The Milan Furniture Fair that took place in April is not only Europe’s largest kitchen and furniture show, but also the very epicentre of interior design. It attracts thousands of companies, journalists, architects, designers, retail buyers and visitors who meet up and interact around design in all kind of shapes and materials. Thomas Johansson, Design Director within Electrolux, reveals his impressions of the most striking trends from the fair.
Eco-sense
Sustainability and green issues were a hot topic with a number of manufacturers taking a greener approach by addressing issues like sustainable materials, energy saving, carbon footprint and practices.
Reveal and conceal
A number of kitchens were based on revealing and concealing elements within a space with generous worktops alongside spacious tall units with fronts that slide open to reveal kitchen appliances, shelving and efficient, well-planned internal accessories. These kitchens had a sleek and subtle design allowing homeowners to reduce – or even eliminate – hanging wall units and handles, transforming the kitchen into a refined extension of the living room.
Authenticity
The revival of authentic wood is still evident, and is cleverly combined with stainless steel, glass quartz, marble, Corian and laminate. The wood used is either dark or very light, veined, and valuable. There were also a lot of rough structured surfaces with authentic beauty.
Glass
Glass was also widely used on countertops, door fronts, drawers and shelves with etched, satin and silver mirror finishes and colored tints.
Colors
When it comes to color there was an abundance of whites, off-whites, brown/grays and dark brown tones. But there were also some vivid primary colors like the continued use of red and emerging mid-tones like turquoise, dark acid yellow, fuchsia and violet.
Light
White and colored LED lighting was present everywhere, semi-visable on tabletops, under shelves or hidden inside door fronts and drawers.
Living spaces
Today’s kitchen is a place for socializing, interacting, entertaining and cooking and plays a truly important role in modern homes. Many kitchen layouts shown at Eurocucina were based on a central working island combined with tall wall units and had a layout that allowed the kitchen to be used in different ways.
There was also a shift from a completely minimalistic design to softer aesthetics.
For further information
Please contact Electrolux Media Relations +46 8 657 6507 or press@electrolux.com
