Affordable Granite has always aimed to be at the forefront of the solid stone worktop industry. To help us to do this we like to keep abreast of current and future trends in kitchens and furniture design. Cassie Barbasio and myself were very excited to be given the opportunity to visit the world’s leading design exhibition in Milan.
The Salon de Mobile is held at the FieraMilano SpA just outside Milan. The exhibition complex was in itself an amazing centre, with a huge glass atrium followed by large exhibition halls separated by shallow ornamental ponds and green areas. Although we were there for the day we probably only managed to see about a tenth of the show, such was the size of the centre, and the number of companies and displays to see.
We will delve more deeply into specifics from the show over coming weeks, but the things that struck us most overall were:
Textures:-
- One of the biggest things that we noticed was the use of mixes of materials. High gloss MDF and acrylics mixed with unfinished wood. Natural wood finishes with steel. Wood in every possible finish from almost untouched tree-trunks to the most super-high gloss finishes with intricate marquetry. Soft suede and nubuck leather mixed with lush velvet and tweed.
Colours: –
- There is still a lot of grey on the scene, but now mixed with delicate rose pinks. Dusky pinks were everywhere at the show – even on worktops.
- Jewelled-colours like Emerald Green, Ruby and Gold.
Accessories:–
- Copper was still really big with other warm metallics, gold and brass also making a come-back.
Kitchen doors:–
- We saw a wide variety of styles of kitchen from the most hyper-modern minimalist to the most traditional and opulent.
- An interesting twist to the fairly classic shaker style kitchen was to introduce a steel section or a steel door or drawer pack but with a detailed design on the steel.
- Unusual shaped and interlocking doors also featured and textured and leather – sleeved handles.
Design week in Milan features other smaller design Exhibits dotted around the city. We only had time to visit one so chose Caesarstone. Caesarstone’s “Altered states”was designed by Snarkitecture. The external courtyard display encouraged visitors to interact with water in it’s three states, liquid (water) solid (ice) and gas (steam) The display islands were made of Caesarstone quartz colours uniquely layered on top of each other to produce the undulations of model landscapes.
(Images here courtesy of Caesarstone.)
Inside the building there was a huge island made of White Attica Caesarstone which visitors were again encouraged to engage with. This was surrounded by a large sculpture of wire cylinders each topped with Caesarstone quartz colours.
Our Affordable Granite visit to Milan wouldn’t have been complete without a visit to the Duomo and a bit of window shopping and wish-list gathering in the designer stores that surround the square.
All in all, another good visit! Cassie, with her background in fashion and design is a great companion, and we loved both the show and the town. Much to think about as we plan for new products to be held in stock here at Affordable Granite. With a bit of luck, Andy will send us again!
