What happens annually at the Atlanta Gift and Home Furnishings Marketplace can make a huge impact on your life. Whether you are considering purchasing large ticket items this year such as rugs and couches or smaller items like wall décor, tabletop accessories or linens, the new marketplace trends should provide you better energy.
Because of the emphasis on creating a home filled with calm and serenity, the trends this year are very user-friendly for the Feng Shui enthusiast.
Creativity was flowing everywhere on almost 50 floors of gifts, furniture, rugs and décor. Each floor at the marketplace is the size of a city block. The Atlanta Marketplace is always awe-inspiring with so much “eye candy” that you can easily overdose as you try to digest the ever-changing colors, styles and trends.
The color of the year is…
Pantone announced the color of the year is a zesty fresh yellow-green. They chose this as ‘the” color based on society’s need to refresh, recharge and disconnect from a complex world filled every nano-second with social, physical, political and environmental congestion and pollution.
Rounding out their color selection were last year’s colors of the year, rose quartz and periwinkle blue as part of the palette. Neutral grays or warm taupes (almost a very light milk chocolate color) were popular choices for background colors. Geometric lines and even very fluffy shag chairs, area rugs and benches are trending upward.
Serenity and calm dominate the rug market with blues ranging into soft neutral grays and warm pinkish taupes ranging to light chocolates. While traditional designs are still strong, the transitional styles gaining momentum and trending upward. The one startling trend within the rugs and wall coverings were geometric designs. They seemed a bit jarring considering the overall market trend was about peace, harmony and creating a sanctuary.
Whether shopping for paintings, pillows or tabletop decor, natural tones and varying shades of white and light linen colors dominated. They are the perfect backdrop to show off the zesty fresh yellow-green color of the year.
Home and personal trend will influence your purchasing
Words are everywhere. We are quite used to having words printed on shirts, pet clothing and signs but now they are everywhere including linens, socks and plates. They include sentiments and inspirational quotes like “Love you to the moon and back” or “Seeds of friendship bring flowers of joy.”
White leads the silk flower category featuring tulips, orchids, sunflowers and cotton. Yes, cotton in its natural state as picked from the fields
Heritage lace and the 50s retro look were found on linens including kitchen towels plus children’s clothing.
If you are a pearl lover, you will be very happy. Whether you have precious vintage pearls, large oversized pearls or wish to purchase new dressed up designer pearls sharing silver chains and beads, you will be a trendsetter.
Christmas 2017 is going to be filled with lots of decorating options. Red is the primary color but will arrive in two shades – traditional red and a rich deeper burgundy red. The traditional red was accompanied with crisp white and green traditional ornaments and featured bright red cardinals while the deeper burgundy red was often shown with pinecones and woodland birds and animals, particularly owls.
Other trending color combinations for Christmas included elegant silver with turquoise, Old World gold with cream and even bright Mardi Gras colors.
Geometric designs invaded Christmas décor as well as rugs and wall coverings, often in black and white.
In both the gifts and holiday categories, burlap towered above other materials. Besides being used as ribbon, burlap could be found on everything from occasional pillows and owls to canvases with the artwork painted right onto the burlap. It created a textured artsy look. Today’s burlap is very soft and touchfriendly making it much more appealing than the “feedbag burlap” of past generations.
Many holiday items were wearing snow and flocked trees are coming back.
To see some of these trends, visit my Facebook page , click on photos then on the Atlanta Gift Show – 2017 album. There is a second album just for Christmas.
Many of these 2017 trends can provide you wonderful Feng Shui energy for calming and creating your sanctuary. This is a great color palette for helping you disconnect from technology, restore and recharge. Designs this year help you reconnect with nature, while refreshing and energizing yourself.
When your lifestyle demands being in contact 24/7, this year’s trends will help you untether from your devices and daily stresses while nurturing yourself emotionally, physically and spiritually.
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Pat Heydlauff, a “flow of focus” expert, speaker and consultant designs home and workplace environments that unleash the flow of focus and maximize performance while creating balance and increasing prosperity. She is author of the forthcoming book, A Look Within, and published books, Feng Shui, So Easy a Child Can Do It, Beyond Engagement: Seven Ways Leaders Fuel Tomorrow’s Sustainability, and Selling Your Home with a Competitive Edge.