This year’s Salone del Mobile AKA Milan Furniture Fair was bigger and better than it has been in years, and Brenda Hart, Managing Director at the recently launched bespoke furniture design company, Soft&Co, was there to soak it all up. As an interior expert, Brenda is no stranger to Salone del Mobile, arguably the world’s most stylish interiors showcase. Here she shares some of what we’ll be seeing in interiors in the near future.
PRETTY COLOUR PALETTES
Some of our favourite brands like Roche Bobois have always embraced gorgeous colour palettes, but at this year’s Salone the colours were truly extraordinary. We noticed a proliferation of peachy tones and the softest pinks – I think we’re on our way to whisper soft pinks becoming something of a neutral in our spaces. Peach was a big thread throughout the show in domestic interiors and commercial spaces, and we were excited to see the dial turned up in these more feminine tones for office essentials too.
A POP OF SHOCK
Colour was a huge part of this year’s show and every supplier we met had such interesting innovations to share. Design houses are combining colour in amazing ways and using it beyond soft furnishings and furniture – more than ever, colour-led lighting, now with colour added to the fittings as well, and visual displays are a design avenue of their own and an essential consideration for us as interior architects. It’s clear the world of interior design is encouraging people to step out and be brave in their spaces and we’re excited about it.
CURVES & COMFORT
This trend is one that really resonates with the Soft&Co team – we love comfort, and we insist on superb design – and this was in abundance at Salone this year. We saw and tested so many oversized sofas with exaggerated curves and were mesmerised by all the tactile fabrics and details like cushioning that envelop the user. There was a real sense of pieces designed to be comforting (not just comfortable) for the end user. This is definitely something we see as a post pandemic reality – we are spending so much more time at home, it needs to feed us on all levels.
After meeting with some of the world’s finest design and furniture pros and soaking up hundreds of new innovations in the interiors world, Brenda and the Soft&Co team are excited to bring their insights back to their working lives. “What excited me most about Milan this year was the enormous energy and enthusiasm for what can happen in our homes and commercial spaces – there is an enormous sense of optimism, a sense that brands are pushing design boundaries further, and that interiors are going to become more exciting and beautiful than ever before,” says Brenda.
Follow Soft&Co on Instagram at softandco.capetown for all updates and range launches.
