Each year, the CORT merchandising team travels all over the world to review samples and source product for possible inclusion in CORT’s collection. This year the timing of our team’s visit to Asia coincided with the 2016 International Furniture Fair (IFFS), an exhibition with more than 30 years of experience as a major platform of design that gathers more than 450 exhibitors from approximately 40 countries.
The Future of Color
During our time at IFFS, the CORT merchandising team saw innovative designs of mid-to-high-end products. Upholstery was shown in similar color palettes of the last few years, but with a slight shift. There was a grey background to all the colors, adding a soft look and feel to the pieces. Throughout the show floor, we came across sofas in soft shades of pink/rose, deep blues, and reds verging on the edge of purple. Accent and side chairs were featured in avocado green with yellow undertones, and stone to dove grey tones.
An Infusion of Wood
The wood pieces on display were also shown in grey with a strong grain feature or pattern and mixed with metals and accent colors, creating interest in a space when mixed with other mediums. Natural finishes, almost providing a “raw” wood look, are starting to appear with interesting edges and use of solid colors mixed with the natural wood.
Combining Textures & Elements
The mixing of textures continues to be an important movement in upholstery and wood furniture design. From crushed velvets, to fur pillows, chunky rib knitting, basketwork, distressing in fabrics and woods, and layers of floating materials, all create interesting and conversation-worthy pieces in a room.
The most exciting trend we saw at IFFS was the detailing to enhance furniture pieces, such as Lucite, metal or stone pulls on dressers, interesting stitch work on seams, detailed beadwork and crocheting, wood or metal inserts accenting tabletops, and a patch on a distressed canvas upholstery. There were also interesting shapes and layering of pieces from puzzle pieces, to layering of surfaces to live edge pieces.
There were so many details that caught our eye and made us stop and examine each piece in great detail. We always look forward to this show, and it certainly did not disappoint this year!
