A new year brings excitement for me; it's much like I remember shopping for school during the hot, lazy days of August when I was a kid. Anticipation begins building for the upcoming year sometime around Thanksgiving; something about that first big holiday gets me in gear and I start mentally reviewing where I've been and where I'd like to go - if I'm lucky I get to bring along a few for the ride.
My biggest personal commitment for 2008 is to spend more quality time with family and friends. It's important to me that our time together be fun, warm, bright, cheerful, sometimes bold and always authentic. I would like to stay away from the dull, dry and sterile routines of yesterday, but certainly our history together is important so I'm sure we'll be including a few traditions, just as long as they're easy and low maintenance and fairly simple. I've found we have more fun when we just enjoy each others company, rather than get caught up in the to-do.
Bringing my goal into focus was a whole lot easier this year than previous years, because the design trends for 2008 happen to have perfectly lined up with what I wanted to identify with. The whole process was interesting really. Because I'm so visual I see my goal, or what I want, in my minds eye in color. It was fun to expand that visual goal based on the experts color predictions. The same with authenticity, it turns out green design could be the biggest design trend of 2008, as long as it's done right and not to fit a trend, according to Claire McGovern of McGovern Design House. It appears savvy buyers are also looking for authenticity. I'll include a few predicted design trends for 2008 and you can let me know if you see my goal embedded in that list.
•· Bye-bye to the minimalist! Colors, textures and layers are in! And that includes the backyard - we want to enjoy every inch of our living space. Word has it, according to Architectural Digest that our outdoor living space is becoming increasingly important to us and we want it decorated.
•· Mixing it up. Blue pairs with camel and tan, pale green and yellow. Look for warm red tones, such as watermelon and carrot orange. Black and white combinations will stay for 2008, but will be combined with yellow, lime orange and fresh green. Lime yellow, kiwi and tangerine are expected to be popular in the kitchen. This all according to Janice Simonsen, design team spokeswoman at IKEA.
•· An old dog learns new tricks. Furniture designers have put new looks on old favorites. Keep your eyes open for restyled wicker chairs and bentwood rockers and expect to see them in modern settings.
So, what do you think? Do you see my goal? Can you see any of your own goals in any of those trends? Actually....now that I think about it, maybe I'll make a few changes around the house too. How about you?
Jackie
Comments(24)