Trend-setting furniture types from imm cologne 2019

contents

europe

Each January, trendsetters and creative newcomers present the innovations for the coming year at imm cologne, the Interiors Business Event. imm cologne shows exciting living ideas from innovation drivers, market leaders and brands and provides new impulses for the furniture market.

The trade fair with a long tradition doesn't present only an excerpt, but instead the entire world of interiors and living, starting with classic free standing cabinets through solutions for the greatest sleeping and seating comfort to the holistic living worlds of premium international brands and the highlights of the design editors from around the world. This is why, when you stroll through the halls of the Cologne trade fair, you also won't only find new products and the latest trends for those interested in design, but also entirely concrete solutions for all needs. Furnishing trends come in waves. Alongside the usual product presentations and innovations, such as the ones that attracted so much attention in the Smart Home, this January the focus returned to certain kinds of furniture that had been neglected somewhat over the last few years.

Hygge's still here – with a disposition for small solutions
The most important thing in advance: there have been no fundamental changes from the trade fair year 2018 – on the contrary. The trends of "livability" and "cosiness" are reinforced further by the new product offerings and the trends revolving around colours and material. The reason: home is becoming increasingly important, and is even being expanded upon as a home, place of retreat, protective space and place for meeting with friends & family. The Scandinavian living style is currently so well-received because it very closely approximates the dream of a livable home with its many colours, natural materials and tasteful deco ideas, despite its modern forms. Parallel with this, however, there is a new desire for poppy colours and forms, as well as a longing for an atmosphere that is appreciative of art and sedate, which no longer so entirely harmonises with the nature image of the Scandinavian living style. Many exhibitors at imm cologne 2019 are also presenting practical solutions for smaller apartments. Compact sofas, armchairs or intelligent shelving systems could also be found surprisingly often in the design-oriented Pure section.

The table becomes the multi-function tool in the home
When we meet with friends more often at home, the interior has to be furnished accordingly. Chairs are therefore very popular. The dining room is coming back in fashion: with four or six chairs at a big table or in combination with a narrow but comfortable bench. However, the table is multi-functional here: homework is done, games are played, e-mails answered, family discussions carried out, people eat here and food prepared with friends is eaten here.

Furniture with an addiction factor
We need a favourite place in the home - at the fireplace, in the small, private library or at the patio door with a view of the lake. The armrest chair is booming and is the perfect supplement to the still greatly popular sets of side tables. As a simple armrest chair with wooden rests, as a velvety lounge chair with gold applications or as a luxuriously upholstered chair with a lot of fabric: the individual item of furniture is the eye-catcher in any modernly furnished home and is indispensable in the furnishing alphabet.

The comeback of the sideboard was already happening at imm cologne 2018. Many exhibitors stepped things up a notch in 2019: a lot of things can disappear behind the currently often patterned sliding and roller doors of elegant wood – and suddenly the living room looks quite tidy. The sideboard also provides surfaces for deco & more. In the course of this development, display cases or modern kitchen cabinets with glass inserts are making an appearance: we can display our favourite pieces and cult objects there to special advantage. The shelf is losing a little of its significance – books and music are increasingly being consumed in digital form. Shelving manufacturers offer doors, boxes and drawers – we nonetheless increasingly like to have things tidy at home.

As individual as the mattress: sitting and resting in all positions
Classic forms are also popular with seating furniture. Representative and classic forms are once again finding their place. Grandma's good "sofa set" suddenly looks both sedate and fresh when luxuriously upholstered and modernly quilted, in modern velvet and wool fabrics. In terms of their design, couches and lounge chairs are reminiscent of the elegant furniture of the early twentieth century, as well as of the cocktail forms of the 50s to 60s, or the boxy or pumped up bubble gum volume of the 70s and 80s. Sofas are increasingly "lower" in stylish homes, or built "higher" for more comfort and for older people. Never before has seating been available in so many styles and with so many individual possibilities for configuration. The modular seating landscape is also coming back in some individual cases. Their advantage is the ability to combine or the flexibility offered by different elements – resulting in living landscapes for individual needs. Table elements are combined here with high or low seating surfaces.

Moving also becomes easier with separable seating landscapes in comparison with the single-piece, extra-deep XXL sofa.

Functionality is still writ large. However, just as important today is the individualisation of upholstery fabrics for the external life and of cushioning qualities for the inner life. They are still the winners in the bedroom. In this context it became clear at imm cologne 2019 that the bedroom has the potential to become a superstar. However, the bedroom will shine in future not only as an attractively designed sleeping area with storage space solutions integrated without folds and the indirect lighting of wardrobe, display case and headboard. The boundary with the living area is gradually dissolving without any walls having to fall. Instead, the bedroom as an intimate living area could have a great future as a quite place, a yoga temple, reading room, creative workplace or other individual place of retreat used in some other way.

Urban living: small furniture, really big
How can living in small spaces be optimised? Here, a lot of furniture is being optimised to save space: here things are folded, pushed and juggled everywhere with multiple functions. imm cologne 2019 showed the first solutions for the "micro-living" booming in the cities – a growth market of the coming years. That the wish for well-designed furnishings adapted to the space is also increasing for smaller spaces is shown again this year by the once again expanded offering of smaller furniture: sofas, armchairs, side tables and consoles are becoming more delicate. The XXL faction is shrinking at the same time.

What will follow Hygge & co.? A cosy minimalism!
When a trend, like the current one of livability, is very dominant, one often finds a counter-trend somewhere else: it is becoming minimalist in our homes again. That means that we have to clear away all of the decorative objects and objects of daily life. We need more room for this. And because we nonetheless also want to have it "nice" at home, this minimalism is then not as consistent as representatives of Bauhaus would have wished after all. The growing complexity of our everyday lives is intensifying the desire for clarity and order in our homes. Simplification is strived for by reducing household and consumer goods (keywords are happy cleaning and degrowth). Pastel-grey tones and natural materials (such as marble) combined with the classic Bauhaus style, complemented with an antique piece of furniture that belonged to grandma and household textiles that feel good to the touch: that is what makes cosy minimalism – with its clean-desk look of matt surfaces and warm colours – a convincing alternative. Cool and cosy: a highly promising duo.

Photo: Koelnmesse

write your comments about the article :: © 2019 Exhibition News :: home page