The Maison & Objet Trade Fair, which usually takes place in Paris twice a year, been temporarily transformed into a digital conference. Through a continuing series of online seminars, podcasts and product picks, the fair continues to pin down trends and innovations for the coming year and we've been following it closely. It's not as fun or glamorous as a real trip to Paris, but until the fairs re-open in real life, here's a summary of some of the ideas the event has recently explored - the new needs created by Covid-19, the movement towards a more ethical and sustainable lifestyle, and the future of design.
Healing and comforting Interiors
Increasingly it seems we expect interiors to take care of our health, with renewed attention on solutions for air and water purification and antimicrobial work surfaces. The focus includes home fitness, with suitable materials and furniture that are adapted to indoor exercise.
Interiors have turned into a refuge with an emphasis on sleep and the decor of the bedroom and the living room. There is a definite move towards comfort in these areas and modern fabric innovations are providing options for comfort, which also meet our style and durability requirements. This echoes something that is already reflected in all our designs - comfort is, above all else, king.
Reliable, stable, durable, local
People are spending more time at home than ever before and so resilience is key. Beyond the pandemic, we are increasingly conscious of living in an environmental crisis. We are anxious to preserve our planet with lasting solutions, with little (or no) environmental impact, notably by putting new value on the local. I really hope this comes through for our local towns here in Yorkshire, where Sturman & Co. already supports a wide network of artisans and skilled tradespeople who we collaborate with to bring our designs to life. We're so lucky in Yorkshire to be surrounded by hardworking people with skills and crafts which have been built up over centuries in this region and our ethos of creating bespoke designs that can be made locally continues to develop on this theme.
More humour
The health crisis and life in lockdown have created a new need for little uplifting touches in our homes. Experts are saying that consumers will find value in the little colourful pieces of joy that they can bring home with them. Again, this is something we are really starting to see with our designs as our clients get braver to express their own personalities. A jolt of colour, personality or humour is something we already look for as we create your designs and we hope to bring even more smiles to our clients' faces as we see this trend take hold over the next few years.
A return to raw and natural colours and materials
The return to simplicity and nature can be seen in the fact that the colours favoured in our interiors remain largely inspired by the earth, vegetation and the sky. The spectrum of colours for this year are warming and muted, but here at Sturman & Co. we have never been too keen on just following the 'latest colour trends'. A peek at our project trays on any given day will show that we incorporate every colour of the rainbow into our designs and yet our colour palettes have always been guided by naturalistic combinations and raw textures. So we'll take the raw textures and materials we've always loved, but keep our colour palettes open thank you. After all Mother Nature can be pretty crazy with her paintbrush and the colours of the earth, vegetation and sky could be just about anything!
