~Shop the Natural Materials Trend~
A stylish twist of natural rope and an exposed light source define the Solo Pendant by Besa Lighting, a striking modern lighting fixture that makes form indistinguishable from function.
Opposites attract in this inspired modern vase from Audo Copenhagen—a design which features a rugged industrial material juxtaposed with smooth, breakable glass.
Find endless uses for these handsome baskets, woven from jute and cotton, and make versatile storage pieces for bedroom, kid's room or study.
Maybe it was inevitable, but there can be no doubt that modern design is going organic. Glossy surfaces, sleek profiles and flawless finishes have ruled the contemporary design scene for decades, and still have plenty to recommend them—but earthy, unrefined materials have their own particular allure, and designers have begun to notice. On the modern furniture and lighting scene, in interior design schemes, and on fashion runways, here's been a noticeable back-to-basics trend, a movement in which flawless man-made materials have been passed over in favor of repurposed and naturally occurring elements—each chosen precisely for its imperfection and unvarnished beauty.
There's been a noticeable back-to-basics trend, a movement in which flawless man-made elements have been passed over in favor of repurposed and naturally occurring materials.
Arteriors Nantucket Bowl
Nature made, the Arteriors Nantucket Bowl is an organically beautiful modern design piece, artfully fashioned from a single piece of driftwood, its irregular shape and imperfections a part and parcel of its striking visual appeal.
Tropics Pouf by Surya
Woven jute gives this sumptuous modern pouf from Surya its textural beauty, while its versatility makes it ideal for both indoors and protected outdoor settings.
Piet Boon Concrete Wallpaper for NLXL
Piet Boon's photo-realistic concrete wallpaper for NLXL is so authentic looking, it fools the eye into seeing a real concrete wall. An ideal solution for imbuing an interior with industrial elegance, the textural richness and color variation of this Concrete Wallpaper illustrates the appeal of surfaces left in their unvarnished state.
Crazy for Cork
Cork, a material gleaned from the outer later of the cork oak tree, is a highly renewable resource that can be harvested every 25 years without harming the tree's lifespan. Once a strictly commercial material—uncork that wine bottle, please—cork has become an increasingly desirable material in contemporary design, with cork-based modern furniture, decor pieces, and even entire cork-covered walls no longer a novel idea. Waterproof, durable, malleable, and imbued with fire-retardant properties, cork is also gaining favor for its earth tones and textural variations.
Sentient Locust Wood Chair
A section of a locust tree defines the Locust Wood Chair from Sentient, its natural, irregular contours forming an unforgettable silhouette. This contemporary chair is a whimsical profile in natural beauty.
Ango Midnight Moon Pendant Lights
Silkworm cocoons, typically discarded after the worms' cycle is complete, are amongst the organic waste material harvested by Ango, a modern lighting brand. The Midnight Moon pendant light features a hand-applied composition of silkworm cocoons (colored with non-toxic fabric dyes) attached to a wire matrix.
— Via British Vogue
Brock Collection Resort 2018
L.A. fashion label Brock Collection, which won the top prize in the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund in 2017, garnered more attention with the Resort 2018 collection, in which traditionally feminine garments, like floral dresses and ruffled tops were given an earthy twist: showcased prominently on many ensembles was burlap, an anything-but-refined fabric which the designers had originally seen at a vintage textiles shop.
Scraplights by Graypants
Recycled cardboard is the material of choice for Scraplight pendant lights by Graypants. Each lampshade is precision cut with a laser and assembled by hand using non-toxic adhesive. These sustainably sourced and hand-crafted contemporary pendants project both strength and elegance, and cast a nuanced glow through each intricately layered composition.
~On Trend Natural Materials Designs~
Celerie Kemble created this charming modern table lamp for Arteriors, fashioned from hand-woven rattan wicker. A scalloped wicker shade and woven base cut a whimsical figure with Caribbean overtones.
Created entirely from wooden branches found along the rugged Pacific Northwest shoreline, the Scatter/Gather Pendant is a hand assembled, one-of-a-kind modern lighting fixture .
This soft throw is woven from a mixture of bamboo and cotton. A range of fetching colors complement almost any interior scheme, so drape over sofa or lounge chair and cozy up to a chill weekend.
David Trubridge Lighting
David Trubridge lighting has long been defined by its sustainably sourced materials—namely, bamboo plywood—and emphasis on eco manufacturing and shipping methods. Informed by the natural habitat of his native New Zealand, Trubridge has created a range of ethereal modern lamps that can be shipped flat, and easily assembled. The Flax Pendant, left, and the new Navicula pendant, below, illustrate the collection's organic, nature-derived forms, which emit a magical light quality.
BROOKLYN TINS WALLPAPER BY NLXL
Paris design studio Merci created a suite of fool-the-eye modern wallpaper patterns for Dutch brand NLXL, in which photographs of vintage tin ceiling tiles have been converted to contemporary wallpaper motifs. Projecting the kind of hyper-realism to fool even the most keen observer, Brooklyn Tins wallpaper celebrates the time-worn charm of weathered materials and the beauty found in objects long past their use-by date.
