As well as exhibiting the very latest of advanced innovations on its stand, Häfele sent its expert team to discover the key industry trends. Here are some of its highlights.
Attracting wide spread attention throughout the exhibition was the trend for dark finishes. This trend has established itself as key across solutions such as drawer systems, sliding door systems – like the Rustic 80 sliding door system – and door frontals, and has now extended into kitchen accessories, hardware and profiles.
German furniture component manufacturers, Vauth-Sagel premiered its new lava grey finish, across its kitchen accessory ranges. The contemporary shade adds an earthy atmosphere to the traditional grey and compliments perfectly against the trend for raw, natural materials.
Dark finishes were also evident across the new innovations from movement specialists, Grass. Launched at Interzum, the latest edition to the best-in-market Tiomos hinge range, the pioneering Hidden hinge, demonstrated the flawless response to this trend, debuting the new ‘Night’ surface finish.
New textures and finishes
When it came to finishes across doors, decorative cabinet hardware, and architectural ironmongery, the message was a simple one; choice of finishes with softer hues of the metallic finishes and natural texture.
Various shades of last year’s metal of the moment, copper, brought this finish straight back to the forefront, with shades varying from dark and luxurious to the lighter toned rose gold hues.
Brass and nickel resurged, but with a new, more dramatic finish; brushed matt black. This finish was prominent throughout the exhibition and Häfele is predicting this will be a key colour for 2017-18.
Muted colours in golds, browns, coppers and graphites were also prominent, complimented with natural textures and aged finishes.
Häfele will be introducing new ranges in September, across both its Architectural and Decorative offering.
Open plan living
With increasing global populations and living spaces getting smaller, the trend for open plan living continues to develop. Rooms have lost their established boundaries, blurring the lines between the kitchen and living spaces. This trend has really shaped furniture design, with more and more solutions offering multi-functionality.
When it comes to storage, none demonstrated this transition better than the outstanding new Schueco Smart Cube. Offering ultimate flexibility, this clever innovation holds a beautifully simple intelligent cube at its core. The metal bar shelving system is available in black and stainless steel finishes, in a selection of lengths and depths.
To view Häfele’s living solutions, visit its Kitchen, Living and Commercial solutions range.
Individualisation
Individualisation, the trend that has taken over the automotive industry, is now beginning to impact on the furniture trade. The emergence of functional solutions that can be tailored to individual requirements are gaining momentum, supported by outstanding developments in furniture design.
Attracting international attention since its launch, The Grass Vionaro ID, stole the show when it came to individualisation at Interzum. The slender drawer side, which measures just 13mm in thickness, offers limitless design opportunity, adapted to suit individual preference without boundaries. The elegant sides can now be combined with a range of personalised sleeves to create a flexible system with unlimited design choice or branding opportunities.
Digitalisation
The “Smart Home” mega trend continues to shape technology, adding functionality to furniture and linking technology remotely, allowing furniture to adapt to living situations and daily routines.
The key demonstration of this was on the Häfele stand, where the next evolution of the internationally successful Loox LED lighting system for light and sound in furniture, Häfele Connect, was premiered. The innovative system sees intelligent software open the way into furniture, effortlessly controlled by the Häfele Connect app, which connects itself to the Connect BLE boxes via Bluetooth, allowing for intelligent wireless light and sound control via smartphone or tablet.
0800 171 2909
https://www.hafele.co.uk/en/
