By Michael Bonts
Special to Realty-Builder Connection
Texture and dimension, neutralized colors and Indonesian influences - as well as consumers’ desire for realism and sophisticated design - are driving interior design trends and new product introductions in 2004.
That’s the view of design experts at Formica Corp., a leading manufacturer of countertop and other surfacing materials. Formica recently released its “Design Trends Forecast” to the trade press. The forecast detailed the latest design themes, color tendencies and ideas for residential settings, including consumer preferences for the kitchen and bath.
“Today, consumers are blending the comforts of the past with the optimism of the future and, further, are more willing to express their creativity and personal style, while choosing the latest in advanced technology and convenience,” said Reneé Hytry, vice president/design for the Cincinnati-based Formica Corp. “We’ll see products that replicate textures and finishes of real stone and granite, yet are easier to maintain.”
Citing a recent report issued by the Color Marketing Group, Hytry noted that consumers “have purchased items with unexpected sophistication.”
“Today, new homebuyers are looking for durable home products with brighter colors and home fashions that focus on innocence, freshness and elegance,” said Roger Day, president of Orange Park-based Rosewood Homes.
According to the trends survey architects, designers and consumers will be asked by their customers to specify new, more sophisticated building materials to create interiors that blend comfort with creativity, past with future, and luxury with practicality.
“With the popularity of outdoor living, there’s also a craving for realism, or using materials that look and feel like those found in nature,” Hytry explained. “And, as people customize their spaces to express their individuality, they’re incorporating exotic, spa-like motifs from faraway places like Asia, representing a therapeutic and nurturing environment.”
In the prosperous 1990s, many homeowners cultivated a taste for high-end materials such as natural granite, stone and expensive woods - only to face a new, uncertain decade that caused them to restrict home spending. New technological advances in man-made materials now make it possible to mix luxury and sophistication with practicality and realism.
Solid surfacing materials also remain popular in the kitchen and bath, and engineered stone is growing as consumers’ expectations for realistic-looking man-made products increase and costs are lower compared to natural products.
New Formica Solid Surfacing introductions have been targeted as a response to a demand by consumers for “even more choices in granite and stone looks.
As the newest interior design trends blend the comforts of the past with the optimism of the future, “consumers will continue to expand their creativity and embrace the new technologies and opportunities being introduced,” Hytry added.
In keeping with these trends, the Formica laminate and solid surface introductions fall into seven basic color families:
• Warm, Usable Grays. “Extremely usable and fresh, this color category is a blend of gray, blue and green,” Hytry said. These include warm grays with “just a hint of cool blend with natural and man-made materials alike.”
• Rich, Earthy Browns. Inspired by stone, wood and metal, these gold- and red-influenced browns are rich and sophisticated - a natural progression of the popular gold of last year, Hytry reported.
• Soft Blacks. “Using real granites and slates to color style this family, blacks become softer, warmer and naturalized,” Hytry noted
• Deep, Saturated Blues. “Spa-like colors and complex yellow-based blues indicate our need for calming influences,” Hytry pointed out.
• Yellowed Greens. Consumers’ desire for renewal makes itself apparent with the influence of yellowed greens, which signify regeneration and rebirth, Hytry explained.
• Sophisticated Golds. “Golds appear softer this year as yellow influences the entire palette,” Hytry noted, adding that sophisticated golds are quieter and softer than in the past.
• Shades of White. Hytry also said that she sees many shades of white lightening and brightening up the palette, from crisp linen white to yellow-infused white.