Cosy up for the winter
The appeal of the ubiquitous corner sofa might be waning, as Colleen Hawkes finds we’re looking more towards comfort and practicality in furniture.
Our first winter in the year of the pandemic was all about nesting for a lot of us – keeping close to home and family, and wrapping up warm with woolly blankets and sheepskins. Cocooning is on trend this winter, and may well be here to stay. And new furniture is echoing this trend.
True, the voluptuous curves we are seeing in many of the new pieces have their roots in art deco and 1980s modern furniture, but they seem particularly well suited to our nesting instincts.
And it’s not just curves – new furniture is also all about texture. For some time, we have been piling on the textural cushions, but now the furniture itself is making a textural statement.
Coco Republic, for example, describes boucle as the ‘‘hottest material of the moment’’.
The store’s top picks for boucle are the Milou swivel chair, the Jackson desk chair and the Phoenix dining chair. The designers say the fabric will keep you snug and provide standout furniture pieces in your home.
Freedom Furniture also sees cocooning as a big trend this winter, with lots of texture and a warm, earthy colour palette. Tactile surfaces you want to touch are very big, and the store includes corduroy fabric in the mix.
‘‘Although lockdown was tough for many, there is also a fondness and a yearning to slow down again,’’ says head of design Kate Hopwood.
Less is more
Anthony Spon-Smith, Coco Republic’s creative director and co-owner, suggests we don’t need to go overboard with our furniture choices, however. ‘‘Less is more this winter.’’
Spon-Smith talks about ‘‘a juxtaposition of daring sculptural pieces teamed with minimal forms. We have used a refined choice of materials, such as marble, leather, timber and textured upholstery, to create a collection of simple interiors that let the products and product combinations do the aesthetic heavy lifting.
‘‘The result is warm and artistic interiors with a simplistic charm for the upcoming winter months.’’
Hopwood agrees it’s important not to overdo the look. She says the trend is moving away from overdesigned furniture. ‘‘Better-quality, less polarising details actually mean trends last longer, so you won’t ever look out of style.’’
Simple design classics are the way to go, Hopwood says. ‘‘There is a great emphasis on quality and craftsmanship, locally made furniture, and ‘honest’ materials, such as timber, marble and glass.’’
Hopwood anticipates a move towards increased entertaining at home this winter, which puts the focus on the dining table.
‘‘It’s so important to get the table right, not only for the space it’s going to live in but also in terms of practicalities.
‘‘A round table is great for being more social. It’s also great to extend and make a very cool lozenge shape. A rectangular table can make the most of your space and still allow room for extra guests on each end.’’
‘‘Everybody sat on uncomfortable sofas during lockdown, and now they’re doing something about it.’’ Sonya Cotter
Sofas are changing
Comfort is implicit when it comes to sofa choice. And, in line with the cocooning trend, many sofas have chunky arms – all the better to wrap around you. Or they are streamlined modern pieces with extremely narrow arms.
Auckland interior designer Sonya Cotter says sofas are still very large, and she is seeing deeper seating than in the past. ‘‘Everybody sat on uncomfortable sofas during lockdown, and now they’re doing something about it.’’
The designer says divan-style sofas are proving a good solution for many families, because ‘‘people can be lounging and lying all over them’’.
But the ubiquitous corner sofa might be waning. Cotter says the chaise end to a sofa is no longer a must-have.
‘‘The corner sofa has evolved into a modular unit that offers more flexibility. Individual pieces can be moved around and interchanged,’’ she says. ‘‘You might have an ottoman you can move around, and even put into the middle of the seating.
‘‘And ideally, sofas are pulled away from the walls. I love putting two sofas opposite each other, nice and close. People often forget about conversation, but you want to be able to have that intimacy.’’
The designer recommends neutral tones for sofas, adding colour through ‘‘the cushions that go with it or the rug that goes under it’’.
Side tables all around
Side tables are also transforming living rooms, and it’s the round table that is commanding attention.
‘‘Gone is the monolithic coffee table in the middle of the room, for many of us,’’ says Cotter.
‘‘Side tables provide a place to keep a laptop, cup of coffee or glass of wine close at hand.
‘‘Having side tables also leaves more space in the centre of the room for children to play.’’
But forget about matching side tables. ‘‘How we layer our decor is the way we can layer our coffee [side] tables.
‘‘You can layer marble, metal or timber, all in together. You might create a ‘nest’, but it’s not the old-style nesting tables of old.’’
And no furniture setting is complete without a rug, says Cotter.
‘‘A rug creates an island destination in our open-plan homes.
‘‘They create a snuggly, comforting feeling, and, right now, they are quite textural. In the lower price bracket we are seeing lots of dyed jute rugs for a very natural look.
‘‘Even wool rugs, which often have herringbone or chevron patterns, are rugged and textural.’’