The Häfele team took time out from its stand at the Interzum international furniture and interior design trade fair in Cologne (May 16-19) to identify some top trends.
According to the furniture fittings manufacturer, the trend for dark finishes attracted a lot of attention at the show, and has established itself as key across solutions such as drawer systems, sliding door systems and door frontals.
Softer hues in metallic finishes and natural textures dominated the finishes across doors, decorative cabinet hardware and architectural ironmongery.
Copper made its way to the forefront, with shades varying from “dark and luxurious” to the lighter toned rose-gold hues.
Brass and nickel also showed a resurgence, joined by a more dramatic finish in brushed matt black. Häfele predicted that this would be a key colour for 2017/18.
Muted colours in golds, browns, coppers and graphites were also prominent and were complemented by natural textures and aged finishes.
The trend for open-plan living continued, it observed, which has shaped furniture design with more solutions offering multifunctionality.
The demand for individualisation was also gaining ground, with the emergence of functional solutions that can be tailored to individual requirements becoming increasingly popular.
Häfele also found that the smart home had become a “megatrend” and reported seeing the introduction of innovations that offered complete room management.