Layered Spaces
We live in smaller houses, yet we want to increase the number of functions in our homes. This gives rise to certain layerdness of multifunctional furniture. By playing with colours and patterns, we create coloured areas on the floor and wall that add a spatial experience. It seems to match the spatial experience we see on the Internet: the metaverse*.
Layered spaces in the interior
Rooms can be conveniently reshaped through folding screens and multifunctional furniture, allowing a workspace to form, for example. This way, we create a type of stratification in the home, which is further emphasised by the decorative surfaces on the walls and floor. They mesh together, or have been placed on top of each other. By playing with effects, you get the sense that there is more space than just the physical surface. Colour contrasts reinforce this spatial effect. We encounter flowers and plants in surprising places. Bouquets are arranged in a layered fashion, and plants also need to be easily ‘stackable’ or mobile.
Layered Spaces in the outdoor space
We see spaciousness in the garden as well. It has many different corners and indoor and outdoor spaces seem to merge more. A heavily planted indoor space, for instance, can also be viewed as a garden, especially in office buildings. Through plants, we maximize the use of the existing space: we see plants on roof gardens and on the roofs of homes, sheds, and porches. Fences and hedges invoke the idea of theatre flats. Full borders give way to more transparent plants, in which colour contrast also plays an important role. This influences the spaciousness as well.
The trend’s product components
The shapes within Layered Spaces are fairly basic, like the rectangle and circle. Furniture mostly has rounded shapes. Materials that are applied in contrast offer an additional dimension to the product or space. We also see the connection of materials. The patterns used often exist of surfaces that overlap or cut through each other. This usually happens in a straight line, but with a diagonal line here and there. The result is unexpected shapes and surface distribution.
Layered Spaces colour palette
It won’t come as a surprise that contrast is also reflected in the colour palette. We recognise warm/cool, light/dark, and bright/pastel colours. The colours that seem to greet you increase the distance instead, and this way you create the spatial effect this trend revolves around.
The core values of this trend are: layers, depth, multifunctional, spacious, collapsible, space saving, ingenious, colour perspective, and theatre-flat perspective: sequentially placing objects or walls in a space to make it appear bigger.
More information
Read more about the other three Horticulture Trends 2023: Ode to Nature, Collecting Memories, and Vintage Folklore.
*: The metaverse is the next version of the Internet. It is difficult to explain properly. You can best think of it as a virtual world in which you can move around as an avatar, like you would in online games. But it goes further than that. Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are also given a place, allowing you to interactively move around in the metaverse.
