The Mix is In: Contrasting Furniture Styles is Big in 2019
How to combine throwback looks and modern pieces; also tips to decorate with sustainability in mind
Designers are mixing things up with furniture this year, merging styles from both the past and present to create clever, elegant spaces.
That means combining throwback styles with modern pieces, as well as adding playful shapes and colors. They are creating contrast by using antiques in a room with concrete walls. Or by adding a brightly colored, graphic bookshelf or an oversized wicker chair. Sustainability is also playing a bigger role, with clients looking to lessen their footprint without sacrificing style.
As part of Mansion Global’s look at what’s new in interior design this year, we talked to experts about bringing back trends like the postmodern Memphis style, how new technology can help create a bold look, and how to bring elements together to create a signature space.
Eclectic Collections
For 2019, mixing and matching pieces from a variety of sources is replacing a unified look, according to experts.
“It’s a very good mix of contemporary and retro,” said Adam Hunter, an interior designer based in Los Angeles. “Almost like a collection of things in a space that don’t necessarily make sense, but they juxtapose each other in an unexpected way.”
Mr. Hunter is seeing items like small, brass drink tables; funky credenzas; and sideboards working their way into rooms. And there’s more shape to the staples, with curvy chairs and sofas taking the place of their more linear counterparts.
But to show off those funky finds, there has to be a contrast, according to Marketa Ruzickova, marketing and event manager at Decca London, a bespoke luxury furniture manufacturer.
“Interior designers combine traditional pieces with very modern and minimalistic styles,” she said.
Those traditional pieces might include hand-carved items, rattan or wicker furniture, she added. They help “add a sense of history” to a home.
She’s even seeing designers bringing these old-school furnishings into modern, loft apartments with concrete floors and large, floor-to-ceiling windows.
“These rather unusual combinations create a special character within the living spaces that reflect the owner's own taste and style,” Ms. Ruzickova said
Photo: Costas Picadas
Slightly Less Serious
Rattan and wicker furniture are also on the radar for Carl D’Aquino, a partner, and Dane Pressner, design director, at New York-based architecture and interior design firm D’Aquino Monaco.
Indoors, the classic natural material can add an earthy contrast to a room. For the pool or deck, the designers are seeing more “exciting shapes” that offer shelter from the elements.
Outdoor furnishings, in general, have benefited from new technologies for fabrics and paints, Mr. D’Aquino noted. Bold, colorfast fabric makes for adventurous looks for the lawn furniture.
Photo: Costas Picadas
Mr. Pressner said furniture is taking a “less serious tone” across the home, and especially in areas like pool houses and other more flexible spaces. There’s room for a lot of joy and color in these slightly less-central spaces.
But these elements can also come through indoors, he said, with pieces like painted wood furniture or even the “fabulous shapes” that are a nod to the Memphis style. These oh-so-’80s pieces mix bold colors and graphics with unexpected flourishes to create an offbeat aesthetic.
He isn’t the only one noticing the Memphis influence in today’s design scene.
“Memphis-style furniture is high on my wish list,” said Charlotte Cosby, head of creative at a U.K.-based paint maker Farrow & Ball.
Photo: Costas Picadas
The Memphis Style was actually founded in Milan in 1981 by several designers who became known as the Memphis Group, taking the name from the Bob Dylan song “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again,” according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Italian architect and designer Ettore Sottsass was a leader of the group, and the style was “a rebellion against traditional interior design,” said the Met, which staged a retrospective of his work at the Met Breuer in 2017.
“There’s a growing interest in art as furniture,” Mr. Pressner said.
Separately, mirrors and metallics are also showing up again, according to Ms. Ruzickova.
“Many clients started re-introducing large mirrors to their interiors,” she said. They “can both visually open up the space and enhance the atmosphere of the room.”
Decca offers a large variety of mirrors with customizable wood and metal frames, as well as antique mirror styles, she said. These days metal is especially popular, Ms. Ruzickova added.
Photo: Getty Images
“We've seen designers using a mixture of subtle, earthen tones with rich colors of luxury veneer and metal finishes,” she explained. And “clients are increasingly interested in using unusual metal finishes, such as hammered metal or powder-coated metal finishes that give them a unique texture, or a matte or glossy look.”
But natural elements can also help create a signature style, Ms. Ruzickova said. In addition to metals, designers are using luxury materials such as mother of pearl or veneers with unique patterns of wood.
“Such contrasting materials and color combinations bring a unique balance to interiors,” she said. “Furniture with such distinguished features can become signature pieces within the entire room.”
Photo: Costas Picadas
Photo: Costas Picadas
Photo: Costas Picadas
Photo: Costas Picadas
Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images
Sustainability
Clients are also looking more toward sustainable materials that have less of an impact on the environment, Ms. Ruzickova said. But some pieces do require more production than others, hence they use up more energy and materials.
If that’s the case, the team at Decca works with clients to provide options, and advise them on creating a balance of pieces that require less production and are more “environmentally friendly.”
“Whichever options our clients decide to go for, we always ensure green policies are applied in every aspect of our manufacturing process—from natural air-conditioning with rooftop gardens to using the newest technology and machinery that both save energy and manufacturing time,” she said.
Ms. Cosby also has seen an uptick in environmental consciousness.
“Sustainability is featuring higher and higher on the agenda [for] many homeowners,” she noted. They “are opting to buy less and making sure what they do buy is of great quality and kind to the environment.”
To that end, low-impact and handmade accessories and decor are having a moment, Ms. Cosby added. Upcycled or repurposed pieces are also finding their place in the room.
And Mr. Hunter said he is “constantly looking for that next generation of old materials.”
One way to do that is to apply a different finish to an old piece, he said. He cited resin/acrylic tables, which “are so 2010.” But by recreating the look with an ombré finish, he can transform the material to “give it new meaning.”
Photo: Getty Images
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