It’s time for Maison Objet 2017 and here we go again: I get off the aeroplane full of good intentions with my floral jacket on, but in Paris in September it just gives the impression that I’m feeling nostalgic for the summer and...I’m cold. Really cold.
Half seven in the morning: today Maison Objet 2017 begins. I get to the fair and it’s time for a bit of magic: a warm pain au chocolat, before starting a new day in France.
As usual, during Maison Objet history is made in Pavilion n7. Yes, OK, I’m exaggerating, but it’s actually in pavilion n.7 that you can see the trends for next season and here I see my reflection on every wall, in every stand: there are mirrors everywhere. Make way for vanity!
If I have to be totally honest: it took me a while to understand what was unique about this space but when I grasped what it was I couldn’t help but taking self...ehm, looking at myself and appreciating the quality of the product. Wall finishes and decorations are key players at Maison Objet 2017 – and not just in the living room. There are also plenty of objects and details in the bedroom and they can be really....glassy.
It’s thanks to Maison Objet that nowadays everything, really everything, has to be perfectly circular, incredibly round, inevitably spherical or… how shall we describe it? Every single mirror, be it with a stand or wall-mounted, and the same goes for the footstools, lamps, space-organizers, place mats, trays, candle holders...everything, I say everything is round.
Somewhere along the line I feel trapped in the Maison Objet stands: I feel as if I’m in a labyrinth where everything is the same. If you’re not a mirror, you have to be round, and if you’re not round you still have to be a regular geometric shape.
You’ve definitely won if you are both round and geometrical and even better if you’re also a mirror. Every brand from North to South, from East to West, well-known or not, offers the same thing: home accessories in crisp shapes, geometrically geometrical. Enough, please.
This was a trend that in a way we’d already seen in January and now it has intensified: the home goes dark. Let’s start the September cleaning and update our rooms with a dark accent here and there. Wave goodbye to pastel tones, it has been a pleasure to spend some time together.
Now sofas are in leather, velvet or even cotton, but in dark shades. Grey at most. Timber is not off-white any more but instead a sharp shade of walnut. Side tables, sideboards, bookcases, shelves aren’t in Scandi-white-wood any more but in brass, metal and iron. And strictly in dark tones.
No, I didn’t say copper, pay attention, brass!
Accessories, lamps and glassware in general are now all smoked glass while the home takes on a strong vintage flavour. So, we now put the question: is vintage going to be the new Scandi? For now, you should at all costs avoid making the tremendous faux-pas of exaggerating and trespassing into “ethnic” territory!
And what about the plants? Greenery? What happened? Somehow, it was bound to happen: you really need to have a green thumb if you want your plants to survive the winter...The patterns have naturally gotten darker, autumnal, and the potted plants that would have been everywhere several months ago have disappeared completely – what a waste! - but they have certainly made way for less vital decorations.
What’s missing from Maison et Objet this year? Well the same thing as last year. And the one before. Some diversity, I would say.
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