While many professionals look for emerging trends that will help define the new year, top interior designers say the overriding pattern will remain the same in 2010 - how to meet client needs and help them express themselves in their own homes.
As a star designer at DYRS& Ideal idea, one of the leading home design and dcor companies in China, Meng Ye agrees that if there is a trend it continues to be helping clients meet their individual needs.
"An interior designer is like a mind reader," said the 38-year-old who has 16 years of experience in interior design. "You need to know your clients so that you can make something to suit their tastes and to represent who they are."
Massimo Roj, CEO of Progetto CMR Architecture, the biggest architecture company in Italy, which only expanded to Beijing in 2004, holds the same belief.
"Unlike public buildings, interior design is something personal. You need to catch and understand your clients' needs and make their dreams come true," Roj said.
He says one of the biggest mistakes an interior designer can make is to show off and attempt to impose their own tastes rather than putting the client's needs first.
But that might not be as easy as it sounds. When Roj designed a house for a football player in Italy, his client only told him: "We have four people in our family. Two kids, my wife and me."
Roj then learned the wife has 400 pairs of shoes, so he designed a room specially for her shoes so that she can pick whichever she would like to wear. "The wife loved that room," he said proudly.
Yet clients often express only their objective requirements.
How to make the overall style suit their demands requires creativity. It is the most difficult part of interior design - the artist's touch.
"If you are clear about what they really like, we can finish your design in a month. If you are not, it will take a long time," Roj said.
Meng's approach to understanding his clients is observation. "I note the car they drive, the watch they wear or the clothes they pick," he said.
"If they drive cool cars and wear brand-name clothes, then I know I need to give them something fashionable. Some don't spend a family fortune on cars or clothes, so I know I need to come up with something low-key and stylish," Meng said.
Roj understands his clients through conversation.
He admits this is very difficult when 95 percent of his clients are Chinese who are guarded about their personal lives.
"You need to come into people's lives. At the beginning, they may ask 'Why? Why do you want to know?' But they will understand gradually," he said.
But he knows designing for a Chinese family is not as simple as making good conversation. There are a range of cultural differences from the West that he needs to overcome and different aspects he needs to consider.
"There are a lot of things like the master bedroom must face south. It takes time to understand that and I can hardly say I've learned them all," he said.
Plants and flowers grow in popularity
Beginning in 2008, naturalism became a fashion in decoration. Its essence is using plant and animal prints as elements. Materials are natural, with subjects such as shells, rocks, flowers the prominent features using the colors of sand, stone, water and plants.
This year, the concept of naturalism will be broader. It's about applying natural objects in designs and living an eco-friendly lifestyle.
Indoor plants and flowers are becoming more popular this year, said French graphic designer Cederic Allemann. "Apartment buildings are integrating window boxes where people can plant fusion flowers. This is a major change over the past years," said Allemann, who runs A+design company in Beijing with his designer wife Bing Estelle Luo.
While purple dominated interior design in 2009, both designers believe natural and pastel colors will take control in the new year.
Furniture designed by artists has been popular for the past few years, but not in 2010. American style, such as dark color furniture, heavy wallpaper and walk-in wardrobes, will become less dominant, said Allemann.
He also sees Chinese designers become more influential. "I think 'made in China' will be replaced by 'designed in China'," Allemann said.
