Furniture manufacturers, designers and specifiers attending the Spring 2024 International Home Furnishings Market in High Point, North Carolina this month will get a unique insight into the latest colour innovations and trends shaping the furniture market from experts in AkzoNobel’s Global Colour and Design team for wood coatings.
The Global Colour and Design team works with furniture designers and architects to understand and interpret the impact of fashion and lifestyle on colours and effects used in paints and coatings. During the High Point Market, which takes place April 13-17, AkzoNobel experts will be sharing their insights into the colour and design influences driving the home furnishings sector.
“Colour influences our furnishings, our homes and our lives. Sharing our research and expertise in colour, texture, and finishes is at the heart of what we do as a company. Our aim is to work together with our customers to find the perfect solution for their needs, based on our long experience and in-depth market insights,” explains Bryan Hodges, colour and design manager, Wood Coatings, at AkzoNobel.
One of the trends sure to be influencing the furniture market in 2024 is AkzoNobel’s Colour of the Year, Sweet Embrace.
Sweet Embrace is a welcoming pastel pink inspired by soft feathers and evening clouds. It reflects the findings of global trends – that in an uncertain world, people are looking for belonging and reassurance. They are also in need of more peaceful environments and looking for joy in their everyday experiences.
Available in a variety of finishes and for different applications, Sweet Embrace is an opportunity for designers and woodworkers in furniture, flooring, cabinets and building products to provide a warm, calm and liberating environment for customers amid changing times.
To bring Sweet Embrace to life in real-world applications, AkzoNobel’s Global Wood Design has created three unique palettes, or ‘colour stories,’ all driven by the themes of belonging, calm and joy:
- Transitional - a warm colour story, combining shades of stone, soil and clay.
- Cottage - a calm colour story, bringing together the soft greens and blues of the woods and the sea.
- Contemporary - an uplifting colour story, with dreamy lilacs, fluid grays and modern yellows.
“Sweet Embrace and its inspired palettes provide an essential toolbox for furniture designers and joinery manufacturers looking for on-trend wood coatings to differentiate their projects. While for consumers, they make it easy to choose colours and combinations for a classic look that also reflects current trends and preferences,” says Hodges.
