Paris is always a good idea, even if it’s just for a whistle-stop run around an interiors exhibition in the freezing cold weather. I might not have had time to have a leisurely dinner (let alone actually eat lunch sitting down) but I have got plenty to share with you from the January edition of Maison & Objet 2017 or #MO17 if you’re searching on social media. From lavish lifestyle sets to covetable home accessories Maison & Objet has it all. Having just closed its door yesterday here are my favourite design highlights from walking the halls of the January edition of Maison Objet Paris. 
Wiener GTV Design You might know the name Thonet if you’ve ever looked at classic bentwood furniture and Wiener GTV Design is part of the Thonet design group. In fact, I have always wanted to visit the museum at their factory in Frankenberg (it’s on my travel list for some point in the future). Wiener GTV Design was possibly one of favourites stands of Maison & Objet I just loved the collection. The beautiful shapes of the bentwood and cane gave a wonderful art deco inspired form combined with some impeccable styling and a backdrop of colour blocked walls it was a real winner for me. I fell pretty hard for a compact little desk/vanity table that I thought would work a treat if I ever renovated my home office.
molo When you are surrounded by a sea of products and colour and sound is bombarding you it is always a relief to escape into the calm, zen-like space of molo’s stand. I was smitten with their new cloud mast. Supported from the floor and counterbalanced with hanging weights, cloud mast suspends a luminous canopy of cloud-like forms that gently sway and bob. Completely mesmerising.
La Chance debuted new pieces by Alain Gilles including a daybed, ottoman and armchair. I felt it was their extended wallpaper collection that was the highlight of the stand. One of my #MO17 design highlights was the amount of new wallpaper on show.
Ferm Living always have something covetable in their new product offering. The adorn mirror was a case in point, I was also really taken with their actual stand’s false walls – those curves were incredibly decadent with a nod to art deco. The new range of cushions were also significantly more patterned and textured than I have seen from them. A reflection of the collections concept of the decadence of bygone eras.
Artek The Finnish company launched a textile range created by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec consisting of a sparse line graphic, the name ‘rivi’ translates to ‘line’ in Finnish. A simple repetitive pattern but in classic colour ways, the yellow particularly caught my attention, especially as the colour seemed so prevalent in hall 7.
Petite Friture is such a playful company. Only a couple of years ago their stand in Hall 7 was festooned with rabbits, this season while keeping the playfulness the ambience was much more “grown-up” with the lifestyle-focused room sets. Still full of colour and fantastic form, from geometric to organic shapes. The wallpaper collection was full of strong colour combinations and interesting illustrative pattern.
It was all yellow. Well, not quite all yellow but the colour that I saw constantly repeated across the halls was definitely yellow. Green was there but just not in the same quantities. Pink’s too were still hanging in there, but maybe it’s the desire for more sunshine and good news in lives that has brought yellow to the fore. A #MO17 trend, I wonder if I’ll see it at other shows?
Each show the Maison & Objet team create a theme for the show and showcase this in an exhibition. This year the inspiration was SILENCE created by Elizabeth Leriche. It was an escape from the roaring sound of the busy halls and tried to create a tranquillity that at least for some is the epitome of the quiet we long for in our fast-paced lives. It worked – briefly.
To see the previous editions of Maison & Objet visit here, here and here. I hope you’ve enjoyed my #MO17 design highlights.
Do you go to every Maison & Objet in Paris? that sounds amazing