Katy Lifestyles and Homes magazine Mar 2010: 2010 Furniture Trends are Comforting and Eclectic.

•Eco-Friendly – Furniture with a social conscience will continue its popularity in 2010. Pieces made from recycled or reclaimed wood look great and help the environment.

•Refurbished antiques – People are looking for “comfort” items to help them connect with the safer days of the past. Original antiques that have been refurbished, or new furniture that is made to look older or distressed, will be all the rage for 2010.

No single style will dominate the furniture industry this year. Overall, there are at least five categories to appeal to the broad range of consumer tastes. The areas can be broken down this way: American, including transitional, early American, lodge and rustic and 1940s Hollywood glamour; European, ranging from formal and ornate Renaissance styles to sleek Salon or Deco; Eco or Environmental, including recycled and natural materials and organic shapes; Ethnic, ranging from tribal African to Indian and South American to contemporary Asian; and Modern, including contemporary, urban, high tech, eclectic and street or youth cultures.

Gary James, a writer for Furniture Today, has this to say: “If you have to sum up the hot furniture trends for this year and next, one word comes to mind —eclectic.”

Bright sofas with neutral throw pillows are front and center in living room furniture —out of the picture are neutral sofas with bright throw pillows.

Modular furniture is flexibility personified for the cost-conscious consumer —urban dwellers in particular will be taking advantage of these new styles.

Eco-awareness continues in home furnishings, with natural and environmentally friendly furniture continuing the go-green trend.

Gray is the hot neutral to showcase the bright furniture—a twist on the hot metallics for the year.

Simple, understated styling graces furniture shapes.

Reinterpreting the past is also popular—taking the furniture of olden days and putting a new face on it.

With clean furniture styles comes Bohemian bright, bold fabrics to add interest and spotlight the simplicity in the room.

Whatever your taste, there’s bound to be a special chair or sofa out there that is just right for you. For more information, go to www.furnituretoday.com, www.highpointmarket.org or www.lasvegasmarket.com