Building Surfaces for Longevity in the Era of Microtrends

BY AMY GATH

The dominance of home design content on social media has sparked even greater interest in interior design and changing aesthetics among younger ages. As surfacing professionals, of course it’s wonderful to have more interest in our industry, especially when it can spark lifelong passions for young people.

However, the volume of home design content has allowed the market to constantly evolve microtrends that move at the speed of its surrounding culture. The summer of 2022 saw the Nancy Meyers-inspired “coastal grandmother” trend in both fashion and decor, and this summer, pink took over as “Barbiecore” dominated news and social media, with countless other increasingly specific microtrends springing up in between.

While we would love to be able to cater to every passing trend, the changing landscape of pop culture can make it difficult to truly address each one, especially in a field with a long production timeline and a longer life cycle in consumers’ homes. However, as these new microtrends have become the norm, it’s become clear that there are still ways to keep a pulse on ever-changing consumer preferences while also developing portfolios for the long haul.

Show The Trend In Action

In honor of Formica’s 110th anniversary, our team recently created a new book that gives a decade-by-decade look at the brand’s patterns over the years. While diving into our archive during this process, I would pull a pattern from the ‘50s, and with the right context and complementary elements, it felt refreshingly modern and new.

Similarly, putting your collection or specific pattern in the context of the trend helps consumers envision the possibilities. Whether it’s through social media or individual customer engagements, concretely show these microtrends in action and how current offerings can cater to their ever-evolving needs.

Develop Broad Collections With Versatility

To effectively address these trends that seem to turn on a dime, it does require a diverse and versatile collection. Microtrends aside, with the wide range of design information available to consumers, we’ve never seen more personalization and unique senses of style driving residential interiors. To cater to these diverse tastes, a wide-ranging portfolio is already critical to addressing modern design needs and it makes it possible to address these microtrends with the designs already in your repertoire.

See The Bigger Picture

While catering to microtrends, it’s not just possible but also critical to keep in mind the larger design movements driving consumer preference. These evolving influences can offer a window into the consumer mindset, but they’re not always representative of the long-term arc.

From material design to marketing, these microtrends should only affect business decisions to the extent of their true value. Don’t let one microtrend overinfluence how you work, but given their overall force in pop culture, being mindful of them as an aggregate can help keep a finger on the pulse of how consumers are changing.

Catering to these microtrends, however fleeting, can both drive sales and prove relevance to consumers. By getting creative with your current collection and keeping your eyes on the bigger picture, it’s possible to both jump on these social media-driven trends while also driving design for the long haul s p

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It’s no secret that supply chain issues over the past few years have greatly affected manufacturers and distributors in nearly all industries across the country.

Experts say that while the situation may not be as critical as it was a few years ago, there are still challenges related to the supply chain, including delays in raw materials and shipping and labor shortages.

Manufacturers say they are evolving to be more flexible to accommodate these challenges and to better serve their customers. One discussion at AWFS focused on these issues.

“Just-in-time (JIT) inventory just doesn’t work anymore,” says Paul Wilmes, president and CEO of Mereen-Johnson, which has been expanding its manufacturing operations over the past decade. “It’s really interesting how ordering and vendor relationships have evolved.”

“At one point, shipping times from overseas became VERY extensive,” he adds. “We were ordering a lot more than we thought we needed, but we found that you need to be prepared to select alternative components … you may have machinery that is 99.9 percent complete and be missing one key component. It’s not usable, so you may need to pivot and figure out something else