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I am not one for practical jokes, but as a designer I do love  a good visual trick or two.  That’s what I am seeing lately -trompe l’oeil (French for “deceive the eye”)  looks from fashion to decor that marries whimsy and humor with style and design.

I’m seeing trompe l’oeil looks in :

Walls

Piet Hein Eek’s wallpaper  makes scrap wood gorgeous!

Koziel’s antique shutter wallpaper doubles your fun.This paper gives you pause- is there or isn’t there a window there?

What can a say?- Christain LaCroix for Designers Guild. LOVE.LOVE. LOVE

Need architectural detail? Berard has it.

Doors

Shelving

Deborah Bowness is a Genius with fool the eye looks

Everyone loves books Right?

Textiles

Windows

I ♥ Bauke Knottnerus’ trompe l’oeil curtains, they can be on a window in a doorway fooling the eye into believing there’s more space thanks to the perspective.

Koziel’s Decorative film provides the view and the ornate ironwork.

Fashion

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Julia Roberts does it, so does Cameron Diaz, Sarah Jessica Parker, and  others. We’re talking about knitting or crocheting. All age groups and demographics are getting into crocheting and knitting; joining the 38 million consumers who enjoy doing these crafts according to the Craft Yarn Council. Expressing creativity is the number one motivation to pick up needles and hooks. Once they learn, knitters/crocheters find it to be a great stress reliever and great for making gifts.

So with knitting immersing itself in all manner of new media mash ups, it’s no wonder we are seeing it filtering into interiors. Watch for knits in all shapes and forms to get a stronghold in the home in 2012. We’ve seen its influence on fabrics, furniture, lighting, windows and even walls.

SPOTTED 2/2012 More Knit Looks

Knit credit cards by russian artist dimitri tsykalov is his take on global financial instability

Deryn Relph, a textile designer explored the effet that color has on emotions through the kitted media in these ” Uplifting Lampshades.” Relph specializes in knitted textiles for interiors and  merges this with previous upholstery and furnishing skills to create unique and contemporary solutions to an idea.

Tired of the cold sterility of most modernist furniture — then check out these inviting knitted stools by British textile designer Claire-Anne O’Brien. A graduate of the Royal College of Art, O’Brien’s funky and tactile stools are a refreshingly clever rethinking of what form the ordinary stool may take.

FLOR rethinks  traditional cable sitiches in these Just Plain Folk modular carpet tiles in muted neutral tones of 100% recycled Nylon fiber providing visual warmth for your floors.

The ‘loop chaise lounge’ was born from dutch designer sophie de vocht‘s interest in the ‘tufting’ technique, and is characterized by a high number of tufts of yarn inserted through needles on a fabric base. Designed for italian furniture company casamania, the chair features a metal structure in which ‘over-sized yarn’ is woven through to create a softness. The main base and seat are tightly woven, gradually getting looser in their stitching along the length of the chaise lounge, eventually fanning out over the floor.

Knitted wall panels seen at M&O

Don’t forget knitting cousin, Crochet. Believe me you won’t if you see any of Polish artist ,Olek’s work  who aggressively crochets her life into her work, and  has freely admitted to spending the night in her Knitting Is For Pussies exhibit,recently at the Christopher Henry Gallery.

Award winning designer Chae young Kim creates intricate interior products by combining analogue and digital techniques. Her Knitted Room Wallpaper is created using 2D vector graphics processed through a software to create a knitted 3D effect onto a printed surface.

We first saw this at imm Cologne as part of the Young Talents exhibition and it is now in production and available through Surface View.

Check out Etsy for loads of wonderful knittted and crochets accesories, soft furnishings and one-of-a-kind pieces if you’re looking to jump on the Knit trend bandwagon.

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NeoCon will furnish your mind with the power of design – three days of pure energy, new thinking, new resources, and bursting with new products. I am off to discover thousands of innovative products and resources for corporate, hospitality, healthcare,and residential interiors from more than 700 showrooms and exhibitors. NeoCon is North America’s largest design exposition and conference for commercial interiorsbut I ALWAYS find something that works in my business from wallcoverings to the new paint forecasts to seating and textiles. Here’s a preview.

Dream Home at the Merchandise Mart

A must-see for all attendees. I never miss to see what new inspiration I can gain.

Julia Edelman for Buckingham ID

Julia believes in mixing aged objects with modern elements and it shows through in this welcoming space.

Michael Abrams for Michael Abrams Limited

Wanting simplicity and elegance enveloped in  luxury was Michae’ls goal in this bedroom.

Wallcovering by LG

LG Hausys debuts its new line of vinyl wallcoverings designed by Anya Larkin. Seventy four new patterns from animal prints to damasks and crinkle looks will be shown. Booth 8- 4116.

NUB by Patricia Uriquola for Andreu World.

Love everything this prolific designer does. Love the fact that a childhood memory inspired the chair… ”I used to play with my grandmother’s bobbins for making lace,” she recalls. “These small wooden bars were playmates that I have now reimagined.” Traditional woodworking techniques, gently updated, produce the wing chair and side chair’s notable beech backrest: Its bars widen at the height of the lumbar region, alternating to add dimensionality. The frame comes in red, white, or black lacquer and 21 wood finishes. Multiple solids and patterns are available for the seat upholstery. Merchandise Mart 10-132

Hear Patricia Uriquola  Tuesday at MCA for a lecture sponsored by Luminaire and featuring her groundbreaking work for B&B Italia.  See you there.

Haworth Collection

Employers shrinking the size of their offices and staff have translated to tough times for office furniture manufacturers. One example of a company looking for revenue beyond cubicle and desk chair sales is Haworth. The Haworth Collection is the company’s foray into offering crossover products for the home based on their experience as a commercial furniture manufacturer. The aim is to offer high quality products which are designed to compliment a residential environment but contain functionality and durability derived from their commercial office furniture heritage. Merchandise Mart 312.

So after posting the preview of the Haworth Collection this bit of news came across my desk. =Looks like they are really serious about moving into new markets….

Retailer Crate & Barrel announced today that it will carry three products from contract furniture giant Haworth.

“With two great brands coming together, our customers can get beautiful, high quality products previously only available on the commercial market,” says Raymond Arenson, executive vice president for merchandising and design for Crate & Barrel. “Haworth’s products make a great addition to our portfolio of products.”

The three products sold will be the new Eddy table, available in July, followed by the Very Task and Very Conference chairs, available in August.

“With this Crate and Barrel relationship, Haworth can take another measured step into the retail world,” says Tom DeBoer, Haworth product manager. “We find ourselves pulled in the retail direction due to beauty and quality of our products and with the trend of office and residential coming together. We are excited to work with a great retail brand like Crate & Barrel.”

The products will be in Crate and Barrel catalogs, on crateandbarrel.com, and at more than 100 of Crate & Barrel’s retail stores across the country.

The Very chair to be carried by Crate and Barrel

Next up in our Preview:  Textiles.

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I am being swept into the techno world. I am not a full fledged geek yet, but do love me some gadgets and when coupled with design, I’m in. So I was sucker for Microsoft’s  home of the future:

 According to MS, the Microsoft Home is

…a place to explore technology scenarios that could transform the way we live in five to 10 years. Built as a full-scale model home in the company’s Executive Briefing Center, the Home is used to explore practical applications of cutting-edge technical trends, and exhibit futuristic prototype technologies to a variety of industry and government leaders, partners and customers.

While the space is a private testing ground accessible by invitation only, the video below provides a glimpse of what a day in the suburban future could look like in 2025. Among other advances, check out:

• touchscreen, wireless & ‘smart’ charging plates that also read sensors in your products to interpret your personal data, including vital health statistics
• interactive walls consisting of various screens – which are in turn controlled by a simple flip of a light switch
• visual analysis via image-to-image search for each image featured in your home entertainment screen (i.e., ability to search for travel schedules, restaurant information, and backback purchase information for all items featured in a travel show); this is cool – right now, we really just do text-based search
• motion-controlled digital wallpaper capturing your personal digital ecosystem, including real-time texts, Facebook status updates or Twitter feed updates

OK, so we really have to get on the stick when it comes to innovative window coverings to match up to these other elements in the room!. Any ideas?

via Engadget

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 Anthropologie, bohemian chic sister to Urban Outfitters debuts their Decorator Concept boutiques March 24 in 12 of their stores across the globe. Amping up home décor, the Decorator concept will share the Anthropologie aesthetic, but is dedicated to “delivering a unique experience that helps generate design ideas and support decision making.” The store sees these concept shops as a continuation of their focus on “product rivaling that ordinarily available only to the trade.”

The workshop style boutiques offerings include wallpaper, curtains, lighting, furniture , books and accessories. (Decor8′s new book ,Decorate is part of the selection.) Boutiques will be selling brands like Cole and Son and Tracy Kendall.

Decorator Concept locations will host workshops with design experts and special events  in a range of fields and offer printed information about their selection, from care instructions to creative ideas.

A new online section, “For the Decorator” launched on this past Thursday. Resources available to online shoppers will include wallpaper calculators, swatch request forms, and glossaries.

Decorator concept stores are coming to:

• Atlanta, Georgia
• Beverly Hills, California
• Chicago, Illinois
• Corte Madera, California
• Denver, Colorado
• Houston, Texas
• London, United Kingdom
• Miami, Florida
• Nashville, Tennessee
• New York, New York
• Wayne, Pennsylvania
• Westport, Connecticut

If you thought it was hard to sell to the under 40 crowd; wait till they get a taste of Decorator Concept. You can guess where I’ll be next Thursday.

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