A modern contemporary style is the new trend for home furnishings this year, mixing and matching natural and synthetic raw materials.

A survey of displays at the recent Thailand International Furniture Fair/interior design asia (TIFF/ida) Bangkok 2007 found that most exhibitors were presenting the new trend in a combination of natural and synthetic materials.

Manapol Poosomboon, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries' Furniture Industry Club, says functionality is also at the heart of the new trend, which uses cotton, wood, stainless steel, steel and leather.

Natural raw materials have continued to be main features of Thai furniture, because of home-owners' desire to feel close to nature, he says.

But Ayodhya Trade (93) marketing director Petchara Punsri says feeling close to nature is only part of the appeal. Natural materials also lend warmth to a home, which can be felt by visitors.

The main raw materials used in her company's furniture this year are Java weed mixed with polyethylene or polypropylene, creating a different feeling for home decoration that is trendy, but doesn't lose contact with nature.

Natural colours of wood and white are most popular, she says, in both Eastern and Western styles, and bringing the "mix and match" concept to a different aspect of home decoration, end-users these days are interested in mixing trendy, different designs with pieces that are functional.

Displays by the 224 manufacturers participating in TIFF/ida 2007 seemed to bear this out. There was an obvious focus on functionality.

Modernform Group chief executive director Thaksa Busayapoka says home-owners are these days mixing and matching furniture in accordance with their own tastes. They buy separate and different pieces of furniture and mix them together instead of buying formal furniture sets, out of a love for creating their own homes.

"Most home-owners love to mix and match furniture by themselves, according to their lifestyles. As a result, the furniture-design trend this year is to create different styles. They must be capable of being used together as a furniture set, but they must also be easy to separate and mix with different pieces of furniture," he says.

Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul

The Nation