Why Design Week Matters
The NYCxDESIGN Awards recognize outstanding projects and products across the tri-state design community. They celebrate established names and emerging talent equally.
Categories span interiors, architecture, product design, and student work. Winners are honored at a live ceremony hosted by Interior Design Editor-in-Chief Cindy Allen, receive a custom award, and are featured in Interior Design magazine. Secure-platform
For a designer, a maker, or a brand, there is no bigger stage in New York. Check out the festival calendar here
The Basics
NYCxDESIGN isn't one event in one building. It's 250+ events spread across all five boroughs — showrooms, studios, museums, public spaces, even boats. Seven days. Ten design disciplines, from architecture and urban planning to lighting, product design, and technology.
The festival kicks off with an Opening Party on May 14 at Halo (28 Pine Street) at 6:00 PM. From there, it branches into keynotes, trade shows, exhibitions, tours, open studios, and awards.
Events Worth Knowing
Calatrava Keynote
Santiago Calatrava speaks at St. Nicholas National Shrine — the Greek Orthodox church he designed at the World Trade Center site. His work sits at the intersection of architecture and sculpture. If you're drawn to structural, organic forms in furniture — think sculptural silhouettes like the Sculptural Dining Chair in Ecru Woven Polyester — this is the source material.
Hervé Descottes Lighting Boat Tour
A keynote about lighting design. On a boat. Descottes is the guy behind the lighting for the High Line, the Louvre Abu Dhabi, and dozens of landmark buildings. Understanding how light shapes a space is fundamental to good design at any scale — even when you're just choosing the right light bulb for every room in your house.
Future Now AI Summit
A full-day summit focused on artificial intelligence in design. This one's less about furniture and more about the tools designers use to create it. Worth watching if you want to understand how the industry is shifting behind the scenes.
ICFF and Afternoon Light Design Fair
These are the two major trade and consumer fairs during the week. ICFF (International Contemporary Furniture Fair) has been the anchor event for decades. Afternoon Light is newer and more curated. Both are where manufacturers debut new collections. This is where we spot emerging directions in materials and form.
SHINE Exhibition
NYCxDESIGN's annual themed exhibition. Details for 2026 are still unfolding, but past editions have pushed boundaries on how we think about objects in space. The kind of work that makes you rethink what belongs on a wall — whether that's something bold like Woodcut Design Black wall decor or a hand-painted piece like Walking The Line.
On The Town
Friday, May 15, from 4:00–10:00 PM. Showrooms across the city open their doors for evening visits. This is the most accessible part of the week — no badge needed, just show up. You see real product in real settings, not behind velvet ropes.
Trends We're Watching
Based on what's already been telegraphed heading into 2026, here's what we expect to dominate the conversation:
Sculptural furniture. Tables and seating that function as art. Organic shapes, unexpected bases, materials that beg to be touched. We've already leaned into this with pieces like the White-Washed Rattan Coffee Table — it's functional art, full stop. If you're curious about how to style around a statement piece like that, our guide on coffee table styling covers the fundamentals.
Raw and warm materials. Expect more aged wood, hand-forged metal, natural stone, and textured finishes. The industry is moving further away from cold, sterile minimalism and toward warmth with edge. That's been our lane for years.
Art as architecture. Walls are getting more intentional. Oversized framed pieces, gallery-style groupings, and dimensional wall decor are replacing the generic canvas-over-the-sofa approach. A paired set like The Catch Framed Prints handles this well — two pieces that read as one composition.
Lighting as design statement. Not just function. Expect lamps and fixtures that hold their own as objects. Something like the York Buffet Lamp — it does its job, but it also anchors a surface.
How This Reaches You
Most people aren't flying to New York for Design Week. That's fine. The point is that everything shown in May shapes what's available at retail for the next year or two. The finishes, the proportions, the material combinations — they trickle down.
We filter that for you. When we see a direction confirmed at events like NYCxDESIGN, we stock accordingly. Our 10 rules for interior design hold steady regardless of what's trending, but knowing what's coming helps you make smarter choices right now.
The Short Version
NYCxDESIGN 2026 runs May 14–20 across New York City. It's 250+ events covering every design discipline that touches how we live. The trends that emerge there will show up in homes over the next several years.
If you want to get ahead of those trends without the plane ticket, stop by our quonset hut in Costa Mesa. We've been curating this stuff for over 20 years. We'll tell you what's worth paying attention to — and what's just noise.
