2009-2010 Home Decor Design Trends

I had a pleasure of attending the West Coast Interiors trade show recently. I love attending seminars, and I am absolutely fascinated by design trends. Here's what I learned at the show, and what you'll be seeing a lot of during the next couple of years. If you like to shop and peruse catalogs and magazines, you may have seen some of this already.

For home decor, you will see:

• Adventurous design and craft: layering of fabrics, textures, accessories; bold and graphic patterns, and lots of pattern mixing. (Did you know that wallpaper is back in fashion? Patterns are very bold and large, and would be gorgeous in a room where you really want to make a statement.)
• Nature-inspired design: "green" products, colors of sand, sea, sky, trees; natural materials like stone, wood, glass; animal prints
• Bohemian style: edgy, funky, ethnic mix; handcrafted originals; lots of color and pattern
• Dramatic style: lots of black and white, mirrors, crystal, shimmer, metallics. Look for unexpected combinations such as leather combined with crystal.
• Vintage/Nostalgic style: 1940's looks; Hollywood style; pieces with a history

If it sounds like "anything goes," you are partly right-- it is definitely OK to mix woods, colors, patterns, styles, but it should look deliberate and purposeful. Take care to avoid a haphazard, random look.