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Boutique Design New York (BDNY) is a conference and trade fair, hosted in the Javits Center on the Westside of NYC. For around 13 years, BDNY has been bringing together the biggest names in manufacturers, designers, and innovators in the industry to share the newest trends and discover better ways to implement them into their work.
BDNY showcased design elements for hotels, restaurant, spas, clubs, cruise ships, and senior lifestyle interiors, and everything in between. The convention also featured galleries, displays, panels, discussions, and inspiration around every corner. Last year, 8,000 industry professionals were brought back for BDNY 2021, and more recently, in 2022, three of the attendees were our own Project Designers!
I have Lisa Wojcik and Alexa Astacio, who have extensive background in Interior Design, here to give us some insight into what this large convention is truly like. Below is our virtual scrapbook of the event: what we learned, what we loved, and what we left with.
According to our Designers ...
There was an emphasis on hotel and residential. From lighting to sustainability to globally influenced aspects, this convention was, like always, nothing short of inspiring.
Lighting
One trend we loved was the emphasis on rattan lighting. They are linear structures, that allow light to pass through them.
"I'm not sure exactly why they are popular right now, but I have one my living room!", Alexa.
We noticed that areas with products grouped by regions, for example Italy and Spain. They were breathtakingly beautiful and fresh ideas, more on the high end side.
Company's Flexibility
Lead times and customization were a large takeaway of this event as well. Vendors that offered shorter lead times, made sure that we knew it! It was comforting to know the extent to which these companies value our project schedules and specific intricacies for each clients' needs. With issues in the supply change in recent years, it was great to hear that short lead times are available in products we look to use in our designs.
Some companies, like Williams-Sonoma, included living plants in their bar "showroom" setup. They actually entertained with food and drinks, to show their products live-in-action as well.
Sustainability
Sustainability was also a large theme throughout the showrooms. We are seeing more of a blurry line between outdoor and indoor design. The indoor furniture styles are beginning to resemble that of outdoor furniture and vice versa! There is a growth in popularity of living walls, furthering the trends of bringing the outdoors, in. Outdoors are drawn in by living walls and raw wood tables as pictured above by Naturalist Interiors. The Brooklyn-based biophilic design and production studio, Opiary, even designed their chairs to have succulents in them (see image below on right)! Expormim's outdoor furniture looked like it would fit right on the inside too.
Other Trends We Noticed
The increased use of cork danced around the Javits Center. It's sustainable and acoustic – absorbing sound with its softer surface and ability to lessen sound reverberation. It could be used on walls in a restaurant or tables.
Innovative lighting accents caught our eyes. Designers are getting creative, integrating lighting into furniture design.
We hope you enjoyed learned more about our experience. Will we see you there next year?
Lisa Wojcik (on left), is an elite|studio e Project Designer. Her previous experience focuses on residential and commercial design, having studied psychology, she provides a great perspective of how people interact within spaces.
Alexa Astacio (on right) is a Project Designer with a focus on interior design at elite|studio e. Previously, Alexa was a Junior Designer at a New York architect firm, where she acquired knowledge in the hospitality designing restaurants and hotels.
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