Global Home Décor Trends Part I: Cologne

I’ve been traveling quite a bit lately exploring trends at various European furniture fairs for the latest in home style trends. My first stop was to the beautiful Cologne, Germany for IMM Cologne – an international interiors show. This annual furnishings fair is always exciting, and this year was no exception.

To paint a picture of IMM, the fair is overwhelmingly large with more than one thousand exhibitors drawing 80 thousand visitors from all over the world. If you can imagine a fair this big it should be no surprise that there is something for every taste and style. While I am there, my main focus is to look for fabrics, colors and wooden details. This is an important part of my job because we need to keep in close touch with the market to catch the trends at an early stage and develop our collection accordingly. It is also a very helpful way for us to gain ideas and insights to plan our own photo shoots and fairs, which need to be current and of course, beautiful.

So, what did I see? Here are a few notes from my trip.

Generally, there was a large focus on small furniture pieces. Chairs were smaller than normal and there was a large presence of sleek shelves and cupboards. There were tables in many different sizes, but I rarely saw any large tables. Instead, the oversized tables have been replaced by groups of tables in different heights. I personally enjoyed the small retro-inspired sofas and chairs with round shapes… gorgeous!

The photo featured above is from my trip to Maison&Objet in Paris.

The color trends were a bit disappointing. I was hoping to see more exciting colors, but grey and beige are still dominating forces. Don’t get me wrong, they’re lovely colors, but at fairs I enjoy seeing bright tones that make a room pop.

When I did see more vibrant hues they were often hydro, purple, many shades of pink and cheerful yellows.

The photo featured above is from my trip to Maison&Objet in Paris.

As far as fabrics, there were a lot of fabric qualities in velour, bouclé and even some wool.  I was happy to see this because it confirms that we are on the right track… always reassuring!

Same goes for the wood colors, where walnut and oak were largely represented.  These are the two new wood stains Stressless introduced in the collection last fall.

Now that I’ve conquered Cologne’s furniture scene, I’m off to one of the world’s most iconic cities, Paris.

Check back for details on my trip to France!
Berit