The era of specific decor trends is on the wane. Rooms full of traditional or modern furniture have been replaced by a more eclectic sensibility, interior decorators and designers agree.
Midcentury sofas on a Swedish-country, flat-weave rug. Vintage lighting and a concrete coffee table. An antique Indian sari coverlet on a sleek, lacquered bed frame.
Mixing and matching has become a trend in itself.
And this trend’s more liberating than limiting.
“The look is about combining decorative elements and mementos from your personal history — the places you’ve been, where you’re at and where you’re going — and arranging them artfully to create a stylish, beautiful, lived-in space,” says New York interior designer Elaine Griffin.
If you’re updating a room this fall, here’s a sampler of ideas to get the creative wheels turning:
At the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in the spring designers were playing with scale, in lighting particularly.
California lighting company Cerno showed Silva Giant, a 7-foot-tall floor lamp with a slanted walnut base and barrel shade.
The company’s Valeo model had a cranelike walnut base that extended 9 feet, with an aluminum rod suspending a large linen shade. (www.olighting.com)
Moooi’s Raimond chandelier was a sphere of LED lights that evoked a fireworks burst, while MioCulture showed whimsical, glowing LED-lit, floor-lamp cones.
Tango Lighting’s Memory Floor Light has a 3-foot black, brown or white shade with a choice of dramatic interior colors. (www.mioculture.com; www.tangolighting.com)
CP Lighting showed its new Growth collection of brushed aluminum branch-like fixtures. (www.cplighting.com)
For its textile collection this fall, Crate &Barrel is putting linen front and center. “The linen feels easy, welcoming and inviting to use,” said senior buyer Sandy Kortright. (www.crateandbarrel.com)
Indian-inspired soft cotton prints are also in vogue. West Elm and Crate &Barrel are offering pin-tucked, hand-blocked and embroidered textiles for beds and lounges. (www.westelm.com)
You’ll see a range of throws in various textures, from cashmere to quilted motifs to nubby wools. There are thick, chunky knitted weaves on blankets, ottomans and rugs, but luxe wool and silk blankets as well.
Designer James de Wulff is turning concrete into small tables; concrete and stone — either real or faux — are being incorporated into many pieces this fall, including tables, lamps, and accessories such as vases and outdoor planters. (www.2modern.com)
Look for warm metallics too.
Lighting designer Tom Dixon has a collection of gleaming copper shades on iron bases, a cylindrical web of etched stainless steel, and a cool collection of angular gem-shaped fixtures done in sand casted nickel-plated aluminum. (www.tomdixon.net)
Several retailers are combining rustic elements — such as wood slabs, industrial metals and rougher textiles — with chrome, plastics or luxe fabrics for a style tagged “rustic modern.” Crate and Barrel’s Jeremiah rocker is a chalet-ready chair with a woodsy fabric cover. The Fonda rug incorporates slivers of rocky hues in a graphic floor covering.
West Elm’s got a desk that’s a mango wood slab on an iron base. Pottery Barn has a collection of chunky, silvered-glass lamp bases with character, especially when paired with burlap lampshades. (www.potterybarn.com)
At Bespoke Global, Antoine Shapira’s Brazilian Crab cabinet incorporates brass, slate and palm in a console perched on elegant curved legs. It’s a mix of bygone-era sensibility with modern glam. (www.bespokeglobal.com)
Crate and Barrel has some pieces for fall that turn traditional furniture on its ear. The Arietta slipper chair is done in a sapphire-blue velvet with gray legs. The brass-hued Melrose floor lamp turns a classic mid-century table lamp shape into something unexpected.
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