Hardwood Floors October/November 2017

DESIGNER INSIGHTS INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

By Emily Morrow Finkell

e outlook for hardwood oors into 2018, as a whole, is looking very good. Watch any cable channel, read through advertisements and editorials in design magazines, search images in social media posts, or walk through any furniture or interiors show, and you’ll see spaces in ltrated with wood, wood looks, nishes, as well as nods to wood. What everyone loves about the look of hardwood is its ability to morph and change depending on the style of its surroundings, as well as its ability to immediately update and transform a space simply when and where it’s installed. What’s new in hardwood ooring is going to come as no surprise when I say it, but you still need to hear it. Can you hear me when I say gray is still important in interiors and hardwood ooring? While it’s not the only important color going into homes in 2018, it is still among the most important colors in uencing what goes into homes. Chic whites, mushrooms, muted taupes, and of course warm taupes are the other major players in the interiors world, working as the backdrop to a quiet blank canvas. is gray movement has been growing during the past 10 years, making a slow and steady climb into mainstream product development for runway, hospitality, contract, and home fashions. Barnwood grays, gray-beiges, and taupes stretch from rustic to re ned in appearance, making the color an ideal solution for bridging old to new and updating spaces. Whites, o -whites, and blank canvas tans are all the rage today, both in European design as well as the U.S. On recent trips to various design rms, many of their showroom spaces feature hardwood ooring that can be best described as Belgian linen in color, what I’ve stated in years past as the perfect blank canvas on which a great design plan can happen. ese light pale neutrals are inspired by not only coastal design aesthetics, but also by the Danish design trend known as Hygge, which means “coziness and comfort.” HARDWOOD FLOORS Through the Lens of 2018

In early 2016, I listed Hygge as a mega-trend for the year. Not only has Hygge been a mega-trend, but it’s also a concept everyone around the world can live with. Associated with Hygge is another important, but lesser-known concept, Lagom, which means “not too much, not too li le, but su cient.” Both concepts are rooted in the Scandinavian design world and fall into the wants and desires we all have as consumers not only to be comforted, but also to re ect our interests and level of sophistication. In addition to color and styling, there are all-important global catalysts that help establish and set the biggest of trends. For example, world travel, aka wanderlust, is one speci c catalyst that is driving many of these gray, taupe, white, and o -white wood trends. Today, it’s somewhat passé to exhibit “conspicuous consumption,” yet it is widely accepted to show o around-the-world travels via social media posts. More and more, university students are taking semesters or summers abroad for college credits and are ge ing exposed to heritage sites around the world, edging up their taste for the exotic-aesthetics from the ordinary. I, for one, can a est that travel is one of the best ways to become inspired and understand how important it is to see the world to have a be er understanding of various design

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