Another year, another look for your home? Bricks and Mortar asked four of the most influential people in interiors to give their thoughts on trends in 2006.
NEISHA CROSLAND:
Ideas are filtering from the top of the market down to the high street faster than ever. This means you can get nice things cheaply, but they are rarely made to last — which is fine if you want to redecorate completely every year.
We are going to see a big increase in more bespoke items, because increasingly people want something that no one else has — and they are prepared to pay for it. Wallpaper will continue to be popular and the patterns just keep getting bigger. I am doing hand-painted silk wallpapers with matching curtains. My favourite pattern is Gypsy, a sort of dark-brown and saffron yellow curling fern on copper. It will be about £100 a metre.
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Detailing will be big, so I am doing embroidery. I’ve made a cushion called Caterpillar, which is all spiky, and a geometric pattern called Spider using metal threads. I’ve also used hessian because I like making humble fabrics look fantastic. They’re more decorative than practical, though, because they’re a bit scratchy.
Colour-wise, we’re going to sparkle with rich jewel shades — amethysts and emeralds. That’s because opulence and warmth are slowly but surely replacing cold minimalism. Rugs were big last year, so we might actually see carpet make a comeback as homes get warmer.
020-7584 7988 www.neishacrosland.com
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ALLEGRA HICKS:
The strictly minimalist house is finally over. Hurrah! But it hasn’t entirely disappeared. So this year our homes are in transition, which means an eclectic look — mixing old and new, big and small, and all sorts of colours. Even in stores like Habitat you’ll find vintage-style pieces next to completely new stuff. This bricolage is a trend from fashion.
Now that everyone has floorboards we also have cold feet, so I am selling lots of rugs. As well as being warm, they inject colour and pattern. You can buy a rug on any budget, from Ikea to B&B Italia. We’re not installing altars or prayer rooms, but we want home to be calm and safe, a haven. This means we’ll use more natural materials — vases carved from stone, things like that. Candlesticks will be popular as we seek softer sources of light. This year is about creating a serene but warm space.
020-7235 8989 www.allegrahicks.com
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CAROLE LEE:
Furniture isn’t hanging around our homes for as long as it used to — we are less concerned with longevity. We want value. This means low prices and multifunctional furniture.
Sofabeds have been around for ever, but there are finally going to be some stylish ones. Armchairs that fold out into a single bed will also be popular, especially for younger people who tend to have less space and more guests. More and more of us are working from home, so we need home office furniture that isn’t too officey. The style balance will swing back towards the home. All this extra technology means more cables, so storage is going to get smart. We used to find that customers liked contemporary or classic, but now they’re happy buying both styles for the same home. Glass and steel are still popular, and we’re moving away from darker woods to lighter ones like oak. Leather sofas are still in demand, but fabric will be more popular this year. We’re bored with neutrals, preferring big prints and exciting colours: deep turquoise, hot reds and green. Autumn will bring lots of metallic decoration, especially bronzes and coppers.
Whatever they buy, customers are no longer willing to wait six to eight weeks for furniture they’ve already paid for. They want it all now, so retailers need to meet this demand or lose sales.
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Carole Lee is director of buying for furniture and textiles at John Lewis, www.johnlewis.co.uk
SIR TERENCE CONRAN:
Last year seemed rather muddled to me: all those wallpapers and textiles and patterns and chandeliers dangling from every possible protuberance. It was Victorian over-decoration and I did not like it at all. I hope 2006 will be a return to sanity. I always go on about simplicity, but to me the easier life is the more enjoyable it is.
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Technology is roaring ahead, but the popularity of the iPod proves that we need fewer buttons. I am all for quirkiness, but a lot of what’s out there is flimsy and whimsical. It looks better in a magazine than it does at home. Too many faddish over-techie objects, coupled with change for the sake of change, makes life hard.
I am not a minimalist, but I think minimalism offers valuable lessons by making us get the shell of a room right — the floors, the walls, the ceilings and the lighting. Only when that’s right can we design solutions for the way we live.
This year we’ll see more sculptural shapes in everything from sofas to spoons. Early 20thcentury classics, like the Eames chair, will continue to be revived because nothing better has come along. Classics are classic for good reason.
I never criticise personal taste when people are trying hard, but I want a room that comes from personal conviction, not from some interior decorator. Certainly get a designer to do complicated things like lighting, but you must make the room reflect your personality. Hopefully this year people will get the difference between decorating and design and feel confident enough to do it themselves.
020-7589 7401 www.conranshop.co.uk
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