The cold air whips through Cologne but I don’t budge, and - after a chocolate muffin and a black coffee – yet again this year I make my way to the booths of Internationale Möbelmesse Köln, the first trade fair event of the year in the world of home design.
Better known as IMM, the Cologne trade fair is a must-see event for lovers of design, just as long as you don’t underestimate it. Often featuring the most surprising innovations, those presented in the most important occasions such as Salone in Milan, tweaking them to perfection here, ready to be sold to the general public - and ready to make their way to our homes.
Here is a breakdown, or Zusammenfassung I think they say here, of what I have seen in recent days at the IMM Cologne 2017.
The very first thought that I had? Cactuses and succulents are everywhere. On shelves, on tables, on bookcases, in booths of both small and new brands as well as those of great design legends, whether Nordic or Mediterranean. Everyone’s going cactus.
It goes without saying that the cactuses led the way to more greenery. Pastel shades aren’t the only ones to be used, but still dominate the scene. Among them green really stands out - a colour that definitely steals the show on larger surfaces.
All this happening around me as I catch a glimpse of Scandinavian style mixing - and sometimes blending in - with vintage taste that headlines many pieces.
I already mentioned pastel colours, green, Scandinavian style and vintage appeal. Well, today even the cactuses are making headway and, having a second look I realize that the true constant, walking from the Pedrali booth to the Woud booth, from the detail-oriented corner of Petit Friture (available soon on LOVEThESIGN!) to Muuto’s grandiose display, are the decorations.
Yes, the attention of designers and brands focused on decorations and details. Make the house your very own: this could be the mantra for IMM Cologne 2017. Walls filled with objects and greenery - on the ground, on tables or hanging – that steals the scene and becomes an integral part of the room. It’s similar to the impression I had in Paris: green in and out of the home’s walls and lines of furniture, chairs and armchairs become confused between indoor and outdoor.
If I close my eyes and try to find out what my hands are telling me, I feel wood. And when the scent of crafted wood can be picked out among the warmth of fabric, then a single material, well known in Italian style, is also easy to tell when blindfolded: marble.
Wood and marble under your fingertips. Tables with lightweight structures - fine and smooth oak legs - dominated by timeless marble floors for a contrast of time passing, transcended by wood.
In Cologne, over and out.
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