At the onset of 2019, online marketplace 1stdibs polled its trade community and developed a report on industry insights. Working with research firm Surveys & Forecasts, LLC, 1stdibs polled more than 700 designers around the world to get a sense of how and what they’re buying—and synthesized those findings into predictions of what’s to come in the year ahead.
Rather than relying on the deluge of pics on places like Instagram and Pinterest, these are conceptual and practice-driven insights. As such, the report is less akin to the “Top Trends of 2019” articles now flooding the internet and more of an assessment of the industry’s direction. And topping their list for 2019? Custom handcrafted, one-of-a-kind furniture. “A return to handcrafted authenticity, especially when it comes to furniture and decorative arts versus buying mass produced pieces will be much more popular in 2019,” says interior designer Andrai Mitsakos.
In what might come as little surprise to those designers who have watched their clients (and, likely, themselves) grow weary of the array of easily accessible offerings presented by e-commerce over the past few years and instead yearn for more unique finds, a desire for custom and one-of-a-kind items topped the survey results. Nearly half of designers polled (49 percent) plan to source artisan-made, one-of-a-kind pieces in 2019, up from 42 percent last year. Meanwhile, 58 percent say they customize the pieces they source for clients, up from 44 percent last year.
Joy Cho, founder and creative director of Oh Joy! says, “A trend I see in furniture is a move towards handmade, custom pieces. People want to know the stories of where their pieces came from. They want to know who made it and what process was involved. A company like Fyrn is bringing handmade furniture to today with their modern, hand-crafted pieces.”
As part of this trend towards the unique, antiques from Colonial to Art Deco to Mid Century Modern are all highly sought after to achieve that distinctive flair consumers are cultivating in their home spaces. “Ubiquitous design is now a thing of the past while antiques are an exciting nod to the design future. People want their rooms to have soul, a personality, and tell a story. With wonderful sites like Viyet, Chairish and 1st Dibs, antiques are having a major comeback,” says interior designer CeCe Barfield.
This is great news for those who love spending their Saturdays antique shopping in small towns across America, but it’s equally good news for internet shoppers who prefer to scan the offerings on Etsy and Ebay to pounce on their furniture “finds.” Whichever method you prefer, remember that in 2019, it’s more than okay to follow your own style and find the one-of-a-kind pieces that make you happy.
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