As the style ambassador for Seattle Design Center—as well as a designer and the founder of popular design and lifestyle website Coco Kelley—Cassandra LaValle knows a lot about trends. In her design work, she’s used the showrooms at SDC as a resource for years. Here she talks about upcoming trends, how to incorporate them into your home, and the newest showrooms to shop this fall.
Which fall design trends are you most excited about, and where can they be found in SDC?
There are ways to embrace trends in interiors with accents like textiles, side tables, and paint colors. Color is my favorite place to start. Yellow is on the rise, especially in an ochre or mustard palette. Terracotta is in there too, which makes orange the next big color. Lee Jofa has an incredible selection of fabrics in this family of colors, and Designer Furniture Gallery has the fabulous Vera sofa by Precedent that leans into this color trend, too. In metals, matte black is the chic style preference. Nickel (high shine, not brushed!) is on its way back in as well, but really it’s all about mixing. British countryside–inspired design is a growing style, and Jennifer West Showroom has lovely choices, such as the Cork corner cabinet by Rose Tarlow Melrose House and the printed linens and embroideries in the Travers collection by Zimmer + Rohde.
How do the SDC showrooms stay current on trends?
SDC is the only design center in the Pacific Northwest, and it’s home to almost 20 regional and national designer showrooms. As a hub for interior designers and decorators, it represents more than 500 manufacturers, and new lines are added constantly to curate a variety of aesthetics, from timeless to on-trend. The showrooms cultivate deep relationships with manufacturing partners to ensure SDC always offers the best possible collections each season.
Tell us about SDC’s newest showrooms.
Seattle Design Center welcomed German Kitchen Center in February; it’s the showroom’s first West Coast flagship, and they offer everything from kitchen design to renovation and installation. Sierra Pacific Windows is slated to open in the coming months, and it will be open to both consumers and design professionals. Seattle Design Center is also beginning a partnership with high-end design shopping site and digital discovery platform Dering Hall, which will allow SDC to bring the products available in its showrooms to the Web to better integrate the shopping experience, whether online or offline.