WHAT’S YOUR COLOUR?

Faced with an increasingly bewildering array of colour charts, it can be hard to choose the right combinations. Will I make the right decision? What if my chosen colours date quickly? These may be existential questions, but Mathilde and Marion, Fermob’s visual merchandisers, are here to cut through the grey areas (no pun intended!) with some tips to help you choose a furniture colour (or colours) to suit your style.

To help you make the right decisions, you’ll need to answer some simple but essential questions about your environment:

Am I buying furniture for my home? My garden? My patio or terrace? Whereabouts do I live?

Ultimately, the sky’s the limit outdoors. But since the garden is a room in its own right, we don’t want to lead you down the wrong path. Sometimes you can use the colour of your wall, the ground or even your shutters as the starting point for your furniture. And the area where you live can even be an important consideration.

Where should I start? What main colour should I choose for my furniture?

As a rule of thumb, you should start by choosing the colour of your table, since it’s the biggest item of furniture in your set. Next, you should focus the colour of the seats. We strongly advise you to have at least two seats in the same colour as your table, to ensure you get the balance right. This is the starting point for your colour combination.

“Romane” table Rosemary color, “Dune Premium” seats Rosemary and Lagoon Blue colors and “Happy Hours” pedestal table Lagoon Blue.

 I want bright colours, but I’m afraid they’ll date quickly.

It’s true that fashions change at breakneck speed. Will today’s trends stand the test of time? At Fermob, our colour chart strikes the right balance between tradition and modernity. All our hues are designed to be timeless. So you’re unlikely to make a choice that’s in poor taste with us! Our experts recommend using bright colours for your seats and more neutral tones for your table. Smaller items such as pedestal tables and lamp stands are also ideal for adding a bright, joyful, colourful note to your set.

To the left: “Monceau” table Nutmeg color and “Monceau” seats Nutmeg, Pink  praline and Honey colors.
To the right: “Caractère” table Nutmeg color and “La Môme” seats Numeg, Cotton white and Honey colors.

 Is there a maximum number of colours?

It all depends on the size of your table. Ideally, for a four-seater set, you should limit yourself to two colours. For larger sets, you can go for up to three colours. But for the sake of consistency and style, you should avoid mixing too many colours from different points on the spectrum.

“Ribambelle” table Clay Gray color and “Surprising” seats Clay Grey, Frosted Lemon and Ice Mint colors.

What style should I go for? How do I combine colours?

We’ll help you create harmonious combinations from our selection of 24 colours – modern, nature-themed or warmer monochrome pallets. Green hues like Rosemary, Cactus, Willow Green and Cedar Green will give your setting a natural, plant-themed look. And why not add Verbena for a brighter, more vibrant green? Conversely, if you’re looking to accentuate the lines of your products, more modern tones like Anthracite, Deep Blue and Liquorice are the order of the day. Meanwhile, if you want to add some warmth to your setting, we’d recommend Russet, Red Ochre and Chili.
Lastly, our new pastel tones, hot off the press for 2020, are great for adding a brighter, more subtle touch: Clay Grey, Ice Mint and Frosted Lemon.

Can I go for a monochrome look, or is that too bold?

Of course you can! Bold is good! A monochrome look is perfect if you have a particular penchant for one of our colours. Why bother looking elsewhere when you’re in love? As well as making a strong character statement, going monochrome means you can vary the seat models and even mix and match from multiple collections. Because when you’re consistent on colour, you don’t have to be consistent on style! It’s another way for you to personalise your set.

To the left:”Bellevie” collection, Acapulco Blue color.
To the right: “Inside Out” table with “Sixties” and “Rythmic” seats Cotton white color.

There’s a lot of talk about the garden being a room in its own right. What tips do you have for decorating and fitting out the garden and bringing it to life?

At Fermob, we make products for every part of the garden. Our lighting products, for instance, are designed to help you make the most of your outdoor space, well into the evening. After sunset, our Balad lamps – in multiple sizes – will light up your garden with a range of lighting moods. Warm or cool, the choice is yours. Our Mooon! lamps, meanwhile, are a nod to Parisian street lamps and bring a touch of character to the garden. With their chargeable, mobile design, our lamps are designed for all aspects of outdoor living.

You can also assert your personality by opting for pieces from our range of accessories – cushions, trivets and even trays, all with playful patterns that will really accessorise your furniture. These items, designed for 100% outdoor use, are a great way to add some bright colours to your garden!

What’s your favourite Fermob piece?

Mathilde: For me, it’s the Mooon! lamp. With its distinctive Parisian style, it casts a warm glow over all my special moments outdoors. And the Honey colour makes a real statement, too!

Marion: My personal favourite is the Sixties chair. As its name suggests, the style is straight out of the 1960s – and in Cotton White, the colour lets the design do the talking. It’s understated yet bursting with character, and it looks great when combined with an Envie d’Ailleurs cushion.

At Fermob, we love nothing more than helping you get your outdoor space looking its best. But what if your space is really small? Tiny, even? Never fear! We’ve got some great tips and ideas for you from Thierry Halgand, the landscape designer who specialises in terraces, balconies, yards and patios, and whose businesses Balcoon and Paysagis.com have been bringing greenery to spaces in every corner of France.

1/ Keep it minimal, go for structure

For smaller outdoor spaces, it’s best to keep the footprint of your furniture as small as possible! And that’s precisely what Fermob’s designers had in mind when they came up with their new range of small, clever items of furniture, like the Bistro balcony table and the brand-new Bebop small table. Combine them with Monceau low armchairs or take your pick from the Sixties seat collection. As for adding a touch of greenery, you can’t go far wrong with Fermob’s designer metal planters!

2/ What Fermob planters should you go for?

And what should you plant in them? The tall Terrazza planter and the extending Basket model are ideal for vegetables and aromatic plants. If you’re looking for inspiration, here are some photos from Thierry Halgand’s on-trend layout designed especially for FermobWeek 2019. To get your own space looking this chic, plant herbs such as different varieties of sage. Alternatively, you could opt for a mix of coral bells (there are lots of varieties to choose from, with foliage of different colours), succulent plants and spring bulbs.

The Basket planter – yes, that one again – is ideal for perennial plants and dwarf shrubs. And if you want to add a twist, why not create contrasting foliage colours by combining lightweight grasses (such as stipa and purple phormium) with wild fennel and beeblossom? Mixing and matching forms produces a great effect, too – go for tall Lily of the Nile and Argentinian verbena alongside rounded, low-lying hebe. And here’s another recommended combination: slender ferns and rhododendrons alongside creeping dwarf ivy.

3/ A haven of greenery, sheltered from prying eyes…

Your privacy matters! To shelter your space from your neighbours’ view, plant bamboo to create a thick, green barrier. You can also use horsetail, phormium grasses, pygmy bamboo or France Bleu Rengun eucalyptus to produce a similar effect. So pick up your trowel, get digging, and turn your small outdoor space into a private, sheltered haven of greenery in next to no time.

4/Tips for keeping a small garden looking great all year round:

*Choose your grow tray according to your plant or shrub’s root ball volume and desired size (since it’ll naturally grow as time passes – at least that’s the idea!).

*Choose where you place your grow tray carefully, according to exposure and wind direction.

*Choose staggered flowering periods to keep your planters looking great all year round, opt for long-flowering plants for long-lasting bloom, and include some evergreen shrubs for a year-round decorative touch.

*Only use compost in your planters. Good-quality compost should be very dark brown or even black in colour.

*Plant the root ball and roots, but not the base of the stems!

*Ideally, use rainwater rather than tap water to water your plants.

*Keep the compost moist at all times, since soil dries out more quickly in a grow tray than in a garden. Cover with a layer of straw to help retain moisture. But be careful not to over-water, since this can rot the roots.

*Plant in staggered rows, leaving sufficient space between plants.

If you don’t feel confident enough to do it yourself, the best option is to call in a landscape designer to design your small outdoor space for you! They’ll have the knowledge and experience to get every last detail right: from furniture size, flow and layout, to plant foliage and planter colours. And you could do much worse than Thierry Halgand. He’ll make your growing trays shine – and give you exclusive access to his…

… Tips and ideas for getting your hands on cheap plants and shrubs, in Paris and online:

Don’t miss: Paris City Council plant clearance sales, with unbeatable prices – if you can brave the crowds!

Key tip: as a general rule, garden centres are cheaper than florists.

If you want to buy online, the following nurseries are great options:

Lepage: https://www.lepage-vivaces.com

Le Jardin du Morvan: https://www.jardindumorvan.com/

Fern specialist: https://fougeresdicietdailleurs.com

Le Jardin du PicVert: https://www.jardindupicvert.com

Share your own tips and ideas for a great-looking small garden with us!

Thierry Halgand is a huge fan of Fermob furniture – it’s a tasteful option for smaller spaces, and it’s reasonably priced to boot. Thierry describes Fermob as a “French brand with an extensive selection of colours and ranges that cater to customers’ personalities, tastes, circumstances and styles!” His personal favourites? The Bellevie, Croisette, Luxembourg, Monceau, Sixties and Balad ranges.

How-to guide: six steps for successful planting:

*Layer the bottom of the grow tray with 3-4 cm of clay pebbles to allow water to drain (and prevent mould).

*Cut a sheet of grow felt to the size of your container, place on top of the clay pebbles, then fill with universal compost half-way up the tray.

*Untangle the roots and soak the root ball in a tub of water until air bubbles stop rising to the surface – this is a sign that the plant is drinking the water!

*Carefully plant the root ball, leaving no part of it protruding above the compost.

*Carefully pack the compost up to 2-3 cm from the edge of the grow tray.

*Water generously but gently.

In September, we made our annual pilgrimage to the Maison&Objet trade show, the highlight of the lifestyle, decoration and design calendar. And this year, we put on a big Exhibition (with a capital E) just for you. Intrigued? Rémi, Marion and Jean-Louis played their part, as did other talented members of our team. Here’s their report…

Fermob’s Exhibition

The idea was to create an experience for all the senses – for you, the #FermobPeople, and for visitors in general. We wanted to showcase the brand – and our new colours, furniture and textiles – in a different light. “We staged the products just as we would for an exhibition, like you’d see in a museum,” explains space designer Rémi. According to Marion, our visual merchandiser who (among other things) is in charge of set design for Fermob’s stands, the idea was to “immerse visitors in our world and make them forget everything that had gone before”.

« Perched up high»

“Our products, like our Flying Balad, were affixed to the walls, defying the laws of gravity. We hung our mood visuals like paintings, and there were aerial sculptures throughout the space.” For you, our visitors, the layout meant you could contemplate our works (artworks, in fact) and browse our collections at your own pace.

Des 

Talent in spades

The Exhibition featured three temporary, delightfully named sculptures that drew the eye from afar: Luxembourg In The Air, Starlet Lorette and Surprising Gravity, each comprising chairs from the respective collections. Jean-Louis, our Head of Special Contracts Projects (or Stunning Contracts, as we like to call them), explains how the project came about. “Taking a creative idea and making it come to life: that’s what we do best (that’s our expertise, in fact!),” says Jean-Louis. “It required plenty of imagination, and a touch of madness, but Fermob has both of those things in spades! The brand loves taking items of furniture and doing something different with them – on a monumental scale. We proved that when we made an Eiffel Tower out of Bistro chairs back in 2014!”

Nicolas, our prototypist and expert in designing unique pieces, spent a full 60 hours welding the chairs together. We had to fix a pulley to the factory ceiling to simulate the conditions at the Maison&Objet show. “We put a huge amount of tailor-made work into the 2019 Fermob Exhibition,” adds Jean-Louis. “We can build on that to cater to special requests from our customers.” A word to the wise!

A human endeavour

“Behind every table and every chair, there are people and know-how,” stresses Marion. The making-of film we screened at Maison&Objet, which visitors could watch through tiny holes in the wall of our Exhibition stand, showed our talented people in action. And those portraits hanging on the walls in three new colour chart tones: Ice Mint, Frosted Lemon and Clay Grey? They weren’t models. They were real people, just like you and me.

An Exhibition – and a community

Fermob is about furniture, but that’s not all! It’s also about community, about sharing great experiences with great people. “Taking special care of our customers, making them happy, surprising them, giving them something to get excited about – that’s our mantra!” says Marion.

Ice cream and flowers

If you were lucky enough to visit our 2019 Fermob Exhibition, you’ll recall that we were serving ice creams in our three new colour chart tones (and we saw plenty of you licking your lips!). Visitors also had a chance to contribute to a collective artwork that grew and evolved as the day progressed: a green wall made from small bunches of dried flowers. We also had our very own Polaroid camera – or Polamob’ as we like to call it – so visitors could snap themselves at our Exhibition.

In a nutshell, our stand at Maison&Objet 2019 wasn’t really a stand at all. It was a star attraction, generating a real buzz. It definitely had that special something… As Marion says: “When it comes to staging our products, we’re always trying to push the boundaries”. And it was a resounding success!

From June 1^st to 29^th, Fermob invites you to experience a colorful escape into the world of  Noémie Labrosse at our Fermob/Vlaemynck store in Mâcon.

If you are not familiar with the artist, you can find her on social networks where she regularly shares her creations and inspirations.
The painter, who studied at the Lyon School of Fine Arts, explores the themes of human relationships, women, conversations and the constant changes that we face in our daily lives.

Noémie Labrosse uses brushes, paint knives and a digital pen to create a subtle blending of mixed media.  The artist searches for details in a quest for the simplification of her characters and the universe in which they find themselves.  Her long and elegant silhouettes of women presented in amusing situations, lost in spaces, invite every viewer to create his or her own story.  In fact, the artist often refers to this quote by Eugène DeLacroix:  «A painting creates a mysterious bridge between the souls of the characters and the soul of the spectator. »
The «Palette de jardin » (Garden Palette) exhibition tells a story of changes, people and life.

A collaboration between Fermob and Noémie Labrosse made total sense.  The artist invites you to share an exclusive exhibit of her latest creations inspired by some of the distinctive Fermob colors.  From India to Morocco, from imaginary worlds to real places, thirty creations each tell their own story of a colorful garden.  Life is expressed through color and conversations among the characters in her works.

 
“Colors are like personal encounters. And i can say that Fermob’s colors are the ideal match for my color palette.
I love to paint life, movement, and people.  So when Fermob, the symbol of colorful ambiances and outdoor joie de vivre (evening discussions, barbecues, sun and patios, Paris…) asked me to exhibit my work in their historic 1000m² store, I accepted immediately.” – NOEMIE

Discover, share, meet >>> Follow Noémie Labrosse on these social networks:  Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and noemielabrosse.com

Meet us at the Mâcon store:
Fermob / Vlaemynck
57 chemin des Jonchères
71850 Charnay-lès-Mâcon
Monday to Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Every year, the month of April heralds not only the beginning of spring, but also the greatest design summit in the world:  the Milan Furniture Fair. From April 9 to 14, more than 385, 000 industry professionals from 180 different countries flocked to Italy for a preview the new collections of the greatest names in contemporary furniture and to discover the hottest up-and-coming young designers.  

This year, Mother Nature didn’t cooperate!  No sun or Italian ice cream, but the richness of the exhibits and the new products that were launched almost made up for the bad weather.

So put on a comfortable pair of shoes and let the Fermob Design Studio be your guide as we take you through the massive exhibit area to sniff out the design trends and innovations of the year!

Embracing the potential of recycled plastic

Although it’s difficult to compete with metal furniture when it comes to recycling (steel is the most recycled product in the world), recycled plastic has (finally) made an appearance at the stands: discarded fishing nets, plastic bottles and other waste products were transformed into beautiful recycled furniture, ready to live a second life.  And this is only the beginning!

Power at your fingertips

No more flashing light telling you your battery is low! From now on, tables, sofas and even lamps can recharge your devices from built-in electric outlets.  Convenient and clever!

Convivial spaces conducive to social interaction

Tables curve or are extendable, sofas are set close together and circles are formed to create informal conversation areas where ideas flow freely.  People can gather together to discuss, share stories and philosophize in good company.

What’s old is new again (with the stroke of a pen)

Furniture designed  20, 30 even 60 years ago by the great names in the industry have made a return  in the new collections and they don’t show their age at all.  Bold and quirky, but timeless and already iconic!
The proof:  the Face à face writing desk designed by Pascal Mourgue in 1986 has made a great comeback at Fermob and it’s more relevant than ever.

« Face à Face » Writing Desk, Fermob

Warm tones, soft fabrics, gentle curves

Color palettes and shades are combined to create inviting atmospheres.  Soft materials adorn furniture featuring rounded and welcoming silhouettes.
A touch of contrast or lighting creates a balance and adds character.

Euroluce, light in all its forms

Every two years, the Euroluce international light exhibition brings together lighting design specialists from all over the world.  This year, they dazzled us with their sculptural, ingenious, poetic, nomadic and/or high-tech collections… A wide array of super-creative lighting designs was showcased.

A table that lights up

Who said that a table is just for holding objects?  Hybrid side tables that also serve as lamps have more than one trick up their sleeve.  Practical, beautiful and illuminated:  a special atmosphere guaranteed!

An outline in the space

A real innovation for 2019: light fixtures with slender lines that form veritable illuminated drawings.  At times taut and geometric, at times flexible and fluid, they define and fill the space.

A word from Eric Bibard, Design Manager at Fermob

« Each year, our design team meets in Milan for a few days during Design Week to attend the unmissable Furniture Fair.  This important event provides us with a creative boost and an overdose of designs, innovations, styles and trends in order to keep us connected with the world and its diversities.  For us, these visits represent a true lesson in humility and have an incredible energizing and motivating effect.  Inspired by this experience, and with our heads full of dreams and desires, we pick up our pencils and begin, once again, to create…»

The teams from the Fermob Design Studio