On the menu at Decorex Durban

January 2012: Along with the annual move into a New Year comes a shift in the trends characterising local and international décor, design and home living industries. Locally, Decorex Durban 2012 will no doubt be setting the scene for trend-forward South Africans, having amassed an inspiring combination of high-end exhibitors, workshops and demonstrations for its Durban exhibition, scheduled to take place at the Durban Exhibition Centre from March 21-25.

With all the focus placed on eco-friendly and environmentally sound practices by the COP17/CMP7 climate change conference held in the city at the end of last year, it’s no surprise that elements of nature and refurbished furniture are set to become two of the most prominent trends in 2012. According to Laurence Brick of Laurence Brick Creative Direction, and trend consultant to Decorex SA, “With the economic downturn consumers are taking pride in bargain hunting, almost a backlash against mass consumerism, and it’s chic to be price conscious. Here, people go back to what is honest and good, so items which appear humble, paired down and textured have a new appeal.”

Overstated textures have also regained their popularity, especially those fabrics with crochets, knits and felting. Brick also believes that nature-inspired prints will be in high demand this year. “Floral prints will be popular, ranging from oversized flowers to the more romantic pretty blooms, and to warm things up we will find exotic flower prints like the Lotus flower, tropical palm prints, leafy prints, as well as the more traditional Victorian flowers. Our feathered friends are also all over this season – flamingoes, peacocks and smaller creatures such as bees and beetles also make their way into prints, celebrating the playful side of nature.”

A nod to the natural world and oversized textures are tipped to make a splash in 2012

Speaking about the colour trends for the coming year, Brick said “this season the mood in colour is definitely easy and playful. We see the mix of hot neons with soft pastels, while colours found in nature still dominate. Naturals are versatile and calming, yet also offer some of the season’s brighter more vibrant colours.”

Endless Possibility

Plascon will be adding much colour to Decorex Durban as they showcase their 2012 Colour Forecast at the event. Four of South Africa’s top designers will each be interpreting a different one of the four Plascon colour palettes from their 2012 Forecast entitled “Endless Possibility”, namely Memory, Expression, Mystery and Origins.

According to Anne Roselt, Plascon Colour Manager, the “the 2012 Colour Trends are a reflection of our current social climate – the mood of society, they highlight our needs and our desires”. With all this in mind, Plascon developed their key directions for 2012, expressed as the four different themes, where Memory consists mostly of soft pastels inspired by the past, Expression’s optimistic bright colours are linked to current events, Mystery relies on rich deep hues and metallics to represent the future, and Origins uses modern, neutral colours to reconnect us to our roots.

The four colour connoisseurs who will be interpreting the 2012 Plascon palettes in a four room concept stand at Decorex Durban are Michelle Throssel (Memory), KOOP and the Shaw Sisters (Origins), Ruth Duke (Mystery) and Laurence Brick (Expressions).

Caesarstone, leading retailers of fine quartz surfaces, will also be taking advantage of what are sure to be bumper crowds at this year’s Decorex Durban, to exhibit the six new additions to their Classico colour palette for 2012. Having been designed by a panel of colour development specialists, the exciting new Caesarstone colours are aimed at setting the colour trend in the 2012 décor market.

Also on display for the first time, Caesarstone will be unveiling their new Supremo range at Decorex Durban. Trevor King, Marketing Director of Caesarstone had this to say: “the Supreme range of surface material from Caesar stone has an elegant, exclusive feel to it and with exciting names such as Swan Lake, Fair Lady, Black Night and Shining Armor, the Supreme range is sure to cause a stir of excitement among designers and homeowners alike. The Caesarstone display at Denorex Durban will be manned by Caesar stone’s own team of experienced consultants, all of whom have both local and international experience in surface design fashions and trends.”

For more information, visit www.decorex.co.za, like “Denorex SA” on Face book, follow @decrease or hash tag #decorexdurban on Twitter.

Exhibition Details:

Decorex Durban, 21 – 25th March, 2012

Durban Exhibition Centre

Industry trade days: 22 and 23 March

Hours: 10am-8pm (closes at 6pm on 25 March)

Tickets: Adults R55; pensioners and students, R45; children under 12, R10