Upholstered Furniture

The predominant trend in upholstered furniture this season is a return to formality in traditional styling. Fabrics with more sheen will cover more tailored sofa and chair styles. Decorative treatments such as tassels and rope welting will be used to dress up and decorate. The look overall is a bit less casual and a bit more elegant than that of the past few seasons.

Look for this trend in both the world of contemporary and traditional styling. Shimmery chenilles and rich damasks will be shown on frame styles that took nubby textures last year for a more "uptown" look. The "collage" approach of showing multiple correlating fabrics on one piece will remain a novelty, with leather being used primarily on seat and back pillows.

And in leather, look towards more of the buttery-soft, expensive leathers to be shown. New looks will include textured leathers embossed with faux animal skin looks - alligator and the like. Here too, traditional styling is on the upswing; with nailhead trim continuing and tufted backs seeing a return to popularity. As is typical, the pendulum has begun to swing back. After a long affair with casual, traditional now steps up to share the spotlight