Laura Ford, graphic artist and textile designer, has a great job.

She works for one of the biggest players in the bedding industry, and thus she travels the world in search of the latest trends in home décor. Her “shopping” gives her information and inspiration. Last week she jetted off to France to hit the Maison & Objet, Paris’ largest home décor showplace where tomorrow’s trends are born . Before and after scouring the market, she heads to the stylish stores of Paris. Then, she’s off to London, to continue her search for the next best thing.

This time, you’re going with her. Get ready to live a few days in the life of a décor trend-spotter.

DAY 5

LONDON – We had to cover a lot of ground today. There were lots of stores to visit and samples to be bought. Here is where we went and what we saw:

Laura Ashley had bolts of fabrics displayed in color themes, which was great for color reference. They also had what we call a story board on display and it was so nice I took a picture of it. A story board is what we use to present our ideas to each other and also to sell to clients. They include swatches of fabrics, colors chips and images and it’s all to evoke a mood, idea or trend.

The store had the most beautiful pillows of the entire trip, nice details in stitching, great colors and fabrications and the decorative pillows had so many different techniques. One was a round organza rose pillow in a robin’s egg blue. Another was an embroidered rose, but my favorite – which we bought for a bedding idea – was an adorable applique house setting with trees, flowers and a picket fence. The details make this pillow so special, like the use of a floral corduroy for the grass, a plaid cotton fabric as the roof and satin and whipped-stitched details on each applique and also around the edge of the entire pillow. You can see it at lauraashley.com.

Allegra Hicks, a home and fashion store, was really wonderful and fresh. We were drawn in by the pillows displayed just as you walk into the store. Really new ways of presenting colors, textures and modern prints. Check out their goods at allegrahicks.com.

Habitat reminds me of the Ikea, with that same European flavor. It offers similar categories as well, such as lighting, furniture, kids, etc. But the store is not as huge as Ikea. The only thing that I left with from this store was some wallpaper that has a “pattern-on-pattern” look. I had already seen some of their bedding from my last trip, but the wallpaper was all new to me. It has several different stripes of patterns in the background that are different shades of gray and then on top of that is a damask motif. Really interesting and a new twist on the damask that has been out in the marketplace. See them online at Habitat.

Peter Jones, another department store, had all their decorative pillows displayed in separate color groupings of deep plums, crimson reds and bright greens. It was all visually clean and organized and could be a nice idea for how we could display things in our New York showroom. They had a huge variety of pillows, so we picked out several for technique, color and inspiration. We found a traditional patchwork quilt with some classic red, white and blue fabrics. In the bath area they had an entire wall with a spectrum of color. It was spectacular, so we bought washcloths of the colors we liked, in order to guide us in choosing our spring color palette.

They had some kid-themed duvets, one with a bunch of surfboards all over it, another with rocket ships and planets, a third with a pirate theme. There was a Harry Potter-like wizard bed, and, of course, a fairy princess bed. The boy beds were great finds because designs for boys rooms are more difficult to create. We had great success at this store.

The next two stores – Lulu Guinness and Selina Blow – are right next door to one another and they are fun boutiques full of inspiring treasures. The Lulu Guinness boutique in London had brilliant handmade purses, which she calls the “house” bags, because they indeed look like little houses. They are darling. She has some other whimsical bags that you can see on her website. Also check out her rug, bedding and eyewear line.

Selina Blow had some amazing embroidered boots. You’re probably thinking, “How are boots inspiring to a bedding designer?” Truthfully, all shoes inspire me (because I love shoes), but the motifs on these are what I’m talking about. They have a pattern embroidered all over them that is reflective of a textile and motif trend happening right now called “Suzani,” which is the Persian word for “needle.” This embroidery treatment has history to it, and comes from an interconnection of cultures in Europe, Turkey and China within the Muslim world. Its birthplace is what is now known as Uzbekistan. Here’s a site that shows you some examples of these designs so you can see the motifs and the bright bold colors. 

As I said a few days ago, it’s all about connecting the dots. The design of these boots is a perfect example, because I saw this trend in a few places already in the states, then I saw it at the Maison & Objet show a few days ago, as well as in the flea market in Paris. Now it has popped up on some boots in London. Coincidence? No: This is a trend emerging, and you heard it here first.

Then there is an always refreshing stop at Liberty of London, known to textiles designers all over the world for their fabulous prints. You can see what they have on their website. 

When we are on the hunt, we buy pieces for their use of fabric, an embroidery technique or perhaps a new, different color. “Newness” is a buzz word in this industry. As we walked to dinner, we tried to pinpoint the big trends we spotted on this trip. Here are a few:

1) Florals are everywhere and they are still over-sized. Some look hand-painted, as if they are water-colors or distressed. Some of the motifs have a very open feel to them.

2) Pattern on pattern (one pattern overlapping another) is still showing up. A paisley in the background with a damask pattern on top was on wallpaper I saw at Habitat.

3) Feathers are on pillows, trims, lampshades and in embroidery motifs. There’s been a bird motif trend showing up in fabrics, embroideries and hard goods as well.

4) Gray is still all over – being used as a neutral. We saw palettes of color with gray and plum, as well as gray, taupe and cream.

5) Striped layouts were consistent in the construction of quilts, comforters and deck pillows.

We’re exhausted and at the end of our trip. When we get back to the states, I’ll give you a slide show of all the trendy items we spotted so you can be a step ahead of other shoppers. And, it’s still hard for me to believe . . . but I really do get paid to shop!

Read About Day 1
Read About Day 2
Read About Day 3
Read About Day 4