6 min readFor some, spending two weeks in Italy sounds like the vacation of the year, but for me, it’s simply part of my job as House Beautiful’s director of special projects. My whirlwind tour started in Forte del Marmi at the Principe Hotel, with a tour of the marble capital of Carrara with ABC Stone. This brand is known for bringing natural stone into some of the most refined spaces back home.
One of the most striking moments came while we were having drinks, standing on raw Calacatta marble—yes, the same stone found in kitchens and baths, but here it exists as part of the natural landscape. We had aperitivos on untouched blocks of it and saw marble used casually to border plants along public sidewalks. When a material is everywhere, it loses its sense of preciousness. That shift in context is immediate and powerful. This is where these materials begin, long before they’re shaped and refined into something familiar.
Then it was time to head to the bustling city of Milan for one of the biggest design moments in Europe, Salone del Mobile out at the Rho Fiera fairgrounds and Milan Design Week.
I had suddenly been thrust from this quiet coastal town—it’s known for being the Hamptons of Italy—to the full pace of an international locale. It was a full-throttle reset. No easing in. The city fills up fast: openings, installations, dinners, pop-ups, showrooms—everyone has something to show, and it’s all happening at once.
While we weren’t able to experience everything Milan Design Week had to offer, here’s what House Beautiful saw and loved.
IKEA
IKEA’s Design Week installation was full of food stands that felt like a farmers’ market-meets-food hall. Their objective was to entice, showing off their very eclectic food offerings, including meatball-flavored lollipops, before moving into carefully curated rooms created by “pairings” of food curators and interior designers. The goal was simply to showcase different ways we come together over at the table.
My favorite installation was by Mehek Malhotra, an Indian designer and creative director of Giggling Monkey Studio, whose work leans into visual storytelling through bold, often primary color palettes tied back to childhood.
She used her own home outside of Delhi to inspire her space, using color without hesitation. Her version of entertaining felt personal, expressive, and slightly nostalgic.
Okay, onto the product side. IKEA surprised with the unexpected in so many ways. Their new PS 2026 collection had a couple of standouts we can’t stop talking about, including a floor lamp with two breakpoints that shifts from full height to a chair-side reading lamp with a simple twist. One lamp, two ways. Yes, please!
The other was an indoor inflatable chair (yes, you blow it up) that’s lightweight, flexible, and actually appealing and comfortable. It’s one of those pieces you end up using more than you expected—and the easiest piece of furniture you’ll ever have to move.
Natuzzi
Ever sit on a sofa and consider never getting up again? If not, take a seat on Natuzzi’s new Dwell sofa. It’s one of those pieces you sit on and immediately consider going fully horizontal. But wait! There’s no need because this sofa makes room for everyone’s personal relaxation mode. With a separate remote, it offers an adjustable headrest, footrest, lumbar support, plus subtle built-in movement designed to consistently support circulation.
The best part is you don’t notice any of it until you want it. Genius.
Arclinea
Given how kitchen-island-obsessed we are in the States, it’s been refreshing to see the traditional table make a return. But not everyone has space for both, which is where Arclinea’s newest lines come in.
The Kora island takes a different approach, leaning into curves that soften the entire footprint and make the kitchen feel more continuous, less segmented. The Vesper table extends directly from the island—anchored at one corner and supported by a single leg—giving you a full prep surface without sacrificing dining space. It’s a minimal intervention that solves for both and keeps the party fully in this space.
Cassina
If you love a puffer coat, you’ll understand the appeal of Cassina’s new Ardys sofa and low tables by Patricia Urquiola. Quilted, padded, slightly oversized—this seat is built for sinking into. The modular system adapts to whatever space you have, while additional tables integrate in seamlessly, keeping everything functional without adding heaviness to the room.
Frette
Frette’s collaboration with Tara Bernerd lands with an immediate hit of color—burnt orange, citron, oxblood, sharp neutrals—paired with a graphic, almost hypnotic wave motif that runs through everything. It’s bold and slightly retro, but in that controlled, architectural way Bernerd is known for.
The pattern becomes the language: a looping, scalloped line that moves across cushions, throws, lacquered objects, and tabletop, giving the entire collection a clear, continuous identity. That through line is what makes it work. On the table, it shows up as embroidered frames and openwork net patterns on placemats and napkins—structured, graphic, and precise without feeling rigid.
Gessi
Everyone is talking about rituals at home, and Gessi, a brand known for bringing the sexy with a side of fashion into the bath, leaned fully into this, approaching the bath as a full sensory experience. Throughout their showcase, they had male and female models “getting ready” at vanities with oversized countertop mirrors and also in steam showers (with robes on), highlighting the effects of slowing down for self-care, and what they dubbed “The Longevity Ritual.”
The standout was an overhead steam system that they say it all starts with, providing the best benefits for hair and skin care. The individually mounted shower systems allow the user to tailor the experience to best suit their lifestyle needs.
H&M Home x Kelly Wearstler
Kelly Wearstler doesn’t really do collections—she delivers a point of view. That’s what her launch with H&M felt like. Less about individual pieces, more about her world, translated for H&M Home.
They showed eight pieces from a new 30-piece collection launching in September. Each room read like a curated installation, often focusing on one idea in multiples—cranberry-colored wardrobe racks in varying sizes set against repeating floral wallcoverings, modular coffee tables designed to shift with your space, and lamps scaled for table or floor, wrapped in the same material from shade to base.
As with most things Wearstler, this will likely sell out fast. This is a rare chance to bring her point of view home at an accessible price.
RH Milan
RH doesn’t just open stores—they take over entire city blocks in buildings that often have amazing facades, but that are looking for an interior rebirth. You’ve seen it in New York and Paris, and London is next. Each one becomes a full expression of the brand and the location.
Milan definitely hits those marks. Surrounded by some of the city’s best hotels and boutiques, it carries that same ease, more relaxed, but equally cool, unmistakably fashionable, and more in step with how people live there. You move room by room, with some spaces feeling grand and others more tucked away.
The RH restaurant is housed in a greenhouse-style restaurant on the lower level, a mini Bar Basso is tucked away, ready to offer you an Aperol spritz, with the full extension of the RH world there to tease you—from interiors to yachts. In this space, you can treat yourself to a piece of the lifestyle.
Artemest Appartamento
The Artemest Appartamento was one of the most complete spaces this year. Set inside a historic palazzo, it felt less like an installation and more like stepping into someone’s home—albeit a very well-connected one.
A group of designers, many American, each took on a different room using Italian makers and materials. Rockwell Group’s dining room rethought the communal space with a more grounded approach. Charlap Hyman & Herrero softened the salons, pulling them away from formality. Sasha Adler’s entry and reading room leaned richer—deep tones, layered materials, immediately inviting. So inviting, I promptly took a seat and chatted with her for a while.
Each space reflected its designer, but nothing felt disconnected. It felt like one home, albeit one very cool, wish-I-could-live here type of home!
