Furniture Design Trends for 2012

Furniture design moves at a different pace to fashion design. People want their furniture to last, and particularly in a time of economic austerity, few people want to see their furniture as just a throwaway, fashion influenced trend. That said, things always grow and change, and furniture trends tend to follow not just changing tastes, but changing needs as the ways in which we live our lives alter over time.

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So, while you might not find sudden changes to furniture fashion, with Italian sofas on-trend this year and French chairs the next, trends do develop. Here are some of the furniture design trends we predict for 2012.

In keeping with current concerns about the environment and the need to conserve precious resources, the recycled furniture movement is growing. All kinds of surprising things can be made into something new. The most obvious is furniture made from reclaimed wood, with the rough-hewn qualities it has creating interest. More adventurous souls could seek out furniture made from crushed cans and reformed into chairs and tables, or perhaps furniture made from old surf and skate boards, such as pieces by Zanini de Zanine Caldas. If you have the design and building skills, you could even make your own. Another route is to look for materials reclaimed from old buildings and house clearances and use them as the centerpiece for something new.

In keeping with the above, designers and manufacturers are increasingly keen to show that their furniture has good eco-credentials. For example, the use of sustainable woods and fabrics which have not been treated with harsh chemicals both increase a piece’s cool factor. Untreated furniture is often the most eco-friendly, and many people are looking for furniture that does not use harmful chemicals in its manufacture. Some of this kind of furniture can be at the top-end in terms of price, as manufacturers compete for scare sustainable resources. Others, such as cushion covers made from un-dyed hemp, can be very cheap and accessible. 

There is a definite trend for low-slung, retro-style furniture that makes use of glass and metal to create a very 1960s to 70s look. Sofas and chairs increasingly have low seating heights, and so coffee tables are lowered to match. Many designers are making heavy use of glass too, so those low tables may well have glass tops, and those low beds have glass headboards. This kind of furniture has a lovely, relaxed feel: it harks back to the comforting confidence of another age, while also injecting a bit of modern edginess into a room. 

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Furniture in bright colors catches the eye and can act as a focal point in a room. In particular (and mirroring catwalk trends) acid yellows, and bright purples can be seen everywhere. This is a great trend if you don’t have a big budget to work with, as you can change some fabrics or add a big, statement picture to achieve it. And of course, if you are able to spend more, it allows you to really go all out to achieve a new, bold look. 

This might sound as if it contradicts the above, but actually, it works in harmony with it. After all, you can only have so much color in one room. It also works as part of the eco-friendly trend, with un-dyed fabrics worked in. As well as un-dyed fabrics, colors like gray, taupe, cream and stone work well and can be combined with many brighter colors for a great all-round look. Neutral colors can help keep things clean and light, and allow you to display art or photographs without worrying about color clashes.

Photo courtesy of Roche Bobois

Modular furniture isn’t new, but it is growing in popularity. And it doesn’t just have to mean modular sofas: anything which can be combined with something else to give it a double use comes under this trend. Modular furniture allows you to re-jig a room instantly, so you could go from having scattered chairs which separate a room into areas for different activities, into having a single cozy centerpiece for family and friends to gather on and around.

Contributed by Izzy Woods

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