Spice tones and natural materials are leading trends in home furnishings this season. (Photo courtesy High Point Market)
High Point Market’s biannual home furnishings trade shows are known worldwide for providing an exclusive first look at what’s new within the design industry and spotlighting emerging trends that will be found in homes and businesses throughout the upcoming year.
Gary Inman, the owner and president of Gary Inman Interior Design, has been attending the market for about 27 years, which he feels provides him with a real sense of global design trends. This year’s spring event, held from June 5-9, featured bold and energetic colors taking center stage.
“The biggest thing I noticed is the emergence of colors with spice and earth,” he says. “Curry and ochre and cinnamon and burnt umber and cognac and terra cotta. You can think of them as the color of autumn leaves, all those colors.”
This color palette was evident throughout the market, alongside the classic color blue as well as the emergence of green, which stems from embracing nature in the post-pandemic era.
Currey & Co.'s Juno table lamp (Photo courtesy Currey & Co.)
“In some ways, I think [the new colors] are related to the interest in other cultures because a lot of those colors are colors you see in traditional design from other cultures,” Inman says.
He anticipates that this cultural influence will remain popular for a while, as patterns reflective of the Caribbean, Native American, Moroccan and African cultures were particularly highlighted at the market.
Inman was intrigued to see not only this influence, but also a juxtaposition of materials, promoting an idea of texture. Tiara Holloway, the principal interior designer for Vivacious Interior by Tiara, echoed this sentiment and particularly loved a coffee table with a wood base and a marble top. In addition to this mixed media, Holloway observed numerous designers utilizing artwork as personal touches to enhance the space of their clients.
“Using artwork was big down there this year,” Holloway says, “like the artwork speaking to who somebody is and their personality.”
But the topics discussed at High Point Market were not limited to just design trends; designers also discussed the effects of the global supply chain on delivery dates. Normally a piece from North Carolina would take four days to ship, and now it’s taking up to four weeks, says Jessica Williamson, founder of JTW Design.
“Being an interior designer, improving people's lives through their environment, whether that be by function, or by beauty, or by safety, you know, there are lots of reasons why we do what we do,” she continues, “and I think that the beauty of the pandemic has been that people have realized the importance of that.”
