Stockholm’s big design week, Stockholm Design Week, is over and we take the opportunity to summarize this year’s major interior design trends 2023. During the week, activities took place all over Stockholm, but the focus is on the Stockholm Furniture Fair and the Scandinavian Design Awards.
Sustainable design – a mega trend in interior design and architecture
Calling sustainability a trend is probably wrong, and fortunately so. Rather, we are in a era of sustainability, which only grows stronger from year to year with no end in sight. The idea of the return of the throw-away society and non-recyclable products seems more and more distant.
Architecture is great, but construction and buildings account for almost 40% of humanity’s carbon emissions. A more sustainable approach is needed – not only among luxury goods but also in the home – if emissions are to be reduced.
It was therefore not entirely unexpected that both the Sustainability Award and the Architecture of the Year award would go to the first factory in the world to achieve BREEAM Outstanding environmental certification. Bjarke Ingels BIG has designed Vestre’s new furniture factory The Plus according to the rules of art. Vestre’s factory becomes part of the forest it is built in, submerged in the ground, with trees close by and even forest vegetation on the roof. Solar panels and recycled materials radically reduce the factory’s environmental impact.
Under the sustainability megatrend, there were trends that both built on it and run alongside it.
Interior Design Trend 2023 #1: Naturalness
The longing for nature is now also affecting the inside of our houses.
This year’s guest of honor was Swedish company Front – the first time in 20 years that a Swedish company has received the honor. Front chose to transform its Pebble Rubble sofas and chairs for Morosi into Swedish granite blocks, complete with moss patterns from Danish textile specialist Kvadrat.
The Furniture of the Year was the “4PM” chaise longue by Chris Martin for Massproductions. The idea was to create a chaise lounge that is comfortable to sit in despite being made entirely from either Douglas fir or cherry wood. The name comes from the perfect time to take a break according to Chris Martin – 4 o’clock in the afternoon. Wood is a 2023 interior design trend that is here to stay. Not only is wood beautiful in that it creates beautiful, long-lasting furniture, but replanting the felled forest is also a way of capturing carbon dioxide in furniture and buildings.
Interior design trend 2023 #2: 3D printed shapes
Interior design trend 2023 #3: Craftsmanship and production
Focusing more on the craftsmanship and production behind the furniture is also an interior design trend in 2023 related to sustainability. Craftsmanship creates more sustainable furniture and by focusing on production early on, sustainability becomes a much more central part of the design.
Producer of the Year was Massproductions, whose founder Chris Martin previously worked as a consultant for IKEA. For the “4pm” chaise longue, they have chosen to offer the Self Build option – simply providing the drawing so that anyone can build the chair themselves with materials bought in a DIY store.
Folkform, which won Designer of the Year, was also recognized for its focus on craftsmanship. The Plissé lamp for Örsjö Belysning highlights pleating – folding – as a new form of craftsmanship. In connection with Svenskt Tenn, a special collection of Plissé with Josef Frank’s classic pattern was launched.
Finnish Antrei Hartikainen was named Rising Star of the Year. Hartikainen designs furniture and architecture with a mix of Nordic simplicity and Japanese austerity. The jury’s motivation was the love of the material and the craftsmanship, and it shows. The favorite is the elegant Bastone sideboard for Poiat Furniture and, of course, Hartikainen’s own scoop and water bucket for sauna use.
