Decorating & Design
Discover Top Trends & Highlights From A New York Design Show
Published on September 21, 2016
Design editor Lauren Petroff shares an inside look at the NY NOW trade show.
Every year near the end of summer, a few of the editors here at House & Home head down to New York City for the two-day blitz of design inspiration that is NY NOW. The biannual market and trade show focuses on home, lifestyle and gift products, and while the majority of attendees are retailers on the hunt for beautiful collections, my colleague Jen Masseau and I got to attend as flies on the wall — ready to scope out what’s new and what’s next.
Here are some highlights and upcoming trends from the whirlwind design show…
These hand-blown glass vessels by Joe Cariati demonstrate the beautiful range of color we saw at the market. It’s always interesting to see the shift in palettes over time, and this year we saw a lot of saturated, yet earthy hues — even the pinks, purples and oranges had a natural quality to them. These pieces would make a wonderful accent to any room, since their muted undertones are very livable.
We spotted similar colors on artisanal textiles at New Market Goods, Sien + Co and Tantuvi Studio (starting from the top left), and loved how these hues were combined with simple, yet graphic patterns.
Also in the realm of pattern, these detailed textiles from Manglam Arts (top left), Sugar Feather (bottom) and Walter.g (top right) really caught our eye. Their global, subtly vintage feel comes courtesy of techniques like block-printing and batik dying.
We also saw a lot of creative tabletop designs. Retailer Hawkins New York seemed to draw inspiration from celestial bodies in their unique tabletop collection.
In recent years there’s been a trend toward sturdy stoneware in neutral tones, but we noticed plenty of porcelain, ceramic and china vessels with hand-painted embellishments at the show — signs of a shift to come.
Boho wall hangings have been a mini-trend over the past couple years, but at NY NOW, there was barely a macramé in sight. But that doesn’t mean that the walls were neglected. We admired a number of bold and dainty vertical surface adornments featuring metals and natural materials.
While there wasn’t an exhaustive amount of lighting at the tradeshow, there were a few notable pieces on display. Many of them shared an appealing sculptural quality, with burnished, dark finishes rather than bright and shiny ones.
Finally, on a broader note, Jen and I saw quite a bit of roundness and fluidity when it came to accessories. Contemporary and organic, I think these forms are a nice departure from the angular accents we’ve seen so much of.
Lauren Petroff and Jen Masseau