Photo taken by Courtney Zachary, Yellowstone National Park
I recently attended NEOCON at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. If you’re unaware of this show, it’s a designer’s grand cathedral and furniture geek’s favorite holiday all wrapped into one. The building itself used to be considered the largest in the world and has recently been taken over by Google, floor by floor. However there are still floors reserved for the heavy hitters of the commercial furniture and materials world.
My former job required me to attend NEOCON every year, to see what new product was rolling out and catch up on the trends for the upcoming year. Since I started my own business this year, I attended with my niece, Wren. In the 14 years that I have participated, I’ve expected to be wowed by innovative and dynamic product, but I’ve always left with the notion that everyone is doing the same thing. Of course there were new products that were very impressive, but as I moved from one showroom to the next, I found incredible similarities that would deter from the uniqueness of the previous. I always chose to look at this phenomenon as a demonstration of what the trend must be and then determine by touch and feel who was doing it best.
However, I was pleasantly surprised this year to see some variance in the color palettes used. There were showrooms that were dark and moody and then others that were bright and airy. I thought this was beneficial to showcase how color and the pairing of finishes can change the whole feeling of a space. NEOCON is not only attended by designers but their clientele as well. The hands on experience is incredibly useful to show customers options and quality differences, which make it easier for clients to produce informed decisions on colors and materials.
Since I had a more open eye this year, it made me think deeper about trends and gauge if it’s better to follow or not. My conclusion circled back to my rooted thinking, that my space and needs are my own and I shouldn’t just blindly follow another. You shouldn’t either. Trends are awesome to explore and wonderful inspiration tools if you find yourself in a “design block”. I suggest you use trends to guide your likes and dislikes so you can weed out the pearls that will make your space feel like you/your company. To summarize; don’t follow your neighbor, follow your gut!