The Milan Furniture Fair is an annual affair that takes place in Milan and is the largest of its kind in the world. Also known as ‘Salone’ or ‘Milano Salone’ or even the ’Milan Design Week’, the fair serves as a platform for the latest designs in furniture, lighting and other home furnishings.

The first Salone Internazionale del Mobile di Milano took place in 1961, with the intent to promote Italian furniture. 56 years later, the fair now plays host to almost 2,500 global companies, 700 designers and an average of 270,000 visitors from over 150 countries. While the Milan Furniture Fair takes place in April, it none-the-less sets the tone for almost all the design trends that dominate the ever-changing world of home design through the following months, moving into the next year.

Take a look at some of the trends that are predicted for 2018, based on the exhibits at the Milan Furniture Fair in April 2017.

Colour

2017’s Milan Furniture Fair was all about colour, colour and even more colour. Warm and earthy colours such as burgundy red, turmeric & mustard yellow and papaya orange made their boisterous presence felt amidst calmer tones of millennial pink, sage, celery & avocado green, along with the very enigmatic Klein blue and purple. Ultraviolet, a provocative and thoughtful shade of purple incidentally has also been named the Pantone Color of the Year 2018.

The many flamboyant hues at the fair signify the return of the eighties. We can expect to see more of these robust colours on walls, furniture and accent décor object in the coming months in 2018.


Kitchens

One trend that emerged at the Milan Fair is that Black will be the New White. So, expect to see a lot more of black cabinets in the kitchen, paired with indoor plants. Electronic appliances such as fridges, dishwashers and cook-tops set to become discreet elements in the kitchen. Cook-tops will no longer sport stainless steel or glass plates and their knobs will be embedded into the stone top of the platforms. Concealed storages are predicted to give way to freestanding cabinets with glass doors and open shelf racks – the perfect ploy to display beautiful crockery.


Living Rooms

Wallpapers will rule the roost in 2018. Retro and repetitive geometric patterns along with stripes and metallics are here to stay. For furniture, curved sofas will be quite ‘in’. Another feature of the living room seen at the Milan Furniture Fair was of organic styles bearing soft and watercolour markings, or paint splotches. These soft backgrounds tend to be easier to deal with at home since their aura is more calming than repetitive or geometric patterns. Florals and damask patterns are predicted to go out of vogue the coming season.


Furniture

The 2017 Milan Furniture Fair showcased a trend towards comfortable couches, including those that were low-lying, puffy, curved and even plump. A few designers also showed their preference for fringing on furniture, which involves an ornamental textile trim at the edge of the furniture, especially sofas. Fringing is ideal to lend a luxurious look to the piece of furniture. One of the festival favourites amongst sofas was La Isla, designed by the Swedish design studio Note, for furniture manufacturer Sancal. In the words of the design studio, “The seductive curves and soft upholstery call out to all those navigating a lobby, desperately seeking refuge”.


Homeware and Styling

Some home décor trends never go out of vogue and will continue into 2018, indoor plants being one of them. So, coordinate your furniture and cabinets with some plants; they don’t just look great, they feel great too. Textile art will be ‘big’ in terms of decorative (wall) art, while popular décor elements such as ottomans, side tables, lamps, brass objects, handmade glazed ceramics, mouth-blown coloured vases and wooden vases, along with the use of material such as terrazzo and velvet (that were also popular at Milan) will add a dash of style to living spaces.


Bathrooms

Colour is predicted to infiltrate bathrooms as well. Not just on tiles and ceramic ware, but on basins and toilets too. Milan exhibited eclectic colours such as soft plum, dusty green, beige, brown and charcoal. The advantage of using colours such as these is that they allow the bath elements to blend in with an otherwise dingy and moody bathroom and minimising the use of white as a contrast.

As a final word on the design trends that will emerge in the coming months, do take a look at what you should absolutely ‘go for’, ‘stay away from’ and what will ‘break barriers’. Happy Decorating in 2018!