sophisticated and surprising details.

This piece, made in Mexico, has a beautifully crafted wood chest floating atop surprisingly funky legs. The legs come in white, black, red or orange. The pulls are leather with an aluminum detail, and there’s a handy flip-up charging station inside.

Hygge Line bureau: Trra

With such high demand for home offices in the past year, it was interesting to see how furniture designers approached desk design. Furniture maker and designer Skylar Morgan wanted to bring the old-fashioned writing desk back in a modern way. This walnut desk has beautifully mitered corners and intricate joinery, with drawers that are handsomely accented in black belting leather.

Scribe desk: Skylar Morgan

Jeremy Kamiya designs and crafts furniture in a style he calls “modern craft.” To add to the challenge, he makes his solid wood furniture without nails, screws or stains. He crafted this piece using mortise and tenon joinery and finished it with hand-rubbed oil and wax.

Shelf of Drawers: Kamiya Furniture

This bunk bed looks like something a creative and talented carpenter might have worked up for their own kids. The light wood gives it an elevated and simple Scandinavian look, while its architectural sensibility adds the fun appeal of a fort.

Scandinavian House bunk bed: Sweedi collection, South Shore Furniture

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Interior designer Lauren Clement of Lauren Nicole Designs recently teamed up with Charleston Forge to create a line of furniture. This console table mixes a hefty chunk of wood with equestrian-inspired hand-forged metal legs.

Paddock Chairside console: Charleston Forge

4. Bold Curves

After years of clean, straight lines dominating, curves have been making a comeback. Adding curves in a room will make it feel more welcoming and comfortable.

The styles of curvy sofas seen at the market ranged from amorphous to structured. The oak back of McGuire Furniture’s Kimono sofa falls into the structured category with its wood back, adorned with caning and oak blossom details.

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Art Deco style continued to influence trends in updated ways. TOV Furniture’s Hump collection features pieces with strong curves that nod to Art Deco architecture but with chunky minimalist lines.

Hump nightstand: TOV Furniture

These soft, round swivel chairs are minimalist yet have loads of personality. They’re upholstered in bouclé, a textile that’s been trending for the past few years.

Lucas swivel chair: Urbia

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These curvaceous chairs are hefty, but at the same time their open backs give them a light feel. They also have a sexy 1970s sensibility.

Cascade collection: Hooker Furniture

The bench, coffee table and loveseat here have curves that add a dash of whimsy to a space. The asymmetry of the table and loveseat marks another a trend seen this spring.

Furniture: 9 & 19

There’s an interesting play between the wooden base and the tall, curved silhouette of this woven outdoor chair.

Outdoor chair: JANUS et Cie

Your turn: Which looks would you incorporate into your designs? Share in the Comments.

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