Curves have been all over fashion and celebrity magazines, and are finding their way into home design and furnishings,too.
“They’re sensuous and inviting,” New York designer Barry Goralnick said at the Architectural Digest Home Design Show in New York. “Curved sofas that bring people closer together; rounded dining tables that are easier for conversation; round cocktail tables that are cozy and forgiving to shins. Arcs, circles, boat shapes — all kinds of curves.”
Examples of the trend included Matt Hutton’s walnut or cherry coffee table, a group of connecting circles. The Portland, Maine, furniture designer calls the table, which is available in three sizes, “Crop Circles.” ( )
Aaron Scott, a New York furniture and lighting designer who hails from Oregon, blends his affection for Pacific Northwest topography with an interest in geometry and the engineered form.
His curvy, oiled-oak pendant lamp somehow managed to evoke a tree burl and a ship’s propeller; at once organic and mechanical. The same was true of a round table lamp crafted of layers of bleached wood circles, with cutouts to reveal the light beneath.
A sleek circle of glass was perched on a sinuous wood base that looked like a weathered, waxed whale vertebra, and the juxtaposition made for a piece that was as much sculpture as furniture. ( )
Justin Teilhet, a ceramicist from Yellow Springs, Ohio, showed an arresting collection of porcelain objets d’art. Concentric circles formed vessels that were glazed in gunmetal and given 24-karat-gold-leaf interiors. The pieces were simple and dynamic. ( )
Designer Alexa Hampton is also a proponent of mixing curves with linear shapes. She created a relaxed and pretty “Library” space for show guests that incorporated voluptuous ceramic table lamps, inviting round tables and comfy chairs with curved arms.
“Shape and silhouette are always major considerations when designing an interior,” she said. “Much lik e any essential duality — yin and yang, hard and soft, masculine and feminine — when a room has straight and curvy elements, the result is more complete and, therefore, more successful.”
Straight lines are a given in any room, she said.
“But curves should always be added as well,” she added. “In architecture, the circle is the strongest shape.”
