We were lucky enough to escape to Paris to check out the Maison & Objet trade show. Something I've seen from the sidelines for the past few years so it was nice to get the opportunity to check it out for ourselves.
The weather was sweltering and the show was vast, to say we walked our feet off is an understatement but we came away with lots of ideas and heads brimming with inspiration.
We visit a lot of the UK trade shows so it was a refreshing change to be in a new location and see some brands that don't seem to be at the UK trade shows.
It was quite retail based so more equipped for retailers sourcing products for their stores but there was still so much to take in and be inspired by.
So what do we look for at trade shows? Well quite a lot, we basically look at new products, so what is new on the market, what are the trends we identify. We also get inspired by colour palettes, so how new collections are put together and stands are styled.
We look at styling, so are there new ways we can configure furniture, style sideboards, coffee tables etc.
We love finding new accessories, lighting is one of our guilty pleasures but also things like cushions, fabric, wallpapers - we don't always want to revert to the main players for projects. It's such a buzz to discover new companies and find products that are a bit more unique and different.
Here are some shots we took that inspired us for colour inspiration, these could be used across a whole home scheme or for a single room, some lovely palettes to draw inspiration from.
We saw a lot of lilac and purples, plus more red than in previous trade shows, it's nice to see some other colours coming through. We find clients tend to gravitate towards green, blues, sometimes pinks and neutrals, it's nice to see other colours and how they can be mixed together for refreshingly different schemes. Would you add a dash of purple to your homes?
Trends
We saw lots of rattan and wicker - this trend seems to remain a firm favourite and not one that will be going anywhere for a while. We think these just suit homes where the vibe is more natural, more texture heavy but can also work in neutral and colourful spaces too.
Lighting
We absolutely love lighting and we weren't disappointed, some fabulous options to feast our eyes on we're sure you'll agree.
Inspiration
Sometimes it's not necessarily well designed and styled interiors that spark interest, just seeing the outlandish creativity just gets our design juices going. I love being immersed in the creative world and seeing what others create. Some very quirky and eye raising but fabulous displays that certainly caught our attention. A personal highlight was the supermarket stand with all the usual groceries you'd expect...but they were all pencil cases, handbags etc...all was not as it seemed but utterly fabulous!
Thanks for reading
NB x