Customized Living

Customization is one of the most popular trends in the last years - creating your own unique look for the things that surround you is a great possibility to express yourself and more and more companies offer customized and personalized products. As an interior designer I am very much pleased with the possibility to choose a rug  and customize it to literally any color combination, size and shape required - carpets are an important part of our interiors and this allows us to implement exactly the color scheme we want for a certain room. We can also use the rug as a way to unite all the colors in a room in the most suitable pattern and style.  

 I have many publications dedicated to this trend and the above abstract is from my post Customization trend: Create your Own Rug. Now I am very pleased to find that  “Customized Living” is a keynote theme at
DOMOTEX 2012. I am eager to see more photos from the event which takes place from 14 to 17 January 2012 and will showcase design trends in carpets, home textiles, resilient floor coverings, parquet and laminates. For those of you who are curious to learn what are the latest trends in carpet design, here below is an abstract from their preliminary publication:

The choice of floor covering is
often the inspiration behind the
interior designer’s whole concept.
A carpet is the unifying design
element which brings together
room decor and furniture
to create an individually styled
living space.

 This trend towards individual, unique style statements – customized living as it is often called – has a massive influence and opens up
new opportunities in personal interior design. Carpets allow almost unlimited possibilities due to the sheer diversity of materials, colours and shapes, not to mention custommade
products. Fashion trends areplaying an increasing role in carpetdesign. Consequently, in the 2012 season we will see lots of bold colour– pink, mustard yellow, cobalt blue, leaf green, turquoise, petroland rust – separately or as blockcolours, but also in funky, colourful combinations. In short, modern carpetsare an attractive and eyecatching design statement.

The  sustainability and “green living” trend applies to flooring, too. There are numerous  materials suited to this trend in flooring and home, such as undyed Himalayan (Tibetan) wool,
hemp, plant fibres and yarns from cacti as well as patterns based on natural forms and images which can
be used in carpets. Countless patterns, shapes and textures are inspired by nature. The natural theme is not simply expressed by the use of environment-friendly fibres and colours, but also by the use of natural images in carpets and rugs.

Interior Design Trends 2012

Happy New year 2012! Let it be better than 2011 and let there be more love and satisfaction - in everything we do!

Usually at this time of the year we are trying to fugure out what expects us, how would the new year look like and for us, designers and design-lovers, what design trends will be most influential?

For sure Green design is one of the most important trends - it’s not surprise, this trend is becoming more and more popular, especially with increasing availability of eco-friendly materials and products, because green interior design not only helps us to create  healthier homes, but also to contribute to a sustainable way of living as a whole. And now we have made the next step -  the rising trend for green roofs and kitchen gardens.. It is interesting that the trend for growing one's own food is expanding into the restaurant business and into the urban community where community gardens are becoming increasingly common.

It appears that tough economic times have taught us some necessary lessons - we are rearranging the list of our values and  improvements in interior design and architecture are taking place to enable even the smallest places to be used efficiently. Some less used spaces are disappearing thus giving more room for more functional spaces.  

An important manifestation of the green trend is the use of resource-efficient features like low-flow faucets, low-E windows, powerful insulation and natural choices and eco-consciousness for furnishing for our homes. A natural and rustic feel with a lot of wood, often unfinished, is becoming more and more popular.

From decoration point of view, it is a good choice that Pantone have made for a color of the year 2012 - Tangerine Tango. Hopefully,  it will successfully play the role of a visual anti-depressant offering some sunshine for a grim economy and help us overcome the gloomy moods, rejuvenate ourselves and our lives.

And, speaking about moods, there is another interesing trend - "A cultural, social and consumer rebooting of all things 90s", according to The Future Laboratory these are "Trends,...designed to reassure, reassess and remind us of things that settle the senses, lull the emotions and refresh the spirits."

Obviously, we need that and design is probably one of the best tools to make the change. With the help of vivid chues, huge patterns, coloured lights, sparkle and glitz luxury slowly returns in interior design, but this is a more resrained, conscious luxury without the exuberance and unnecessary abundance.

My personal hope and believe is that along with green design ingenious designs and new technologhies will help this change most.