Because it’s important for us to keep up with the latest news and trends in furniture and interior design, we make sure we attend some of the best national and international trade shows every year.
Export Home is a professional trade show that celebrates Portuguese quality and furniture design, and we consider it to be one of the must see shows, which featured in this year’s edition 150 exhibitors among furniture, sofa, lighting and decorative item manufacturers.
We came back extremely pleased with what we saw and would like to share some of the top trends we spotted.
Scandinavian style
Many of the furniture lines on display at Export Home were clearly inspired by Scandinavian design. This style is remarkably minimalist and relies on pure lines, functional furniture and light woods such as oak, pine or beech. White, grey and beige set the basic colour palette in the Scandinavian style and are successfully combined with light wood in neutral finishes, enhancing its natural beauty.
Geometric compositions
One of the most striking trends that caught our eye at Export Home was the formal simplicity, the "less is more" approach to design, translated in clean geometric lines contrasting with bold colours.
Bookcases and media units were no longer predictable and rigid pieces of furniture, they became very creative and highly customizable combinations of geometric elements. The key takeaway was to explore shapes and geometric constructions with different cut-outs, combining very bold materials, colours and finishes, to create interiors with a lot of personality.
LED lighting
The evolution of lighting has enabled for more creative and fluid styles, allowing the designers to explore new shapes and volumes. This doesn’t just apply to standard lighting, LED is now commonly used to highlight design features on actual furniture pieces giving them a contemporary touch with the added benefit that it is energy efficient and therefore low cost.
Bold colours and patterns
The striking presence of vibrant colours and strong patterns in unusual combinations allow you to add a special touch to your home décor and to create interiors full of personality. This trend is expressed both in terms of furniture and in decorative elements, such as wallpaper or fabrics.
Gloss lacquered furniture
High-quality gloss lacquered furniture is one of the contemporary finishes that is sure to bring a touch of sophistication to any room. This is a consolidated décor trend which is no longer limited to the classic black or white finishes and has ventured out to more exciting colours such as different shades of grey, blue, coral red, among others, in singular combinations with different textures and types of wood.
