Laminate Spans Decades and Designs

After touring the newly opened headquarters building of Wilsonart in Temple, Texas, the company allowed a sneak peek of the inspiration behind its newest set of laminates. The company’s in-house design department scours aesthetics from industrial to maker, urban to organic, and everything in between in order to devise its latest textures, color families and finishes. Two new finish levels complement 29 new patterns and colors that fall into the following trend plates prepared by Wilsonart’s in-house trend spotters: Inconspicuous, Crafted Industrial, Beauty of Imperfection, Perfectly Paired and Casual Rustic. Casual Rustic is cozy and well-loved; it addresses the need for low-sheen finishes in counterpoint to architectural use higher gloss levels such as glass and metals. The Gloss Line finish represents all that is cosmopolitan and sleek, and supports the contemporary interior looks of flawlessly veneered furniture and cabinetry. Selections inspired by Inconspicuous: High Rise, Low Line, Phantom Ecru, Phantom Cocoa, Phantom Pearl and Phantom Charcoal have a hidden dimension of greater complexity disguised in the everyday. Weathered Char, Ebony Char, Fired Steel, Forged Steel, and a personal favorite, White Driftwood represent the Beauty of Imperfection. They each possess a level of character that exudes from a seasoned patina by including representations of naturally occurring flaws. Perfectly Paired integrates pattern, texture or design with extraordinary depth and intrinsic interest; the swatches integrate texture as an important part of the process rather than an afterthought. Crafted Industrial represents the desire for unique objects that merge industrial innovations with traditional craft and hand-hewn finishes. The exact notion embodied by the work and materials that Wilsonart has created over the years.