5 Design Trends for 2021: Beaufurn Predictions

With this new year comes refreshed optimism and you can expect 2021 design to reflect this positivity in home and hospitality spaces worldwide.

Indeed, the color experts at Pantone Color Institute bolster this sentiment with their combined choice of the cheerful PANTONE 13-0647 Illuminating and the solid, dependable PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray as 2021 colors of the year.

Beaufurn is ready to partner with architects and interior designers to create welcoming, modern designs for consumers ready to move onward!

We have listed predictions for design trends in 2021 and welcome you to join in our anticipation by sharing your own thoughts.

A Return to the Workplace Experience

While many people will continue to work remotely, there are others looking forward to returning to the office and a fresh scene. Designers will be challenged to achieve privacy while maintaining proximity in workspaces outside the home.

“Architectural elements will define space in once ‘open design’ hospitality and contract settings,” says Thomas Bongaerts, CEO, Beaufurn.

Pods designed within an open floor plan will enable staff to return to the office and collaborate, along with the option to retreat to private, quiet spaces. With a range of requirements, architects can create these segmented areas without the need to change the traditional construction of buildings.

“We will incorporate acoustic panels, upholstery, louvers, and hard panel to help segment the areas,” Bongaerts adds. Employees will feel reconnected in these redesigned work zones that also offer effective, cleanable barriers for safety.

These privacy pods can be furnished with flexible seating options that make it easy to reconfigure spaces according to needs.  Look for this new introduction by Beaufurn in the coming months.

The Queue Collection by Beaufurn offers the ultimate in customization with durable, made-to-order seating in a full range of fabric options. Curved furnishings, such as the Aura Swivel Lounge Chair, create an easy flow in spaces with a smaller footprint or in intimate areas. Indeed, 2021 furniture overall has more relaxed lines (see our Babar Lounge Chair or Jewel Sofa).

Expect anyone returning to an in-person workplace to want a look and feel that is more like a private club or hotel lounge.

Opposites Attract and Impress

Combine the bold with the subtle; the vintage with the contemporary. After all, Pantone Illuminating paired with Pantone Ultimate Gray exemplifies the impact of combining opposing items. Contrast and depth together create balance in design.

Wallpaper plays a large role in 2021 design and we expect bold, geometric, nature-inspired prints to enliven indoor rooms as consumers protest confinement. To balance pattern-heavy walls, classic furniture products (see our Rumi Side Chair or Bello Side Chair) will be popular options.

Statement furniture (see the Elyse Round Modular Booth or our Pouf Points) will help break up an otherwise blank canvas in spaces where wallpaper does not command attention or it is not a focal point in the design.

In addition to the PANTONE colors of the year, we expect to see a lot of green, teal, and blue in commercial spaces. Hues that invoke serenity will continue to be desirable, as everyone looks for more peace and tranquility in 2021.  We expect to see this trend throughout many industries, including government, hospitality, within senior living, and in contract spaces as well.

Bring the Outdoors In

Blurring the lines between indoors and outdoors can only gain in popularity this new year as we continue to reach for less restriction and move away from confinement.

Fresh designs will bring the outdoors inside in obvious ways, with plants and greenery, and in subtle ways with exposed-wood furniture products and transitional pieces like our Oar Lounge Chair. We designed the Oar, inspired by the classic Adirondack chair, with a raked back and deep-angled seat. Turned wood and joinery support this updated classic, which elegantly combines the best indoor and outdoor features, in lounge and pull-up styles.

French doors, bi-fold doors, and window walls will enable spaces to visually, effortlessly, expand indoor living spaces beyond our walls and into the outdoors.

This brings us to our next prediction: expanded outdoor space.

Expand the Outdoors

While the early stages of the pandemic pushed us outdoors out of necessity, this new year will reveal how truly enjoyable the outdoors can be. Connections to the outdoors will be more purposeful, with more time for planned vistas or for upward construction that creates fantastic rooftop venues.

Exterior living spaces will be functional and stylish, with furniture products that are comfortable yet easy to maintain and trendy outdoor shelter that offers shading without interrupting space capacity (see Beaufurn P6 Saule Umbrellas).

Outdoor environments that are aesthetic and functional will trend this year, with furnishing solutions that offer the flexibility to have intimate seating areas yet can transition to build larger, safe gatherings using sleek, modular seating (see our Serene Outdoor Lounge Collection).

Natural wood can play the lead role in outdoor furniture choices that create organic, welcoming, expanded living spaces.

Green Solutions

Dedication to sustainable choices will not falter in 2021.

While our commitment to dynamic design is foremost, a promise of environmental responsibility is also essential. Beaufurn continues its commitment to environmentally responsible furniture design through our practices, processes, and materials.

Woods are FSC certified, foams are soy-based, and finish options include water-based glues and lacquers. Upholstery selections include biodegradable synthetic leather, recycled fabric, or natural and renewable cork.

Expect indoor and outdoor spaces to incorporate natural materials and “green” design elements that celebrate healthy environments throughout 2021.

Welcome these design trends in 2021, a year of emergence and renewed connections to people and to nature.

• Color exploration that not only welcomes brilliant hues like Pantone Illuminating, but calming colors like Pantone Ultimate Gray, blues, teals, and tones found in nature.
• Defined spaces that offer privacy along with proximity
• Blurred lines between indoor and outdoor spaces
• Expanded, enhanced exterior living spaces
• Continued importance on sustainability

Here’s to the new year and new creative spaces!