When Metropolitan Home needed designers to share their fix-it secrets, they turned to Eddy Doumas.
When House Beautiful wanted to write about a posh mountain-side shindig, they also sought out Doumas and his design firm, Worth Interiors, which operates offices in Colorado and Florida.
Recently, however, it was Doumas who went looking for the tastmakers, this time in Paris at one of Europe’s grandest home-furnishings events, Maison & Objet. Room recently checked in with the designer about his experience.
Q: Describe Maison & Objet for people who have never been there.
A: It was a four-day event in January, and one of the largest home-furnishing trade shows in Europe. It was started to show merchandise to shop owners, but it’s starting to get more popular with American designers.
There are these great big different buildings, and each has a conceptual theme. One was classical furniture. Another had this rustic tribal look. It’s very different from most American (home-furnishing) shows where you’ll have a rug vendor and then a clock vendor and then a candlestick man all in one row.
Q: In your view, what were the dominant design trends?
A: What we’re starting to see, and this is in New York as well, is ethnic chic.This used to mean inexpensive Indonesian furniture that all had the same look. Now we’re seeing much cleaner-looking, refined furniture and accessories – refined but still rustic. Finishes have also changed. For years we kept seeing these dark finishes, ebonized oak or espresso walnut. I think people are ready for a contrast to that… (Light wood finishes) got a stigma in the “80s with that whole Santa Fe look. But now we’re seeing these mushroomy colors that are really popular.
Q: Is this a look that will easily translate to Colorado living?
A: I definitely think ethnic chic, with its lighter finishes and very, very simple lines, would work well here. It’s almost like Shaker lines, almost a Swedish country look, but it’s not flimsy little pointy legs. It’s square, chunky, clean pieces with these lighter finishes and refined details. I think that really works well here, especially in a mountain environment where we have these huge spaces to fill.
Read more about Eddy Doumas and Worth Interiors at worthinteriors.com.
Home editor Elana Ashanti Jefferson can be reached at 303-954-1957 or ejefferson@denverpost.com.
