With the ever expanding halls at Maison et Objet it can be hard to know where to start. My top tip and I do it every time I go, is to head to the inspirations section in the front of halls 1&2. There you will find an edited selection of pieces from across the show that have been pulled together to give a unique and directional look into future trends. From this you can pull your own thoughts together and pin point the stands you really need to pay a visit to.
Obsessions Privee, curated by Elizabeth Le Riche, looked at the way we transform all manner of objects into precious collections. The accumulation of material no matter how precious, weird, or banal can take on emotional value when they have been accumulated together. We can become curators in our own home – appropriating material to find our own expression. Its an idea the works as well in the home as it does for visually merchandising product in store. The household brushes pictured above seem so much more interesting and appealing laid out in multicoloured glory in the display cabinet.
My favourites in this section came from Emanuela Crotti’s presentation. In her space Crotti gathered together work by artists and designers who’d created unique handmade collections some from found objects.
Schwarm by RaR for Thomas Eyck, was born out of a fascination for the diversity in natural fauna. 
Pictured below Butterflies Serise by Joseph Warren at Image Surgery. Created from vintage street plans,atlas sheets and maps.
Klaas Kuiken Collection Bottles. Klaas drew inspiration from mass production bottles and developed his own glass blowing techniques to create irregularities in an item that is ordinarily uniform.
Couplicite by Vincent Gregoire and Nellyrodi looked at how the coupled life has become the aspirational lifestyle. An antidote to a individualistic me myself and I way of life. Couples are seen as balancing harmonizing and a stabilizing force in an unstable world. By couples they’re not just talking about wedded bliss! Creative couples might be brothers such as the Bouroullec’s or life partners such as Gilbert & George. Vincent & Nellyrodi quote sums it up nicely “Happiness is found in coupledom and not only in love emotions. Creativity is increasingly important to pairs working as units of design and production. In all creative fields, there are innumerable works created by duos for whom by combination of talents, the complementarity of views and a sense of cultural diversity give rise to innovative gestures.”
The products in here focused on togetherness, they may have been mergerd together like a love seat to become one or they’re a complementary pairing.
Bench Chair by Thomas Schnur.
Foret Illuminee by Ionna Vautrin
Anyway this is just a taste of the inspiration areas at Maison – there will be more in other posts on the product trends from across the halls.