La Vie Parisienne: Maison et Objet

Maison et Objet is a very large exhibition of textiles, furniture, decorations, crockery and all sorts of beautiful objects. Our visit here was with the objective of teaching us a little about colour through analysing the current colour palettes of various textile companies. These ranged from Children's clothing, through to stationary, bedlinen, rugs and garden furniture. There was an enormous space dedicated only to craft from other countries which displayed hundreds of traditional skills, colours and techniques from a Thai designer who made crochet hammocks to traditional Moroccan Berber rugs. After a long day, I left with so many ideas and inspirations. I took a few photos to remind me of certain trends and designers but not all were willing to have their designs photographed. There were a few designers I would like to research further so I will do this in the coming weeks.

In the main textile hall, there was a colour palette which seemed to dominate this season- that of greys, mauve, dark violet, aubergine etc. The colours have a distinctive grown up and elegant feel. They have a relaxing, sexy ambience without being overtly feminine.

Sonia Rykiel Bedlinen with its signature black stripes.

Petit Pan is a French company specialising in children's textiles. The ditzy prints and colours are inspired by Chinese pattern and flowers.

I like the current colour palette choice for Designer Guild's stationary range- very eye catching,vivid, acidic colours.

A more subdued and natural colour palette was used by the Danish Crafts Collection. I was particularly curious about Pernille Snedker Hansen's Marbelous Wood as it is unlike anything I have ever seen before. I am generally not a fan of pine interiors as I feel the wood has a cheap appearance. However these pine boards have been totally transformed by subtle colour to give them a very feminine, elegant and original appearance. Wood surfaces are a Scandinavian tradition and the designer has sought to preserve this but to add add a new dynamic by using an old marbling technique to add subtle colour.