Imm Koln 2012

We made our annual trip to IMM Koln visiting the magnificent exhibition halls situated on the banks of the river Rhine.

The major trend theme was nature. Natural-looking and natural materials exude a sense of honesty and authenticity. Solid wood and veneer furniture is just as popular as parquet flooring. We saw many examples of oak with a slightly white washed finish that included saw marks kriss crossing the wood. This gave the wood an interesting textured feel

Lots of natural covering material was also in evidence with real leather, knitted wool and felt wool on display. Ligne Roset new sofa range The Elysee covered in range of wool colours was a good example of this trend.

The other trend we observed is the fact that furniture is getting smaller. A growing number of single people are living in smaller spaces and need small and multifunctional furniture. As various areas of the home merge, furniture has to be light and flexible because it is used wherever it happens to be needed at any given time rather than remaining in the same place for years on end. This not only includes smaller upholstered furniture, but small desks and bureaus as well, because the communication technology we use is also getting smaller.

Ligne Roset Ursuline desk sums up this trend with its sleek, slim appearance

Wall units are becoming ever more compact and slender. The large and chunky TV is increasingly being replaced by an elegant flat screen model, and thanks to digitized information, contemporary customers no longer need so much storage space. LED lighting technology has arrived in the furniture and interior design sector where, besides providing energy-saving lighting, it is being used to create lots of colourful atmosphere as well.

Brinkmann Moebel gave a perfect example of this

Colour trends were mid-century blue, shadow grey and  industrial pinks