Another High Point Spring Market is in the books and once again I made my annual pilgrimage to see all the new furniture introductions and color trends so that I can report back to you what is new in the world of furniture, accessories and lighting.
So as not to overwhelm you (like I was going through thousands of images) I will break this trend report into several posts. Since color, or I should say lack of color, was such a big story at market I am devoting this entire first post to color. Tuesday’s blog will feature the first half of eight trends spotted and I will follow that up with the final four trends. As usual there are more pictures than words so sit back, grab a coffee or wine and enjoy Color trends from High Point Market.
These are the four color trends I saw at Market with the fifth being “one to watch”.
- Warm Neutrals
- Black and White
- Blush
- Jewel Tones
- Terracotta
1.Warm neutrals dominated Spring Market, and I mean…as in there was hardly any color in the majority of the showrooms!
It looks like the tide has finally turned for the cool blue grays. Those sophisticated cool grays that were everywhere just two short years ago have now been warmed up and replaced by warmer tones of gray, taupe and even brown.

Showroom after showroom was filled with these warm neutrals. It’s as if they all followed in step with Sherwin Williams color of the year Poised Taupe.
Taupe and gray, gray and taupe was all over Market.

At one point while finishing up a tour of one of the better known showrooms (which shall remain anonymous) my color loving friend Kelly Rogers turned to me and said she felt depressed. I was feeling the exact same way! The absence of any real color was actually affecting our mood.

The rooms by themselves were all lovely and beautifully styled but for someone like myself who loves color it was getting very hard to take.

A lot of the new wood furniture introductions had a gray brown stain that was taupe colored as well.

Below is a better representation of this gray brown stain. The wood is stained but the grain is allowed to show through. (I have no idea what that pink spot is but it would have taken way too long to remove it so please just disregard).

2.Black and White: Warm grays and taupe not your vibe? Well black and white was also trending at Market.

This may be a look only a few homes and homeowners can pull off but in the right circumstance it is stunning.

I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of this bold graphic look since I saw lot’s of black and white accessories, artwork and furniture.


Matte Black finishes were especially popular for accessories.

3. Blush:There was one color that stood out as being the “color of the Market ” and that was blush. This soft pink hue was featured in multiple showrooms.

I saw hints of this soft pink in Spring 2016 but this year it was hard to miss.

The sofa below by Christopher Guy is leaning a little too much toward mauve for my liking but I have a feeling that blush, which is so popular right now is going to turn into mauve eventually….urgh.

Pillows, rugs and art work in blush color were prevalent.

4.Jewel Tones: Blues, greens, chartreuse, hot pinks and other jewel colors were spotted at market. I had to seek them out by visiting showrooms that are specifically known for color but the trip was well worth it. Although still popular I saw less Mediterranean blue than in years past and surprisingly used more on furniture than on walls. Blue paired with chartreuse was a very popular combo this Spring.

A hot pink velvet chesterfield sofa was spotted at Lillian August. Obviously not for everyone but after three days of seeing nothing but grays and taupe I was ready to get my check book out right on the spot.

C.R.Laine is another showroom that never disappoints with their use of color and they had plenty of it. Blue and orange was another a popular combination this Spring.

The pillows this Spring at Market were some of the most colorful I’ve seen to date. Since I was so starved for color they were like a cool glass of water on a hot summer day. I would make an immediate bee line to any color I saw and fill up with a color fix before moving on to the next neutral showroom. I had a fantasy of buying all these pillows and going from showroom to showroom and plunking a couple down in everyone of those colorless showrooms.

Much like the booths filled with colorful pillows, the art showrooms were bursting with beautiful bold brightly colored art. Large scale art still dominated but groupings were popular as well.

It’s not surprising that the accessories were so colorful because how do you add some color to all those neutrals? With colorful jewel toned pillows and bright bold art work of course.

5.Terracotta: I’m calling this a color to watch. I spotted this warm rusty red orange in several showrooms and one trend which I will share on Tuesday makes use of this color.

So there you have it. The 2017 colors of High Point which dictate what you will be seeing in your local home stores in 2018.
I would love to hear your thoughts about the warming up of gray. Happy to see taupe and brown coming back or not?
UPDATE on our house sale. We signed the P and S last week and will be moving May 27th. There is SO much to still do which is why this post is two days past my posting day. Please accept my apologizes and know I will get back on schedule ASAP.
Linda, thanks for the great effort! Having attended HPMKT I think the clarity of your report and photo choices are right on target. Nice job!
Thanks so much Debra. Going through and editing all my images and narrowing them done was so much time and work so I greatly appreciate your comment.
You’re absolutely right! I’m not a big,bright color gal though so I was in heaven, lol.
Ha! Darla, You must have been in Heaven with all those neutrals!
Linda! such clarity in your comprehensive recap! Thank you. bless your heart, you deliver such intriguing posts even in the midst of such huge transition in your life. i hope you get a bit of relaxation soon. i was so captivated with this post, especially about the art! i have given much thought to showing at HP. was art selling? did it appear that commerce was good overall there? thanks again. sending strength and love.🎈
Thanks so much Lisa. Market was very busy but it was hard to know what people were buying. I think overall art has become such a focal point in homes and at all price points. I would encourage you to look into showing your work. It’s probably very pricey to have your own booth but maybe look into partnering with one of the bigger showrooms. They often use new artist’s pieces in their displays. I also know some smaller vendors collaborated with two or three others and shared a booth. I think for you it would be easy to find someone to partner with. I say go for it!
Great job. Beautiful photos. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Ann, I hope you are doing well!
Linda, thank you so much for including Handley Drive in your post. We appreciate you!
Absolute! You know how much I loved your new pieces!