Trends spotted at this fall’s High Point Furniture Market

Metallics are huge, especially brass and rosy gold. Bling is showing up in bedding and pillows. Neutral colors are moving from walls to furniture. And oversized furniture is out, replaced by low-slung or sleeker profiles.

Those are some of the trends spotted at this year’s High Point Furniture Market, which ended last week. We asked four Wake County designers to share what they saw as new or continuing trends at the most recent market.

Vara Bell of Decor a la Carte in Raleigh

▪ Fashionable furniture. Fashion designers Kate Spade and Cynthia Rowley debuted lines of furniture and home decor pieces. Spade has designed about 35 pieces for Morganton-based EJ Victor, while Rowley has partnered with Hooker Furniture in Virginia to create a line of more than 150 pieces. A highlight of Bell’s market visit was Rowley’s Fleur de Glee Writing Desk with its whimsical floral pattern gracing the front of the black desk. The flowers were printed, not hand-painted, in a digital process.

▪ Embellished furniture fronts. Similar to the Crowley desk, Bell spotted several other striking examples of furniture with decorative fronts, including carved metal and nail-head trims. One elegant example was the Janak, a four-door cabinet with lacquered grasscloth, wood and diamond-patterned nail heads from Bungalow 5. Another was the Camilia armoire by Koket from DeMorias International, which features a hand-carved, gold leaf peacock.

▪ Glammed up organics. Designers are adding a touch of glamor to natural materials, such as leather, fur, driftwood and seashells. Two examples: the gold-flecked animal hide rug from City Chic Rug Collection by Michael Amini for Nourison and the Plinth table lamps by Bliss Studio, which pair gold-toned lamps with crystals and shells.

Elizabeth Carrasco of VIP Interior Design in Raleigh

▪ Neutrals paired with pops of color. Walls and large furniture pieces are sticking to more neutral tones, such as white, taupe and gray. Brightly colored accents are added via rugs, pillows and even patterned wood floor tiles and stair treads, like those from Mirth Studio in Charleston, S.C.

▪ Metallics are popping up in an array of hues: antique gold, silver and black metal. They are showing up alone and combined on accessories, tables, chairs and especially lighting, like the gold leaf-tiered Havana Grande chandelier from wholesaler Currey & Co.

▪ Midcentury modern. Carrasco said the the midcentury aesthetic can be seen in furniture and accessories. She highlighted the jewelry-inspired iron wall decor pieces by Texas-based Global Views, which features brass balls in two sizes on curved frames. The midcentury aesthetic also can be seen in furniture getting smaller and sleeker. For years, she said, furniture got bigger as houses got larger. Now, not only are houses smaller but tiny houses are popular, and so furniture is downsizing. Carrasco highlighted the wood-backed occasional chair from Fairfield, a Lenoir-based chair company, which, like a lot of this style furniture, looks good from all angles.

Jeff Snyder of Simon’s House Interiors in Raleigh

▪ Contemporary furniture. Snyder agrees that the profile of furniture is getting lower and more streamlined, like the Emerson Club sofa by High Point-based Verellen. He points out that these pieces look better than bulky, oversized furniture in today’s more open living spaces.

▪ Brass. “What I’m seeing every year is more and more brass,” Snyder said. “It shows up on lighting, accessories and as accents on dressers, chairs and tables, like the Soho and Sardo side tables by California-based Noir.

▪ Sculptural wood styles. Snyder saw a lot of accents pieces, such as bar stools, side tables and bowls, mimicking the look of natural wood and branches. “Accent pieces are an easy and safe way to go outside the box,” Snyder said. “It’s not a huge investment by the manufacturer, and it’s not a huge investment by the consumer.” He highlighted the three-legged Sable stools and side tables by Made Goods and the branch-inspired legs on the Piers Bar Stool by High Point-based Vanguard Furniture.

Roberta Frank of Roberta Frank Designs in Apex

▪ Bling is still hot. Frank said the trend continues with shimmering fabrics for bedding from Ann Gish and metallic-toned pillows, like the Arjana, a hand-crafted pillow with silver, gold and gunmetal beading from Pyar & Co. The 14-by-20-inch pillow would make an excellent focal point for a master bedroom, Frank said.

▪ Rose gold. “It’s not mauve. It’s not pink. It’s not mocha,” Frank said. But this shimmery rosy hue cropped up on a series of coffee tables, side tables and even a desk from Jonathan Charles Furniture and on the Vega Pendant lamp from Bliss Studio.

▪ Gray, gray and more gray. This neutral color went from walls to furniture, like the Kria Footboard Sofa in pearl gray and the Miranda lamp table in a steely gray, both from High Point-based Vanguard Furniture. “The new beige is gray,” Frank said.

This story was originally published October 30, 2015 at 5:02 AM.