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?
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.
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.
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?
This beautiful wall unit from the Danish manufacturer Montana stopped me in my tracks.
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.
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.
Acid greens and purple accents were everywhere, despite what Pantone says about this year's color of the year.
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.
Classics like Hans Wegner's Clamshell chair were out in force with updated, striped upholstery.
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.
Here's another shot of more brights playing against neutrals. Carpets tended to lie low, and the emphasis was up on the furniture itself.
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?
Here's another arc floor lamp and a sectional. Notice the deconstructed arm on the left end of the sofa.
Another vignette with brights, neutrals and multiple horizontal surfaces. Do you think you're ready for two coffee tables?
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.
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?
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?
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?
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.
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.
This is another Uriquiola setting. That chair is a masterpiece of veneers and thin, clear lines.
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.
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