What should your furniture be like in 2019?

In an era that is branded by technology, Big Data, the increase in solitude, the environmental problems, it should now be the time to look for the personal authenticity and truth to ask ourselves: what change can I make as a person that will have a positive effect on my life, my family and my work? And, by extension, in society as a whole?

Michelle Ogundehin for the magazine De Zeen

(Writer, design consultant. Ex-editor-in-chief of ELLE Decoration UK)

Well-being at home

A greater feeling of environmental responsibility, the exponential increase in the needs to rest and improve sleep, the power, not only aesthetic but also that of the plants cleaning the air, will be a constant theme in 2019.

Each green tone used in every decorative detail will recreate the plant feeling that we miss.

Marble, stone, ceramics and porcelain become benchmark materials when it comes to anything natural and intrinsically textural.

The low-grade and modest materials

Materials such as rattan, jute, plywood or bamboo will now be used as if they were high quality materials. Their texture, authenticity and tactility will be valued more than ever now.

In this extremely digital era, we have a fundamental need of surrounding ourselves by surfaces that stimulate our sense of touch or caress our bare feet.

The need exists to feel the textures again, which we forget after being permanently in touch with our technological devices and we will do this at home.

Going back to familiarity.

We will reinterpret nostalgia by rejecting fast fashion and disposable culture. We will live through the re-edition of the great pieces of furniture of all the periods. Consumers will be attracted to products, finishes and materials that produce a pleasant, convenient and not excessively complicated feeling.

Everything points to a return to what is familiar to us and comfortable; so, the furniture designs of the next few years should be in line with this.

In 2018 we already saw the triumphant return of the revamped grandma?s kitchen, full of large metal elements and handles, the bathroom fittings made in metal to recreate a perfect and oneiric past, the furniture upholstered in velvet, comfortable and fluffy? it all hints at the fact that this trend is here to stay.

Textures and colours

No, the Living Coral of Pantone (chosen as the colour of the year) will not be the only trendy colour for 2019.

These are complex times in which it is almost impossible to present a few tones or textures as being emblematic for 2019.

Beige, details of the green range and touches of the mustard colour might also standout on perfectly white or wood colour backgrounds.

Soft, fluffy, comfortable upholstery, textural elements in furniture that abandon the flat universe and incorporate metal or stone thus creating the ambivalence of materials.

Furniture design for 2019 will be pleasant and comfortable. After so much technology, the future of furniture has gone back to its origins. Revamped, but

recognisable.