Best New Furniture

This season's furniture trends celebrate craftsmanship and simplicity of materials.

SWEET SEAT Geometry stays strong in furniture for 2014, and this Switch sofa by Gus Modern ($2,000, pictured above) shows it off with reversible cushions, just-right for mixing and matching patterns.WITH THE GRAIN It’s about texture, pattern play and letting the grain of the wood shine through. Wood gets naked this year, and there’s no better example than furniture designer Brent Comber’s Ikebana collection: inspired by Japanese flower arranging, the modular furniture pieces are actually three individual designs. The longer “Shin” pieces, slightly smaller “Soe” benches and even shorter “Hikae” pieces (mathematically precise—they’re half the length of the Shin pieces) can be side tables, or more seating—a jigsaw puzzle beautifully crafted from Douglas fir, and featuring watery grain patterns and precisely placed knots, all allowed to shine under white hard wax oil.INDIGO IS BLUE After a year when blue was darling—cobalt (aka “dazzling blue”) was a Pantone colour of the year for 2014—indigo (a little more earthy in tone, a hint of rich red in there) seems poised to be the new colour-we-love for 2015. It’s showcased beautifully on this @-chair ($5,632), designed by Toshiyuki Kita for Ligne Roset. A modern update on the classic recliner, the chair features mod wings on the headrest (nothing traditional about this design) and converts from side chair to deep lounger with the touch of a discreet aluminum button.GREEN IS THE NEW BLACK Sustainable design gets a bump into beauty with this AP stool ($587), designed by Shin Azumi for LaPalma. Made of one piece of plywood, the stool has an ergonomic design that lets the user feel like they’re floating instead of sitting. Its eco-conscious production (LaPalma uses only FSC-certified timber, as well as 100-percent recyclable raw materials) recently won the company a “Green Good Design” award by the Chicago Museum of Architecture and Design.LIGHTEN UP After seasons of walnut (and wenge before that), lighter woods (think oak, birch, even maple) are making a comeback. This pale Simetria coat rack ($576) by Redesign for Prostoria, so named because of its symmetrical, mirrored design, also channels our ongoing love (obsession?) for geometrics.VINTAGE REDUX We’re not yet ready to abandon mid-century design, but by 2014, many originals are a little worse for wear. Enter the re-release. The Spanner chair ($995), a collaboration of the Spanner family and Gus Modern, matches the original design—first created by Russell Spanner in 1950—right down to the woven strapping, birch frame and finger-joint details. In true artisan spirit, the first 100 chairs produced are part of a numbered series.CODE ORANGE Orange has been the unexpected colour trend this year on fashion runways. That might be the influence of a certain Netflix series with the colour prominent in its title, but it’s also a surprisingly home design-friendly shade. (Look no further than the condo Paul Lavoie designed in our October issue.) It happens to be the perfect counterpoint to the lighter woods on show right now, as seen in Ikea’s PS 2014 desk ($230)—just right for the home office that needs a bit of a wow moment.