December 10, 2012
Photo Gallery: Top Trends Of 2012
See 12 hot decorating looks.
A classic holiday jewel tone, it infuses both wardrobes and interiors with a dashing nobility, but it can also be casual and rustic.
Variations of this hue are sure to be popular in the next year: H&H’s last 2012 Trendwatch featured Emerald Green, and at the beginning of December, the colour experts at Pantone declared Emerald as the 2013 Colour Of The Year. A Lampe Berger clochette in the luminous shade out-glamours its conventional clear-glass cousins. The Lampe would be at home in a country manor, made cosy with hand-dyed embroidered wool pillows from Judy Ross Textiles. The outdoorsy appeal of an industrial lamp, finished in glossy green, is a testament to the colour’s versatility.
Discover more of 2012’s top trends in our gallery.
Pieces carrying the patina of history prove prettiest.
Opulent golden furniture and accessories take their colour cue from regal crowns like the tufted boudoir chair from Christopher Guy. Expect golden flatware and etched tumblers — the sort a princess might use to dine — to give festive place settings a warm metallic twinkle.
Discover more of 2012’s top trends in our gallery.
Inspired the hit show Downton Abbey, designer Ralph Lauren deployed a dashing cavalry of houndstooth greatcoats and double-breasted Glen plaids down 2012 fall’s runways in shades of woodsy brown and tender heath green.
The hunting party look has also taken aim at housewares. A glass-and-iron lantern from Union Lighting and Furnishings looks destined to dangle in an Oxfordshire antechamber. Raise a glass at tables set with picturesque plates and retire to Ralph Lauren’s plaid wing chair.
Discover more of 2012’s top trends in our gallery.
2012’s autumnal fashions were more about the bedroom than the classroom — more nightcap and silks than grad cap and gown.
The slip-into-something-more-comfortable aesthetic — handsome and hedonistic — is particularly sumptuous in a palette of whiskey caramels, cigar browns and cognac reds. In this after-eight world of slippers and snifters, languor is ideally staged on an Anglo-Indian-style mahogany daybed from Hickory Chair. Savour the mise-en-sce?ne by the heady, fragrant flicker of a Malin+Goetz tobacco-scented candle and set the mood with a little Frank Sinatra.
Discover more of 2012’s top trends in our gallery.
The marbled look, which mingles a woozy psychedelia with old world tradition is swirling onto everything from lamps to cocktail napkins.
Tozai Home’s hand-blown glass vases in dusky shades of pink and cocoa look like cotton candy made vitreous. For a bigger statement, paper a room in Twigs’ Pheasant wallpaper, which has the couture chic of a Missoni knit.
This year’s take on the nautical aesthetic undoes the iconic naval uniform to put a sexy spin on blue, white and brass.
The Knot Board pillow from Dransfield & Ross provides a fast primer to the wannabe yachtie, while Corbett Lighting’s Regatta light adds a glamorous splash of gold. Indeed, you need only dream of the high seas to enjoy this oceanic look: landlubbers can lounge in a Hauser teak folding chair in the shade of a Crate & Barrel umbrella banded to match the imaginary whitecaps beyond.
Discover more of 2012’s top trends in our gallery.
A picnic of red-and-white stripes conjures the fine-weather freshness of luffing sails, seaside parasols and beach balls.
The ever-stylish look takes its aesthetic cues from the humble tea towel, and its palette is best matched with soft, textured fabrics (rope, cotton weaves and linens). A wing chair from Ralph Lauren Home and a woven rug from Dash & Albert come in shades of burlap and cranberry. Striped grainsack throw pillows from Pottery Barn have a cottage-ready, haute-rustic allure, while a red-rimmed Crate & Barrel bowl of ice cream would be an ideal finale to any day at the beach.
Discover more of 2012’s top trends in our gallery.
For spring 2012, home accessories and catwalks from Agne?s b. to Rodarte were turpentine-scented tributes to the impressionists and post-impressionists.
Vietri’s painted pitcher isn’t patterned with sunflowers, but it’s a perfect home for a bouquet of them. Channel a working studio vibe by displaying art on easels or mount picture lights in unexpected places, like the kitchen or bathroom.
Discover more of 2012’s top trends in our gallery.
Designers and artists are now divining collections that celebrate Canada’s cultural heritage.
The straight-backed Capitaine chair from Montreal’s Samare contrasts woven babiche (rawhide) with sleek chrome, and seems tailor-made to preside at the head of a feasting table in New France. And while the Toraja women of Indonesia originally created woven rattan “teardrops” to catch fish, newer versions cast a warm glow as light fixtures.
Discover more of 2012’s top trends in our gallery.
Coat your home in tangerine or use it as a room- (and mood!) enhancing accent.
Months before colour authority Pantone declared Tangerine Tango the colour of 2012, Farrow & Ball introduced Charlotte’s Locks to its carefully curated paint roster. A shapely lamp, sharing the complexion of a Moroccan clementine, seems to glow with vitamin D.
Discover more of 2012’s top trends in our gallery.
By grace of his big-screen debut in The Adventures of Tintin, Tintin can also add design muse to his considerable list of credits, animating catwalks, furniture emporia and baggage claims.
Jonathan Adler’s anchor-patterned rug is redolent of swashbuckling (mis)adventures. Leather-bound vintage-style valises from SteamLine are the choice accessory for your next caper.
Let top runway trends influence your decorating.
GRAPHIC PRINTS Eye-popping patterns inspired by mid-century op art and turned out in bold, bright colours generate a groovy vibe indoors.
SNAKESKIN Convincing replicas of this untamed pattern invite a walk on the wild side as the allure of reptilian prints takes accessories in an exotic direction.
COLOUR BLOCKING Energize staid rooms with a dizzying combination of vivid hues that encourage a look on the bright side of life.
WATERCOLOUR Painterly washes of sheer colour splashed over furniture or used as an accent give interior landscapes a dreamy quality that’s both sophisticated and romantic.
Discover more of 2012’s top trends in our gallery.