Dutch King’s Day 2023 Party in Guangzhou
Our Botanical designer Arjan Schep and Master florist Wingho created a lush garden around the main stage and 2 Van Gogh inspired sunflower arrangements containing flowers that were craftily handmade using botanical components by skilled Chinese designers at Jinsa.
We also visited the big event at night, and it was great to see all of the Dutch community coming together again to celebrate this important moment. Many thanks to Robbie Wang of the Guangzhou consulate, who helped us in many ways. Together with our friends and colleagues we enjoyed a great event.
Coronation Party in Guangzhou
It was such an honor that we got an invitation from British Consulate in Guangzhou to be part of this successful event’s contribution. Arjan Schep and Wingho created a Union Jack flag with flowers and a mini charming English garden around telephone boxes, post boxes and park. We were delighted that the decoration we created was one of the highlights of the gorgeous coronation party and received lots of positive feedback from the organizers and the guests.
Thanks to the British Consulate in Guangzhou for making this coronation party possible and wonderful. We also thank our botanical masters Arjan Schep and Wingho for bringing these beautiful arrangements to life. We were so happy to contribute to this feast and celebrate this important occasion together. We can’t wait to work together for the next event!!
Dutch King’s Day 2023 Party in Taipei
Our botanical master, Mr AJ, was very honored to be invited by the Netherlands Office in Taiwan to participate in the floral arrangement for the Dutch King’s Day event. These floral arrangements were inspired by some of the most famous Dutch paintings, such as Hieronymus Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights, Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring, Mondrian’s Composition with Large Red Plane, Yellow, Black, Gray, and Blue (1921), and Dick Bruna’s Bloemen voor Moeder Pluis.
We appreciated the incredible support of the organizer and the love for flower arrangements from the guests. Let’s enjoy the feast again through the film and Pics. If you are interested in having us add a sparkle to your event, please feel free to contact us. We are on Instagram @3houseproductions, Pinterest @3HPtrends, LinkedIn @3House Productions Ltd.
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We were so excited to see the trend book get printed and assembled. It’s like we witnessed our baby being born. And yet, this baby was born fully mature: it will be the seed for many new designs!
The trend book Autumn Winter Xmas 2024/2025 “Shine Bright” covers 5 main directions with a total of 30 topics full of commercial design inspiration, removable colours swatches with Pantone reference numbers, free-to-use pattern downloads, practical product design references and so on. In the book, there are some designers’ references for you to get more practical inspiration and we highlight the most important trends to give you new insights.
Not just that! Our trend book always includes plenty of real materials for each topic. This is because we understand that how important look and feel it is in the home decoration industry. For this book for example, we made a 3D printed gothic gate for our Nightfall topic, a special one with all its weirdness and mystery. We have to say the Gothic style has returned with a vengeance, as seen in the popular series Wednesday on Netflix. This darker and mysterious interior trend is highly recommended for this AWC2425 season.
To support our new trend book we have also created we have created 6 Pinterest Boards, one for each of our new topics. We will keep adding new information to these. Our latest topic boards will stay locked and only available at request. However, you can check @3HPtrends on Pinterest for older seasons. These can be an extra source of inspiration for your product design or product selection.
We were super busy in this period, especially in March and April. Worked on the book, all the while also working on several large catalogues for our clients, designing booths and decoration our clients’ Canton Fair appearances. They were all very satisfied with the work that we did for them.
If you would like to purchase our trend book or even cooperate with us (such as product catalogue, product development, trend interpretation and application, fair decoration, etc.), please feel free to contact us. We are on Insta@3houseproductions, Pinterest @3HPtrends, LinkedIn @3House Productions Ltd
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Our Kick Start event on September 15 will be discussing the trends for Autumn Winter Xmas 2023/2024 and it's promising to be a great season. There has been a great deal of new developments, new colors have risen to the surface, and some abstract ideas are starting to root and become commercial. We will present the trends and focus on how to use them in the horticultural and floricultural industries. So are you a grower, a breeder, a supplier of hardware, an owner of a shop, an interior designer or a packaging specialist, we have the information that will make your next season much more successful.
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We have developed a classification system for the information we collect. How relevant is it, how new, what category, what function? This way we can analyse what there is out there and filter the real trends from the less real ones. Although most of the work is done digitally, nothing can beat an actual mood board. This invaluable tool helps to see if the story is starting to form and the message will be clear. Each section is carefully considered and repeatedly sculpted because we strive to make sure that the final product help readers better interpret the trend information and create better collections and design products. The overall message for this season of the book includes romantic, natural, young, retro, beach elements and the latest trends in colour, patterns, and materials.
The production of mood boards is done at the moment. All available walls in our studio are covered with them and we are moving on a new chapter – starting with preparing the next phase of our new book! We can't show you more information at present but follow us to learn more about details. Remember! ‘We trend to inspire’. We are also on LinkedIn@3House Productions Ltd, Instagram@3houseproductions, and Pinterest@3HPtrends.
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Another big topic in the Salone was ‘Design with Nature’, where architect Mario Cucinella made a great installation for the Salone del Mobile: a virtuous ecosystem representing the future of the way we live. He studied the relationship between nature and the way we live, with a major exhibition/installation that will offer triggers for reflection on the future of design practice by exploring the themes of circular economy and reuse, starting with the idea that cities could be possible “reserves” of the future, where most of the raw materials used in construction could be sourced. Seen from this perspective, urban areas could become genuine, new opportunities to cut environmental impact because all we need is already produced on-site - a bit more abstract than the sustainable furniture but definitely something to look into and study for feasibility.
Milan in June is always a treat to be. In the early summer when the temperature is pleasant, the whole city is once more all about the Salone with exhibitions all over and design to be found around each corner and with loads of design savvy people roaming the streets and taking in all the city has to offer. How we have missed this!
No straight sofas were to be found. It seemed every furniture brand stuck to the credo of rounded and organic and there was a wide range of furniture focused on comfort and softness. Boucle was still the star of the show, having pushed velour to the exit, this vintage fabric appeared in a rainbow of colors, not just the off-white it started with. Orange, brown and beige were the obvious go-to colors of many designers and light blue accents made a refreshing alternative for those who craved a bit less warmth and earthiness.
A strong focus on Multifunctionality as brands from high to low are figuring out how to add more options in 1 item. Be it to save space, add value to a product, make life more comfortable or just for the fun of it, armrest tables, lamps, storage and even bookcases were merged with seats and sofas. Even a bit of Meta could also be found in this context. A lot of research is done to include more technical functions into furniture. A chair could become an immersive object, not just for sitting but for anti-stress therapy or other enjoyable pastimes. In the past we saw many attempts to make kitchens and homes smarter, often failing due to the varying rates of development time tech and furniture components need and the different lifespans (furniture is used much longer than a smartphone for example – so you would end up with an outdated tech function). It appears that these differences are less pronounced at the moment and a new generation of friendly furniture is being born.
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The trends we presented this time were for Spring Summer 2023. In Home Décor traditionally the emphasis lay on the second half of the year, although the increased interest in gardening made the season longer. For the green business, the emphasis lies on the first part of the year, Springtime and the start of the gardening season. We selected from our big book the trends which are matching with our participant’s markets and customers and the responses were quite enthusiastic after we finished our presentation. We always try to be as practical as possible, this is what separates us from our competitors. The online seminar is completed with a toolbox which contains moodboards, colorcards with removable color chips and lots of DIY materials, the best start for any collection.
Media attention was abundant this time with a big article on the website Platform Bloem from Bloem en Blad Bloemisterij. My trend colleague Anouk Koreman and her boss Janny Meemelink had a day long interview about our Kickstart Trends and the impact on the business. They explained the workings of the project and what the participants could do with this information and the result was a big magazine spread + more online content. Examples of the trends where shown and lots of likes came back afterwards. It’s always nice to see that a job done was appreciated.
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The word ‘Trend’ has always been a bit elusive for many. Something comes up out of nowhere, dominates the market and then disappears again. Sometimes it's revived after a few seasons and often something else just takes its place. Customers, especially in this day and age, are constantly being bombarded with information and images. Choices need to be made regarding which part of this information is relevant to their lives and requires further investigation. Seeing others (friends, influencers, magazines, tv shows) using certain products, applying specific colors and adopting special looks into their homes makes it easier to choose. There are references and these serve a purpose. But as a producer of these products, colors and materials it would be great when you already knew in advance what these public choices are going to be.
One way is to use a big budget, plug the product in many channels and hope it will stick with the greater public. It’s being done often, especially by bigger companies but it’s not always bullet proof. Sometimes a look or an icon comes out of nowhere and takes over the masses by storm just because the time was right for it. These ‘Unicorns’ aren’t very common but can be very commercial, especially when you get into producing and selling at the right time, that is not too early and not too late.
This all sounds very rational and not too complex either. One thing that is overlooked is that in order to have this info and be able to use it, one has to process massive amounts of data and has to be able to look for patterns and can make predictions. Often this time is simply not available during normal weekdays. Rest assured, we have been doing just this for over 1.5 decades and will continue to do so for many to come. Why? Because it’s a thrill to see what is coming, help people interpret this info in commercial products and see these items in shops worldwide where cu9stomers can enjoy them. And to emphasize the fact that you are never done with keeping up with the trends, we have a great number of Pinterest boards which are connected to our trends. We constantly tag and upload images on these boards to give you a better understanding of how the trends we spotted are developing and show many examples in the meantime. We love to keep you up-trend and of course ‘We Trend to Inspire’
Visit our Pinterest Boards @3HPtrends
]]>It seems with most of the Covid restrictions gone in Europe that things start to speed up again. Maison Objet closed its doors a few days ago to what appeared to be a good and refreshing fair. Sure it was not back to the size of pre-Covid editions but it was a great start of the season. They postponed the fair from January till now and perhaps this should be done next year as well. Paris in springtime is always a sight (much better than in grey January). They showed in 6 halls and had a very eclectic set up where luxury was being put in the spotlight. Their idea was that people like to look at, dream of and live amongst great luxury in order to forget all the daily troubles which seem to attack us as of recent. It’s quite a safe assumption that luxury goods will do that and plenty of brands brought beautiful and very skillfully made objects. There was a big emphasis on products made by hand by artisans and we believe that this is a positive trend. Making the people aware of what was and tempting young artists to take up these age old skills, not because they need protecting but just because the consumer wants them.
Inside the Fair
We went to Paris and Maison Objet as a fixed part of our season looking for what’s new and what’s hot. There was plenty to be found and what surprised us is that the great emphasis on responsible, reusable, recyclable and all things green seemed a bit pushed to the background. Brands are including these elements more and more into their collections already and are making less of a marketing statement of trying to do the good thing. What was a nice element in the fair was the set-up of a hotel room using products from the various exhibitors. The idea was that after the Covid period, hotels, b&b’s and restaurants needed an injection to get up and running again. Using the trends of slow tourism, immersive experiences, localism, sustainability and work nomadism, M&O showed what was possible and which items to choose to spice up your establishment. There is tons more to say about the fair and also what happened in the city of Paris, but bear with us, we will keep informing and inspiring you.
3House Productions latest trendbook: AWC 2324
In the mean time we haven’t waited for things to start moving, we have been working hard to finish our latest trend book: Autumn Winter Christmas 23/24. A very exiting book brimming with the latest trends, colors, materials and inspiration. Every time the industry seems to want to start earlier and overcome all the obstacles we experience in producing and exporting goods and this is why we also were quite early. The book contains 6 directions and each direction has 5 different ways of translating these trends into collection ideas and design inspiration. We have been working hard to distribute the books to our customers already and also the trend forecasts have started too where we explain the trends and together with our customers think what to prepare and design for the new season. A lot of things changed and many consulting and trend information companies decided to focus on other areas but we are convinced that our industry is in an important phase now and good information is now more than ever of great importance. Just send us a message, we are on LinkedIn, Insta and of course via our site www.3house-productions.com
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Shampoo Bar, By Lush
It’s a bit like going back in time because it involves a bar of soap. It’s a simple solution, soap doesn’t come in plastic bottles and the responsible producer chooses raw materials that are not causing any deforestation or other issues. It’s a crafted product that conforms to the current trends, but I hear you think that this is all fine and well for your body but what about your hair? A solution was designed for this too. There are different ways but they involve graters or holders. You make foam with either and wash your hair in a way you would with liquid shampoo. The products are looking nice and well designed. They do well on the socials – let’s see if they can make a change.
Bubble Buddy soap dish, Designed by Foekje Fleur
Bubble Buddy organic baby Soap, By GoodtoGive
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Lovely London
This is always the first stop. Department shops galore (think Liberty, John Lewis, M&S, Harrods and many more) were already in full gear when we arrived. Oxford Street is not the best place to be for shopping throughout the year but when Xmas comes it’s a great start. John Lewis displayed its elaborate decoration, this time in a retro colored look, using lots of acrylic and colored transparent baubles. The department was nicely divided in themes, they always do a nice job and this time even suggested what to buy to dress your tree John Lewis style. There was not really a super new exiting material or shape but fun shaped baubles like people or animals were plentily available and there were a lot of florals in the trees. Cute DIY sets with mini trees and selected baubles was a nice find.
Harrods proved to be a nice surprise. This famous (and fairly expensive) shop featured a great selection of handmade baubles decorated with folklore prints. Many were Russian or Scandinavian influenced (most likely to appeal to their large customer base from those parts of the world) and the source, designer and materials were often explained on a tag or card. H&M home was more moderate. This apparel brand has been expanding its home collection over the last couple of years, separating their home collections in separate shops of which some very spectacular ones are situated in London. They started selling honeycomb paper decorations a few years ago when this started to trend and still doing this, in similar colors so not very surprising here. The selection of baubles was less than previous years but more wool felt items this time. This handmade material proved to be very popular this season. Many brands have a decent selection of hangers made in a social project in Nepal or in a factory in China (the latter receiving less background info obviously). H&M seemed to go back to its roots with proper collections of table cloth and placemats in nice seasonal decorations. Candleholders, matching tableware and small decorations to properly set a table were plenty, it seems that the Swedish are focusing more on functional this season.
We will focus on design Xmas in a next blog with the likes of Harvey Nicols and the Conran shop and other A-list brands.
Remarkable York
This time we decided to move a bit more North to visit York, a medieval city in Yorkshire, about 2.5 hrs by train from London’s Kings Cross station. The city is walled, full of ancient buildings and therefore the best backdrop for some traditional Xmas decoration. Trees and lights were already in full splendor on the market squares and shopping streets and the city was crammed with visitors (London streets were also filled with shoppers, seemingly trying to make up for lost shopping time). It took a while to understand what to look for because every other shop seems to be a souvenir one, but there are many charity and trust shops in the UK and even more in York it seems with nice and original decoration ideas (supporting a good cause while you go). Some nice old fashioned paper shops with proper wrapping paper were the next stop and of course one can’t leave a traditional British setting without enjoying a proper tea with scones. An impressive surprise could be found in Castle Howard. A Narnia Xmas was promised and exactly this we got! This beautiful castle decorates its halls every year using a new topic every year. Narnia proved to be a great inspiration with very impressive decorated rooms in an abundant classical floral style with the main tree (over 18m tall) completely snow covered and decked in hundreds of acrylic snowflakes and icicles. It’s true that trends ask for new colors and shapes every season but in this case it was a proper traditional Xmas and it was great.
Plenty more to tell from this inspiration trip so bear with us till the next time.
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As always the market is a true plethora of materials. We already have spotted a cool new material, a 'leather' made of pineapple leaves. It’s nice to talk about responsible materials but even nicer when you can find it and use it (and when the price is right). There are tons of embroidered applications which are great not only on jackets but also on deco items and even Xmas ornaments. Florals have been popular for a while but it seems that some parts of the market have been turned into proper flower markets. The new vintage and retro trends are definitely visible in the market here with Vichy checks galore and cute retro inspired fabrics all over. A market like this makes greedy but we will ensure to pick the right treasures just for you.
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Milan
The Salone fair itself was nice but small so the city offered plenty of things to see and do while being there. A nice initiative was between Kassl Editions and Zara Home. A not very obvious partnership but with nice results. Kassl Editions is an Antwerp based design firm which is famed for its oversized padded bags (we showed them 2 seasons ago). This time they showed the concept of ‘Modular dressing for home’ with lots of modular seat and cabinet solutions, quite different of what Zara normally does. Kartell was this time a combination between super colorful accent furniture and a sand/ gold/ light blue beach mix furniture collection. Rounded edges and sculptural functionality were abundant in their flagship store. Missoni was another surprising visit with a beautiful collection of 1920’ies inspired garden furniture in colors ranging from demure naturals to bright bold and beautiful, just like what we are used to from this knitwear brand.
Too much to talk about for now and even more to show. Even though not all locations were happy to accommodate us while taking pictures, we have tons to show you. Check us also on our Insta!
Our photogenic hero is @marlonellosovillaverde, a professional product photographer in action to make some pretty shots for our new catalog. The result is awesome again!
It’s always a funny thought to be working in the summer heat (it was up to 41 Celcius those days) to make a winter catalogue full of snow and ice. Fortunately the AC’s were humming and cold drinks were at hand. Working on this catalogue from 4 different locations worldwide everyone was happy with the end result. Merry Xmas already!
In search of new ideas designers are always playing with colour and shapes and effects. There are many kinds of optical illusions, and the one we are highlighting now is one where designers try to trick and surprise with visual illusions that create a sense of depth. A subtle example of this are the nuances rugs by Patricia Urquiola: with clean lines and subtle colours they suggest a illusion of depth which can make an otherwise regular looking space look much more visually interesting instantly. (Or an amazing room even more amazing)
(Image source: www.gan-rugs.com)
Computer graphics are another way to deceive the eye. Optical effects can consist of waves in the water that actually seem to move. Something you need to watch over and over again until you go crazy or get a headache. When you were young you most likely have seen a Kaleidoscope, a tube with mirrors and transparent colored materials at the end, which made the most amazing symmetrical stars and shapes when you twisted the tube. With a bit of artistic freedom Susi Bellamy has turned this effect into printed cushions and other textiles and with her many artists are exploring the possibilities of this great retro optical effect.
(Image source: www.susi-bellamy.com)
We have also seen a rise in decorative data driven graphics generated with the help of computer algorithms and ai. A noticable example of this is the Rugture project by architect Kourosh Asgar-Irani where the artisinal craft of carpet making was combined with generative AI. Traditional patterns from Persia, Anatolia, Armenia, Turkey and Southern Russia were selected and then transformed by computer software that used the architectural elements of the space where the rugs were to be placed as transformation parameters to create new patterns for rugs. The rugs are a response to the layout of the room. In the future we will see more and more items generated with the help of AI.
(Image source: https://www.rugture.com/)
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It’s a huge undertaking under normal circumstances already – collecting information from all over the world, sorting and analyzing this info, distilling the trends and composing the books. This time we were not able to travel (only a little bit) but with the joint forces of our team that now almost covers the entire globe and all of its continents, we managed anyway and it turned out great. The world is not the same as it was before Covid and people are anticipating the fact that when all the dust has settled there will be a new reality. Sales channels are changing (mostly towards online), trade fairs are changing (mostly towards online) and human needs are changing from mere consumption to well-being and balance. Knowledge is power and markets in turmoil can be bad or create more new opportunities than ones in rest. Let’s focus on the latter and there indeed are possibilities. New products to develop, new customers to address and new ways to do this. This time we didn’t merely focus on new colors, prints, materials and products but also used the information we came across to help you use the circumstances.
We found out that already for some time the buyers and producers are careful and more than once an order places is a re-order of something that has been ordered sometime before. This completely understandable but the end consumer is more demanding than ever. They have time to roam the web and socials and come across new creatives with fresh ideas and they want that. Puzzles for example have experienced a gigantic development over a very short time. Last year around this time there was a shortage of these time consuming gadgets, shelves were empty and this triggers creative people to get well... Creative. In no time 3d puzzles were created and sold online and new generation puzzles made of transparent acrylic (without an image, so you really had to focus on the shape of the piece) and paper puzzles which featured an only white or red surface with very tiny pieces became hot. This is just one example of Covid creativity but there are more and they are interesting.
We have organized our books a little different this time and have used the 2 concepts of long term trends or market directions and short term trends. The first group is for example the focus on youth and products that are related to younger media like Insta and Tik Tok. We have discovered that for quite some seasons now there is a very basic direction which people keep on coming back to and we identified 4 more. Within these directions of long term trends there are short term trends or changing behaviors. We have identified the most important ones and made them as clear as possible. This new set up also acknowledges the more careful buying and producing behavior but on the other hand doesn’t leave out the latest, most interesting and most commercial trends.
The book is called ANTIDOTE and we sincerely hope that the world receives the greatly anticipated cure/ vaccination to Covid as soon as possible. And on a much smaller scale that our book can assist in getting our business going again.
]]>There is always a logic behind the why trends and icons appear and for these stacked and composed shapes there is a connection with the many geometrical shapes which have been trending plus the color blocking/ art trends which we have seen the last couple of seasons. A painting or illustration with 2 or 3 colored patches often with a black circle of stripe is easily made into a 3d decoration item using metal, acrylic or plywood. That this stacking and composing is not a new thing won’t come as a surprise. Ancient tribes all over the world have made totems to ward away bad spirits or welcome the good ones. Antique candle holders are normally composed of several parts into 1 item.
Stackable
A perfectly functional trend which matches with the need for space during times where the home is being used for multiple purposes. A very basic example are desk organizers, items we simply can’t get enough of these days. Kids items are also a very thankful topic to work with. From toys and puzzels where kids create stacks or totems to cabinets which can change shape by merely re-assembling them in a different way. A somewhat older example of this is the Room Collection by Olovsson and Cho. Cabinets made of wooden units with different shapes to become whatever you want them to be. Designs sometimes lie in wait for their moment to shine and now is the time for stackables.
Totems
Probably the newest and hottest way of designing decorations is Totem style. There are many ways of interpreting this old folk art of making protection objects. Rubem Valentim made a series of Aztec like totem shapes which can be assembled to wish and are also completely flatpack and therefore the perfect online gift and puzzle to keep people busy during Covid times. Studio Sol for Leccia made the series Tootem which consists of mirrors and metal/ aluminum disks mounted on poles. Functional decoration with a touch of retro (mostly due to the shape language). It’s a perfect example how printed 2d art can be translated into 3d objects. Franck Evennou made a series of turned wood shapes which were stacked totem style. No function, just deco but a creative mind can see multiple uses for these totem like shapes.
Turned wood
Although totems and stacked shapes can be made of basically every shape put on top of each other, turned wood seems to be trending. Nowadays people really like to see how things are made and one of the surprisingly more popular topics on youtube these last few months were videos where unassuming pieces of wood were turned into vases, bowls and multiple other decorative items. Many of the more popular woodworkers are pretty young and they have a new take on what shapes to make and what materials to combine. As it goes with Youtube you can get into a spiral where you jump from one video to the next and there are a lot of very recent videos out there.
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Partitioning, dividing and enclosing are amongst the most used keywords for the new Covid interior. While wide open spaces are comfortable to live and relax in, they are not too great when some people are cramming others are zooming and you are trying to finish that report. Curtains offer great solutions to solve that issue. Although they don’t take a way most of the noise, sometimes not seeing is already enough. Room dividers are another easy way to divide the living into a (temporary) multiple workspace. Designers have come up with some great new designs but even an old screen can be pimped up into a colorful often functional device. And if all fails, cabinets are here to help too. Although they can block natural light from going all the way into the space, they are a great help making that little home office nook.
Quick alterations to spaces to change the function resulted in the increased popularity of certain materials. Acrylic or Perspex was obviously sold out within seconds when it was clear that we needed screening to protect ourselves but also materials like OSB and proper quality plywood have increased in popularity. Designers are filling page after page of various interior magazines with entire interiors where walls, floors and ceilings are made from these basic construction materials covered with nothing more than a transparent coat of lacquer. A simple but useful inspiration for a father who wants to make 2 bedrooms for his growing kids or a spouse in need of a secluded space to work. Although not always – OSB is often made of (partially) recycled material and therefore a little bit better/ responsible than just using virgin wood (often made of tropical wood of disputable origin).
Being able to escape the crazy was and is one seriously necessary requirements when changing the interior. The bathroom proved to be a haven of tranquility in a sea of children with too much energy and no way to release it and a cranky spouse trying ones best not to explode. Bathrooms are turned into veritable home spas with eye for detail and need for good materials. The over washed and raggedy towels are replaced for luscious Egyptian cotton ones. The cracked tiles are finally replaced for something more natural and calming. Darker hotel style bathrooms with dark slate like tiles and big chromed faucets are doing really well as are light but fancy bathrooms with ‘handmade look’ tiles, wood and bamboo details and lots of plants. If we can’t spend it on a proper holiday, mamma wants a proper home spa.
Escapism is also applied in the rest of the house where old and especially vintage interiors make us believe to live another era. Designers use the weird and wonderful world of cult movies like Stanley Kubric’s 2001: A Space Odyssee to inspire interiors on. Wall art is being selected for the purpose to dream and wonder while gazing in its depths and strange landscapes which require prolonged investigation and pieces where the perspective is changing are doing especially well. The Dutch word ‘Niksen’ can be mentioned in this context for it preaches doing nothing – not even looking at your phone or listening to music – just sitting down and looking. What better way to do this with a painting that is not what it seems after the first or 100th look.
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HAPPY NIU YEAR – CHINESE NEW YEAR AND INTERIOR DESIGN
It’s not a typo, Happy Niu year is the newly coined catchphrase to wish people a happy lunar new year with ‘Niu’ being Pingyin (written Chinese) for cow or ox. It’s going to be the year of the Ox. In the Chinese zodiac every year knows another animal (12 in total) and every animal comes with its own characteristics. Some years are better for business, others better for marriage etc. Last year was the year of the Rat for example which is typical for bringing opportunities, dilemmas but it can also push us out of our comfort zone. This describes mildly what happened in 2020. The Year of the Ox will be a year of hard work but also of discipline, planning and traditions. It also has a discernable taste for tangible reality. Perhaps not a bad thing after the year we just wrapped up.
Colors play an important role in the Chinese zodiac. Some are lucky, some unlucky, some bring fortune and others despair. This year will be a metal Ox year (various elements are assigned to the zodiac animals signed based on what year it is) and metallic grey (basically silver) and aqua blue seems to be the colors with the best effect on well-being and bringing in all the good stuff. This goes for clothing but also interior colors. Feng Sui is very clear in keeping things light and cool in the interior this year. Another color we should be looking out for this year is green. In the Chinese culture green is normally regarded as an unlucky color (‘wearing a green hat’ is an expression for a woman who is cheating on her husband) and in China on the stock exchange rising stocks are marked red while falling stocks are marked green.
Feng Sui is about the relation between human and his living and working environment and focusses on the relation between natural and man-made forms. Looking for balance and harmony being its primary goal. I doesn’t come as a surprise that this quest for balance has gained in popularity over the last couple of months internationally. With the world in a lockdown and homes being virtually the only place where we spend the majority of our time, balancing work and private life - kids and spouses –things like yoga, Zen, clean and clear spaces moved to the top of our priorities. Marie Kwondo – the organizing guru – became a superstar, we saw the return of Zen inspired posters, an increase in Buddha figurines and even variations on the stone piles have been spotted.
Feng Sui is more than just the placement of furniture in a space or the use of some decorations to help the proper flow of energy but despite its complexity, we are seeing an increase of interiors with elements of this ancient teaching. It seems that people are really trying to find some peace in the daily chaos.
Feng Sui also assigns meanings to colors. Aqua blue represents youth, new beginnings and inspires confidence. Green also stands for new beginning but also new growth as well as healing and freshness. Two more colors which are connected to the year of the Ox are (plum) purple which inspires spirituality, adventure and prosperity and silver gray invited helpfulness. Whether you believe this or not, all these colors seem to represent very positive things which we could surely use to start rebuilding our world after the pandemic.
It can be safely put that we will keep working at home for quite some time more and the need to manage and balance our most important space of residence will also be at the top of our priority in the new home décor season. Gong xi fa cai (happy New Year).
(sources: Wikipedia, inmyownstyle,com, karmaweather.com, thechinesezodiac.org)
]]>Blokker (the Dutch daily and home chainstore) recently announced that they will start to sell furniture (dinner chairs, lazy chairs and products alike). Traditionally they are selling homeware, seasonal decoration and home electronics. Selling furniture is an interesting new direction for them but a logical one. Although furniture is usually big and bulky and will take up a lot of retail space (the Blokker stores are not at all very large), the margins on these items is often higher and the amount of time needed to handle and sell a chair is basically the same as when selling a spoon or teapot. (source: https://www.parool.nl/nederland/eigenaar-blokker-wil-uitbreiden-in-elektronica-en-meubels~ba4d68af/)
Picture sources: Gondola.be, Blokker.nl
The traditional supermarkets (in Holland) sell a variety of nonfood or food related products, often via one time or promotion sales. A newcomer in this assortment are furniture sets. Often offered at the start of the garden/ balcony season, these sets combine 2 seats and a small table, flat packed and in new trendy colors. This new sales channel has other requirements to the product than the more traditional chains do. Packing and clever design help to take less retail space and the more trendy shapes and colors and competitive pricing make that the items compete better with the more traditional channels.
Picture Sources: Science Museum: Lab stool, Hoek, THINKK Studio
There is no need to elaborate that online sales have soared this year. With yet another lockdown the traditional sales channels have had virtually no chance to make their normal sales targets and online became the only way. Contrary to the many success stories of companies switching from traditional to online, there are many who cannot join the online armada. No online sales systems in place, no trained staff, no expertise and the wrong items are often keeping companies from shifting their sales channels resulting in other/ newer companies taking up that market share. And although end consumers will spend more money on home and furniture items this year, there is still only 1 ‘cake’ to divide and the current developments are allowing new parties to enter and perhaps old ones to lose market share. It’s a good time to research and invest in good items to sell online.
Picture sources: Refold, Karolina Tarkowska
Online sales requires shipping (obviously) and also the logistic system is different than via the traditional channels. A product, especially when big and bulky like furniture, is best shipped KD (knock down). Our Swedish friends found this out already long ago. This, however, means that upon arrival the receiver needs to put it together by himself. There are tons of funny videos involving KD furniture and how not to do it and nobody appreciates a 100 page manual with tons of little components. The current trend for KD furniture is asking for fast and very simple. Preferably without the use of screws and user ready in under 5 minutes. This sounds like a challenge and it is but when teaming up with the proper experts (engineers, material experts, logistics buffs and furniture designers) something nice can come out of this. And once a new click-or-something system has been developed, designing other collection items becomes much easier. An added benefit is that people really enjoy DIY (do it yourself) projects at the moment and there isn’t anything more satisfying than using the perfect piece of furniture minutes after you have assembled it – by yourself.
Picture sources: CUT furniture, Opendesk, Fabsie by Jon Panichella, MIT News: MADFAB
A manual stays necessary even though the item has been designed for simple assembly, following the KISS method (keep it stupid simple). The much hated white booklets, often with a whole array of typos has been the only way so far. Black and white sketches or stick figures assembling the chair often result in frustration and profanity. Screws are always left over at the end and ‘is that the front or the back’ is an often heard question. To try and relieve customers of some stress and to stay up to date with the latest technologies, Augmented Reality (AR) is used to make manuals showing the customer in 3d how it’s done. Many people are visually inclined and seeing an item being put together right in front of you without an annoying presenter seems the next best thing.
Check this link for an example: https://www.dezeen.com/2018/03/23/ikea-assembly-made-easier-through-augmented-reality-app/
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