Stemware takes on a whole new meaning when it's surrounded by salvaged stump stools, leaf-adorned linens and autumn-appropriate tableware. In the windows of William Ashley's Bloor Street location, the layered vignette is a welcome sign that the outdoorsy look has gone luxe.
"I think it's wonderful," says passerby Sharon Bendzsak, who has purchased a gift for a neighbour. More importantly, she realized that the woodsy theme provides the perfect entry point for her engaged son, whom she describes as too modest to register for high-end gifts. "He's a forester in Prince Albert [Sask.] I've been trying to figure out how to get him into the store."
No matter the occasion, forest-inspired furniture and home accessories have never been more in style. The timing is right: Leaves are midway through their annual parade of reds, yellows and oranges, and fireplaces are crackling. But as evidenced by the 80 premium brands on display at William Ashley, there's more to this aesthetic than a fascination with fall.
To be clear, hauling abandoned logs into the living room does not qualify as chic. When nature's bounty crosses the threshold, rustic must give way to refined.
Think Michael Aram copper twig-ware instead of Adirondack chairs; candles and picture frames that appear to be wrapped in tree bark, and Livingstones, a French line of sofas and seats shaped like giant rocks. It's about trading in metal lamps for naturalistic light sources that incorporate river stones or carved wood, and turning the living room into the great outdoors with woodsy wall prints from NumerArt, a Montreal-based company. There is no undercurrent of kitsch.
Anwar Mukhayesh, one of HGTV's three Designer Guys, says minimalism is responsible for a return to the forest. "People have come over to the modernist side for shelves and kitchens - everyone is going for those straight edges. But when it comes time to pick chairs and light fixtures, everyone is looking for those really cool ornate organic pieces."
Case in point: a striking driftwood chandelier available at Toronto decor hot spot L'Atelier. "It doesn't feel as formal," says owner Youssef Hasbani, who, incidentally, is renovating his home kitchen to parallel the outdoor spaces of Phuket, Thailand. Also popular right now are gnarling candelabra in carved wood. "It just makes you feel happy and healthier, although it always has to be refined, or else don't bother."
Indeed, the forest is back in fashion because it has been subject to what Cobi Ladner, editor-in-chief of House & Home, calls "a more graphic treatment." She even considers it important enough to include it - here's a sneak preview - among the magazine's top trends of 2008. For the biggest impact, try creative juxtapositions, she says: "In a modern loft, it can be quite funky to see branches."
Poured concrete floors beckon for an organic touch. American designer Michael Aram says that living with nature is vital in an urban environment. "So much is mass-produced and overly commercial in our lives that we just get turned off by things that don't have a vibration to them and that remind us of our natural surroundings," he says from his New York studio, where he has been casting his flora-full metalwork in nickel plate, polished aluminum or oxidized bronze since 1997. "Our environment in cities is so unbelievably aggressive and stony - there's so much pavement and hardness - that when we come home, we want to retreat to an oasis."
With previous trends, this meant Zen-like and tranquil (bamboo and bubbling water fountains) and whimsical (Tord Boontje garland wreaths). Even antlers and all things lodge-related recently had their trophy moment.
The newest nature theme, however, addresses our increasing commitment to all things eco. Designers are reconciling such buzzwords as "sustainable" and "salvaged" with stylish.
Toronto industrial designer Zac Ridgely recently designed a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified version of his popular Riverstone light cube, which was inspired by campfires, sauna rocks and the Sea to Sky Highway in British Columbia. It uses recyclable steel mesh and a high-efficiency fluorescent fixture. "A lot of my pieces have been born from off-cuts, as in, 'How can I reuse these?' " he says.
Arminé Tatosian, whose AT Design Group boutique in Toronto carries an impressive selection of the Aram collection, says nature gains value when rendered in a permanent medium. For example, she calls Aram's wrought-iron table, with its top resembling a cross-section of a tree, as "usable sculpture."
Which explains why the William Ashley display exudes a museum-like quality. No home could possibly be propped with so much leafy luxury. But that was not the point, general manager Jackie Chiesa says. "We always try to make the windows relevant to people," she says. "People love the colour and every aspect of nature."
Mother-of-the-groom Bendzsak was holding out hope that that the autumnal installation will still be up by December when her son comes home, but Chiesa confirmed that the festive display will proceed as scheduled, likely some time in mid-November.
And, as to be expected, to every season there is a turn, turn, turn of trends. The forest isn't disappearing any time soon, but this spring, Aram will introduce a floral collection for the first time: tulip serving sets, sunflower breadbaskets and rose petals in colourful enamel over metal.
Design must stay fresh, after all. And branching out is always a good place to start.
Amy Verner