Judy Thompson is co-director of The American Institute of Interior Design in Fountain Hills, which she founded (with her husband, Dana) in 1988. She is an ASID Allied member and is in Who’s Who in Interior Design. With the school located upstairs from the Fountain Hills Design Center, owned by Alice and Phillip Blackerby, students are able to take advantage of that opportunity as they attend the design school.

The American Institute of Interior Design
16855 E. Parkview Ave.
Fountain Hills, AZ 85268
www.americandesignschool.com
aiid1@qwestoffice.net
(480) 946-9601-phone

Interior Design Trends from Europe

America still looks to Europe to see what is on the design horizon, so Judy and Dana Thompson of the American Institute of Interior Design take their students to “the old world” to find out what is new. Chances are we’ll soon see these looks in our homes and offices. Judy says there generally are a couple of years lag before trends reach the United States.

Here is what the fledgling designers discovered for this year:

Design Trends Spring 2009

Where’s the Kitchen?
Kitchens don’t look like kitchens -- all the appliances are hidden in base cabinets! Overhead kitchen cabinets have morphed into glass display cabinets or open shelves. Some of these rooms could almost pass as living rooms with fine cabinetry.

Color Schemes

Hot fun in the summertime
Hot neon hues on everything from chairs to cutlery is the quickest way to brighten up a room.

The Color Green
It’s fresh, it’s sparkling and, when it tends toward yellow, green conveys lightness and serenity in a room. On-trend right now: soft apple and meadow.

Black is the new black
Black is back in fashion this year, especially in London where it’s taking center stage. Think Keith Richards meets Goth girl: black leather, lavish lace, Spanish ruffles and some seriously smoky black eyeliner. 

Or midnight blue is the new black
The new black is midnight blue; gray is the new beige

Paint it white

Paint furniture white, and it looks fresh and new again!

Living with art!
A site-specific room consisting of floor tiles covered with black-and-white snapshots in the configuration of an area rug.

To accent a room’s oyster-inspired color scheme, brilliant butterflies in Prussian blue and regal crimson are attached to walls and ceiling and appear to flutter across the mirror. Check out the look in the design school’s showroom walls.

Texturing

All shine on style
Whether it’s cars, kitchens, phones or frocks, metallic finishes reign supreme as the finishing treatment of choice, simultaneously evoking luxury while remaining accessible and affordable. Neutral palettes are on the rise and metallics are the perfect foil for neutral -- less demanding and challenging than a print or pattern, yet more sophisticated and interesting than a simple flat color.

Rattleshine suits
Perfectly “suited” menswear upholstery, a new upholstery fabric that looks like liquid leather and a faux metallic snakeskin upholstery that Kevin Moore, one of the current design students has labeled as “Rattleshine”.

“Chabby” Chic – or is it Shabby “Shic”
Spaces outfitted with vintage finds from flea markets and online auction houses.

Pixilation
Low resolution meets high design, with pixilated patterns surfacing on everything from furniture to jewelry.

Eco-cool

Get outta Dodge
Budget conscious “staycations” are de rigueur!

Going green
Recycled toilet paper (yes, you read this correctly); and the suggested usage is two squares per visit to conserve.

No more fumes
Zero Voc (volatile organic compounds) paint.

Not just for a princess
Pea gravel floors

Decorating -- naturally

Agri-culture design style;
This look highlights a surprising display of objets curiosité, including feathers, taxidermy, small dinosaur skeletons, pieces of coral, large decorative sea shells and animal horns. It celebrates simple, natural and authentic beauty.

Used and cozy is the new perfect
Perfection is passé. It seems like just yesterday that ultra smooth, espresso-colored wenge finishes were all the rage. Well, that was then, and this is now. Today perfection is passé. What discriminating consumers want now is furniture that looks old, worn and well loved.

Sleeping in style
Rock star bed in distressed black leather and embellished with gun-metal studs.

Everything doesn’t have to match!

Excuse me, your imagination is showing!
The WE generation (20-something) approaches interiors the same way they dress and buy clothes: They don’t like suits and don’t like wearing all one look. They don’t like matched sets. A lot of furniture is still sold this way, but a whole generation of people aren’t decorating this way! This style is known as fusion modern.

Love the one you’re with

Buying something you love – rather than something you need – to display and enjoy every day is one of the most satisfying acts of self-expression.

And one more for the hot/not books:

What's HOT: The Sully Martini, ingredients Gray Goose Vodka and a SPLASH of water.

WHAT’S NOT: Cosmopolitan martini