I’ve been gathering both my thoughts and reference to report on some of what I saw at the show. It is huge! Five buildings: Ethnic Chic, Textiles, Tableware, Interior Decoration, and Home Accessories. 

What colors did I see? Well, a little bit of everything, of
course….At any trade show you are going to see “something for everyone”; but
the trick is to sort out what is new or trendy or traditional or cute or…old.
What I DID see here that was NEW was the color PLUM.….or mauve or amethyst or fig:

Yes, this color in combination with an eco green, both light
and dark, a pinkish beige or chocolate was the newest, trendiest color
combination.

Take a look below:

Plum Collage

            The
Emile Henry booth had a really wonderful display of these colors. I talked to
one sales person who named the “figue”, or fig, as their most popular, new
color.

            And
in textiles for both kitchen, bath and fabric I again saw this almost mauve
color. Here it would be combined with grayed blues and again, a neutral beige
or tan.

Plum
= 18-1718 or 5195       Green = 399     Tan = 16-1324

That picture at the bottom left is a gift/home furnishings boutique near the Place des Vosges, also highlighting the plum and green. 

A related color story, and one I also noted all over, was a brown. Here I would choose a Pantone 19-1217. The most prominent display of this was the Mercedes booth (well, it was hardly a “booth” as it extended halfway down an aisle!)  One luxurious car front and center. I asked the name of the color and was told “Cuprite Brown”. 

Now, I had certainly never heard of this before. I thought maybe the French accent had thrown me? No, there IS such a color. “Cuprite Brown” is a “reddish-brown, brittle, translucent oxide mineral”….So, Mercedes says the color has been selling well, and, as you can see, also has add ons to purchase..

Cuprite Brown collagae

  And then, for something fun, here are some very colorful textiles from Italy:

Brochures 7   

Brochures 8   

                  If you’re interested in attending, this could not have been easier to do: the website is at  Maison et Objet.   The next show is January 22-26, 2010.