Page 10 - CooperatorNews New York June 2022

10 COOPERATORNEWS — JUNE 2022 COOPERATORNEWS.COM Design Trends for 2022 Accents to Zen BY MELISSA SWINEA TRENDS When remodeling the interior of mul- tifamily buildings and HOAs, boards or color pops, or you’ll get the neutrals making they wanted the art to reflect New York City, board-appointed committees might be things very Zen.” tempted to adopt an “out with the old, in with new” approach. Others prefer to stick doesn’t necessarily mean selecting from the Montreal, walking down the street, and we to “tried and true” designs to suit their aes- thetic preference. But the best approach Kevin McGowan, a principal of Forbes- recognizes that interior design can enhance Ergas Design Associates in Manhattan, de- the quality of life of your community. Com- bining this season’s styles with pragmatic classic principles of color selection for com- principles and clear goals is key to creating mon areas still reign. “Thirty years ago, the stract buildings. I’m really excited that cli- a trendy and warm atmosphere that serves popular thing was to do color on the walls. ents have gotten into commissioning pieces your community. Classic Color & Texture Therapy The contemporary ‘wellness’ movement wall covering. These days, people totally significant remodels to replace obsolete has spread from the vitamin aisle and Insta- gram feeds to interior design. Calm, sooth- ing colors and natural materials are helping people cope with both the hectic nature of gray,” which McGowan refers to as ‘New with multifamily, cooperative, and condo- modern life and the upheaval caused by the York neutral,’ “with pops of classic blues are minium buildings, points out this season as ongoing coronavirus pandemic. “Natural the most sought-after shades. I’m finding a good time for finding attractive and rea- textures are still really popular,” says Eliza- beth Sanchez Vaughan, principal of In-Site lately. Again, those greens are the rich tones; in high-traffic areas like hallways and lob- Interior Design, a multidisciplinary interior they’re certainly not vibrant green tones.” and architectural firm in New York City. “The world is so demanding and crazy and difficult that people want a space that they wall art to reflect dreamy city imagery and lution is nylon carpet, and there are several can go into and just relax. So things like wo- ven wood, and natural \\\[and\\\] textured stone, where there isn’t one. “Lobbies are more cites are durability and simplicity of mainte- are really still popular. I’m still seeing very into art lately,” says McGowan. “We’ve been nance. “Nylon carpet picks up dirt that can calming palettes, neutrals as far as color pal- ettes. It’s kind of an either/or. You’ll see the commissioned pieces. We did a lobby where Updating your building’s color scheme that time, my partner Karen and I were in newest of the new color swatches or trends. saw a gallery. Lo and behold, there was this scribes recent remodel projects where some piece by him for the lobby. It’s just so beau- Twenty years ago, a lot of buildings would to fit the needs of their buildings.” have terracotta-colored or blue or green want to get away from that—they want the flooring with appealing yet practical fur- walls to be light and bright,” he says. That means “neutrals such as beige or State-certified interior designer who works people are getting into a lot of green tones sonably priced solutions to replace old tile Accents & Furnishings One of this year’s trends includes custom tos or vinyl tiles,” he says. “An excellent so- create the impression of a window on a wall reasons why.” Among the top reasons he getting a lot of clients who are interested in potentially build up in a hallway, and once a but they didn’t want photographs. Around art that was just so amazing. We talked to the artist, and ultimately commissioned a tiful; it has vibes of New York City, but ab- Other buildings are undertaking more nishings. Jonathan Baron, a New York bies. “Perhaps the buildings were built in the 1950s or 60s, and they may have asbes- week, they vacuum the carpet. With a vinyl floor, the maintenance would require a wet mop, which takes more time and more en- ergy \\\[than simply vacuuming\\\].” According to Vaughan, “In terms of lounges and \\\[furniture\\\], there are some beautiful things out on the market right now. Chaises are back, for example; swivel chairs are back. There’s fun and classic res- in—cool stuff. We’re also doing a lot of ot- tomans and poufs, which can be really fun because they’re so flexible. You can bring them over to different seating groups or spaces. There are some beautiful woven fab- ric poufs that are on the market now; they’re fabulous.” The presence of fun and whim- sical accent furniture signals a sign of the times. “I feel it kind of spans generations,” says Vaughan. “Generations are changing. Buildings generally are always changing as new folks come in.” New Lifestyles Create New Needs Thanks to the pandemic, multifam- ily residential life has changed—especially with respect to mutual safety and quality of life. Design and installation professionals who understand a community’s wants and needs relative to the ‘new normal’ can help make stylish and lasting choices applicable to a post-COVID lifestyle. For example, “One thing we’ve seen is people wanting to get away from having too much seating in their lobbies,” says Mc- Gowan. “They don’t want people congregat- ing. When we do a lobby design, many \\\[cli- ents\\\] want us to limit the amount of seating compared to what they traditionally had. If it’s a lobby with seating for eight, they may- be want to reduce it to four.” These seating changes require no additional alterations to compensate for the removal of furniture, he adds. “These lobbies tend not to be very big,” McGowan says, “and the reality is that the lobby should have never had seating for eight in the first place. It was crammed with seating.” So in addition to being more COVID-conscious, “it’s smart to reduce the seating, because then the lobby looks more balanced.” The pandemic also underscored how digital habits influence our day-to-day life- styles, deepening our reliance on e-com- merce and delivery services. According to Baron, “Recent upgrades to common areas continued on page 17