Inspiration Share Out: NeoCon & Design Days 2025
This month, our interior design team traveled to Chicago to immerse themselves in design inspiration!
Interior designers are tasked with making thousands of choices in every space they design. Inspiration comes from more than just a well-curated Pinterest board - they are constantly experiencing the world around them to help bring a unique and creative approach to each project. Industry events like NeoCon and Design Days offer an opportunity for our interior designers to get out of the office and search for ideas that they can bring back to the design studio.
Here are five impactful themes that caught our team's attention.
Biophilia
Details Matter
Layered Textures
Lighting
Materials
1. Biophilia
Connection to the natural world through biophilic design processes, including the incorporation of plants, textures, and sustainable practices, creates an inviting and approachable experience.
2. Details Matter
Not only do the details matter - they are everything. Great design stands out through the purposeful combination of many elements - color, fit, finishes, furniture, textures, usability, acoustics - rather than overpowering, bold gestures. Warmth, softness, and inviting details were especially present.
3. Layered Textures
The experience of a space is shaped through contrast and visual variation in details. Subtle differences through layering pops of color, purposeful accents, diverse materials, and a variety of shapes and forms bring life to the design.
4. Lighting
No! Big! Bright! Overhead! Lights!
Lighting doesn't have to be strictly functional - and it shouldn't be! It can be thoughtfully incorporated as a detail, an accent, or even as art. Choices in lighting design can influence everything from tone and visual interest to productivity and well-being. Lighting fixtures are one way to add purposeful layers and dimensionality that evoke emotion.
5. Materials
Interior design brings the soul to a space, expressed through materials. Physical and visual texture created through the combination of natural, rich, and approachable materials adds meaning and significance. The same material can have different applications, uses, and looks to fit different environments and how it will be interacted with. This year's events showcased both bespoke and timeless pieces that celebrated simple forms, elevated by unique materials that added texture and pattern.
Until next time, Chicago!
Interior design is a physical profession, so getting out of the digital realm for some real-world inspiration is incredibly valuable. Our team is grateful for the opportunity to learn, explore, and touch all of the materials!
