Sue Wadden shares key insights on design trends at ICFF 2019 in New York.

By Sue Wadden

I love heading to the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) in New York City with the Sherwin-Williams Color Team every year. It’s a great opportunity for us to see what’s new in design all over the world. Thousands of global designers and design leaders attend and display, so the air is filled with creativity, inspiration and anticipation.

A Simple Vibe

Our overall impression from ICFF 2019 is easily summed up with one word: simplicity. Minimalist designs flooded the displays. Much of the furniture featured very streamlined profiles, but we also saw playful pops of color and texture through unexpected material pairings. There were also lots of rounded shapes, soft cushions and interesting surface textures — but again, nothing too fussy or complicated.

Small Living

We like to watch for general creative directions at this show, and it was easy to see that flexible design and tiny living continue to be big trends. Consumer demand for good design in small spaces just keeps rising! So several designers displayed space-saving designs, such as clothing racks and multifunctional mirrors mounted directly on walls. We also saw very functional work areas that included multiple adaptive pieces. And many of these elements had wheels attached to make moving them out of the way in a small space easier.

Sustainable Lighting

Interesting lighting was the most exciting product category at ICFF. In particular, I liked how many of the designs had a minimal Scandinese (Scandinavian and Japanese style combined) aesthetic using natural wood materials. Blond-colored wood was a key element, with darker wood tones in a polished sheen to emphasize the wood grain. We spoke with some of these lighting designers, and they were pretty much across the board focused on natural, locally sourced materials combined with LED technology. The resulting designs are very beautiful, innovative lighting solutions.

Balanced Colors

The colors we saw at ICFF this year were balanced and calm — warm neutrals and earth tones, much like the Sherwin-Williams Colormix^® Forecast 2020 Mantra palette. We also saw lots of terra-cotta, organic greens and blues — both soft and deep, like our Alive palette. And pink! Lots and lots of pink and salmon, which you’d find in our Heart palette.

Overall, the ICFF 2019 collections confirmed what’s been on the collective mind of the Color Team all year: that creating beauty and serenity in personal spaces — no matter the size of the space — is a great part of achieving a balanced, simple life.