What’s Popular in 2021 Furniture - Featuring Elena Mejia-Kerwin

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing Elena Mejia-Kerwin, lead designer at Nebraska Furniture Mart. Elena is not only the lead designer, but she is a worldwide traveler well versed in what’s hot in the latest designs, fabrics, and colors. She was kind enough to take some time with me to let us all know what’s hot for 2021. You’ll be surprised by some of the new and sexy styles but there are some classics that have made a come back and some newer design items that are recent but stayed the same from 2020. So, let’s ring in the new year with Elena this week and check out the video we made directly at Nebraska Furniture Mart.

Base Colors, Accents, Patterns and Textures!

Gray is still in for a base color. Elena says that Gray is the new black. It was in style last year and has stayed in style for 2021. It’s an incredibly soft base color to use in your living room design for example. With a soft Gray as your base color, gold is still a good accent color. Use pillows and chairs for accents in various colors. Pink is the newest color. It’s a soft pink, almost a mauve color. Pink goes elegantly with white, yellow, gray, and other base and accent colors. Elena says it’s a “nice plush color.” Next up is dust blue, a deep but soft blue with a little bit of green in it, a touch like a teal. Next honey yellow is “yummy.” Also, plush and goes with all the other colors in our wheelhouse. Another new, exciting, beautiful accent color is Neo Mint. Just gorgeous! And still, there’s Terracotta, beautiful base, or accent color. Pick one or use them all. They blend well together. And lastly, we can add a little spice with prints. There are animal prints and other fantastic patterns. If texture is your thing, furs are also yummy. We love that word.

Trending Furniture Styles

Smaller scaled sectionals fit well into all spaces. Don’t be afraid to mix fabrics. They’re comfortable and it’s especially important that they are low profile to be able to see the views through the windows. Mix modern classic with fun traditional colors to bring interest to an accent chair to go with your sectional sofa. Embroidery cloth is a nice mix for a chair. Mid century modern styles are also in and must be low profile. Lots of very cozy pillows are a must. Mix in an Italian marble art deco coffee table and voila. Of course, a tulip chair in a deco variation in mint green for contrast is a good add. Surprisingly, there is a mix of ottoman’s and ottoman coffee tables together. The floating ottoman serves as a multi-function piece which can be used by itself like a chair or connected to the sofa for extra space or as an extra coffee table. Ingenious!

What’s It All About?

If you haven’t noticed the big trend is mix and match. Almost nothing is off limits when it comes to colors, patterns, textures, and accents. Multi-functional furniture like ottomans are not only practical but add a non-traditional look to any room. 2021 color trends are back to soft and plush, blues, pinks, yellows, and greens. They’re colors that not only warm a room but still bring a splash of interest and dimension to the design. Take it from the pros, this year’s styles are on point mixing popular things from the past and some brand new pizzaz for this year. Stop into NFM and visit with Elena for some professional assistance or get in touch with me, Sallie Elliott at www.omahaprioritygroup.com/scheduleameetup for design pointers in your home.

Potty Talk – 2021 Toilet Trends

Who thinks about these things? Designers do.

Believe it or not the pièce de resistance of a great bathroom design can be the toilet. Recently, Kohler hosted an event at Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting Gallery on toilet trends for next year. My design team and I were fortunate enough to be able to attend. We were excited to see what is new in styles, technology, and mounting options. And we found out there were many new things to see.

One Piece or Two Piece? That is the Question

There are choices for one piece or two-piece toilets as well as one piece tankless and they come in traditional and more contemporary to modern styles. Tomorrow’s two-piece options are more cost effective and a little bit more on the traditional side. In terms of functionality, there are several choices of flush levers both on the side of the tank, on the front of the tank or directly on top making the look of tank more streamlined. Each one has it’s aesthetic benefits as well as functional benefit. One-piece options slant toward the more modern to ultra-modern style and can be tankless. This design option tends to be more sleek and less flashy in terms of looks. and Either way, there’s one for everyone’s taste.

Technology

Surprise, surprise there are commodes that have one touch functionality. Some options come with a full complement of convenient features including heated seat, customizable cleansing, night-light, hands-free opening/closing, automatic flush, plus a touchscreen remote. The styles, again, tend to be more on the modern side for these toilets and the price tag is higher so you might want to reserve this one for the master bath with more custom features. And they come in interesting colors like white with rose gold trim. Check out our video with a snippet of a new high-tech toilet.

Wall Mounted

New 2021 options for wall mounted toilets are my personal favorite. They are great for smaller bathrooms, making the room look larger, and they have clean sleek lines that simplify your design. It almost looks as if the toilet is floating. Choices and prices also vary for these. They can be more affordable then you think, and they come in mod styles or more classic choices. Let’s not forget the ability to easily clean around the bowl. Also, there is a color choice of black in addition to white.

2021 Trends in Bathroom Faucets and Vanities

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Coming Soon

As a designer, I have the privilege of attending previews of the latest and greatest designer items. Recently, I attended an event highlighting the new designs for bathroom vanities and faucets. I know, it doesn’t sound that exciting, but you would be surprised to know that things have changed, and the 2021 trends are fantastic. For example, there are brand new bowl shapes like molded porcelain sinks. They are a new material spin on a once popular molded sink from the 80s. The new bowl shapes with rounded edges are simple, classic and beautiful.

Colors, Colors and More Colors

Not only are the new 2021 model sinks coming in brand new solid colors, but they come in patterns as well. I saw a bathroom sink with a black background and pink, white and green floral design inside. Not only was it unique but it wasn’t busy the way you might guess. Check out the video included in this blog. And the contrast of the black against the florals was surprisingly traditional with a modern twist.

What Matches Those Exquisite Sinks

One of the most exciting things about all the new sink designs was how they were paired with bathroom faucets. New Kohler faucets for 2021 span the gamut with a combination of new touch free and one touch technology and finishes in colors like…wait for it…Ombre. Yes, Ombre is a latest new faucet color. And not just one set of colors, it comes in a couple of different Ombre colors. Other beautiful finishes are a high gloss copper and black chrome. They come in modern styles to go with the cutting edge, and might I say, fabulous colors.

Natural and Organic Materials Make a Comeback

Spa bathrooms have never really gone out of style with organic materials like teak shower mats, clean lines, and soothing colors. In fact, we used a beautiful wood sink bowl in one of the model homes we designed. Amazingly its beautiful and functional. The possibilities are endless with todays materials and finishes. You just have to imagine it.

Check out other informative blogs and find out more about us on our site at omahaprioritygroup.com.