With more than 2,000 showrooms, the semiannual High Point Market in High Point, N.C., offered a wide scope of the latest products and trends for the home. And the fall iteration of the show gave market-goers a lot to look forward to on the trend front. Here are five to keep an eye on for the coming year.
Cerused Wood
The past few seasons, burl wood has been a big story in furnishings, but this market, cerused wood finishes dominated. Cerusing is a finishing technique that highlights the wood’s natural grain with a contrasting color to create a subtle two-toned look.
Abner Henry, which specializes in custom, handcrafted furnishings, harnessed their in-house finish lab to roll out a rainbow of cerused looks in their eponymous line and collections created by designer Sasha Bikoff.
“We introduced several cerused finishes, from whites, gray, beige-browns, dark gray and then more dramatic variations of tones such as blues and green,” said LaVern Hershberger, president and creative director at Abner Henry.
Cerused wood finishes showed up on multiple pieces at Bernhardt as well and Heather Eidenmiller, the company’s director of brand development, said the technique allows designers to play with texture in a different way.
“We do a lot of sandblasting of the grain to get that texture, then add that little pop of the ceruse,” she said. “It gives it that extra depth.”
The infusion of texture and color plays into the macro trend of blending simplicity with luxury to create more tranquil environments.
“We’re wanting to slow down and create harmony in spaces,” said Jaye Mize, vice president of advisory and partnerships at trend forecaster Fashion Snoops. “And we’re doing that in all of these rich contrasts with color and texture.”
Asymmetry
Particularly in consoles and tables, off-kilter designs added a dose of visual interest across showrooms at High Point.
Spanish handcrafted furniture maker Hurtado created its Connect executive desk with sleek, asymmetrical lines that give the piece as much fashion as function. And the Legacy dining table featured three sculpted tapering legs for a dramatic touch of asymmetry.
“From every angle, it’s not symmetrical,” said Taiz Barata, communications specialist at Hurtado. “The point was to maintain a more organic shape.”
Abner Henry’s Aero console boasted a striking silhouette with its asymmetric curved base topped with a cantilevered glass top. At market, the company showed Aero with an oiled bronze metal and wood base, but the piece is available in a variety of finishes and materials.
“With the scale and design of this piece, everything has to flow just right,” Hershberger said.
Generous Curves
The midcentury modern-inspired straight lines and sharp angles that have dominated for so many seasons have given way to curves and rounded edges more reminiscent of Art Deco designs.
Italian leather specialist Natuzzi Italia filled its massive showroom with seating characterized by plush, flowing curves. Standouts included the Memoria sofa designed by Egyptian designer Karim Rashid, which reflected the fluidity of human relationships with its softly undulating lines.
The Memoria sofa from Natuzzi.
“Anything that has a corner, we’ve turned it into curves,” said Pasquale Nutzzi, Jr., creative director at Natuzzi. “We want it to be more fluid, natural and comfortable.”
Bernhardt took curves to a larger scale with a throwback to a pit sectional design from its ’70s catalogue. Scaled to provide ample seating for large groups, the rounded design had a vintage vibe with a modern approach to relaxation.
Bernhardt’s pit sectional.
“We are a much more casual society nowadays,” Eidenmiller said. “We want to snuggle up — it’s not just sitting and drinking cocktails.”
Nesting Tables
Nesting tables got a fresh update in organic forms and figurations. Interlude Home’s Jan bunching tables come in multiple heights on stiletto-thin legs with antiqued glass tops in intermixing rounded shapes.
“They can be used separately or as bunching tables,” said Sean McFadden, vice president of sales at Interlude Home. “They’re fun and interesting, and they do a good job of absorbing negative space in a home.”
Hurtado’s overlapping occasional tables have a chunkier feel in natural walnut with a white porcelain inlaid center, while Bernhardt introduced low-rise “Tetris” tables in a gunmetal finish that fit together in a grid like the 1980s puzzle game.
Hurtado’s overlapping occasional tables.
“It’s a fun, small piece, but also such a functional little item,” Eidenmiller said.
Natural Elements
Biophilia and nature-focused designs have been trending for a few seasons now, often seen in the form of earthy colors, botanical prints and natural materials such as leather and cork. This market, the influence of nature continued to resonate, but in interesting new ways.
Ngala Trading launched a new collection by interior designer NeKeia McSwain, which included furniture and accessories sustainably and ethically made in Africa. McSwain channeled the continent’s wildlife with hide-on-hide surfaces for accessories and braided leather details on furniture and lighting.
Styles from Ngala Trading’s new collection.
NeKeia shares our desire to bring luxurious African design to North America in a previously unseen way,” said Lawson Ricketts, Ngala Trading’s creative director.
Arteriors incorporated coconut shells stained with eucalyptus into a leafy, botanical shape for its Bilal lighting collection, which added a flush-mount this market.
“It just shows how a nature-inspired look can also be sophisticated,” said Katie Kearns, the firm’s account supervisor.
That ethos also applied to Arteriors’ Forney coffee table, which updated the midcentury puddle table look with tiered tops over a grounded satin walnut base. The tops were covered in lacquered broken eggshells, creating a varicolored finish that’s unique to each piece.
The Forney coffee table from Arteriors.
Mize said these natural elements help consumers create a home where they can feel a sense of ease and relaxation in an increasingly chaotic world.
“This organic natural fiber approach makes you feel cozy, and we’re seeing the ideals of comfort really come through,” she said.
