The online market for designer furniture: why it has grown so much

Ten years ago, if you wanted to buy really good furniture, you had to go to a specialist shop. Things are different today. Specialized online stores have democratized the market – not with cheap goods, but with a curated selection of genuine branded products, transparent prices and detailed product descriptions. The advantage for buyers: they can compare at their leisure, read reviews and combine pieces from different design lines.

The online business has significantly increased the reach of major designer brands in the furnishing industry. What was previously only accessible via flagship stores in Milan, Copenhagen or Zurich is now accessible to a broader target group. Connox is one of the top addresses for designer furniture and home accessories in German-speaking countries – with a range that extends from lighting and seating to kitchen utensils.

What distinguishes Connox from other stores

There are many providers in e-commerce for furniture and home accessories – from IKEA to luxury furniture stores. Connox positions itself between these poles: no mass market, but also no luxury without suitability for everyday use. The strengths:

• Curated brand portfolio: Vitra, Muuto, HAY, Ferm Living, Blomus, Thonet and more
• Editorial product world with real style recommendations
• Clear manufacturer specifications and material information
• Reviews from real buyers, not generic star ratings

If you want to develop your own personal style of living, you will find more than just products on Connox – you will find furnishing concepts. This makes it easier to create coherent rooms instead of randomly combining individual pieces.

Fun fact: Connox was founded in 2005 and was one of the first German online stores to specialize exclusively in designer furniture and high-quality home accessories. Today, the range includes over 30,000 products from more than 350 brands.

Design furniture styles 2026: What’s hot right now

The world of interior design no longer has a uniform direction. Instead, several strong trends exist at the same time – and the trick is to consistently maintain your own style instead of mixing everything up:

Scandinavian-minimalist

Light materials, clear lines, wood and textiles in natural colors. Brands such as Muuto, HAY and &Tradition characterize this look. This style works particularly well in small apartments because it visually enlarges and brightens up the room. A consistently implemented capsule wardrobe logic applied to the furnishings results in a few, high-quality pieces instead of lots of cheap decorative elements.

Industrial chic

Visible concrete, metal, open structures. This look is no longer a trend, but an established permanent style – especially in apartments in older buildings. Steel floor lamps, dining tables with metal frames, shelves with a raw iron look. Cool materials are balanced by warm textiles and plants.

Maximalism

The counter-reaction to years of minimalism: more color, more patterns, more statement pieces. Brands such as Fornasetti and Bitossi Home supply the corresponding pieces. Anyone thinking in this direction should still choose a color axis that ties all the elements together.

Using home accessories correctly: The principle of layers

Well-furnished rooms follow the principle of layers: Furniture as the base, textiles as the second layer, accessories as the final details. If you only invest in furniture and neglect accessories, you will end up with a complete but lifeless-looking room. Conversely, good accessories without a solid furniture base quickly result in a restless room.

In concrete terms, this means

• Layer 1 – Furniture: sofa, dining table, cupboard. Quality is particularly worthwhile here because these pieces will be used for years
• Layer 2 – Textiles: carpet, curtains, cushions. Changeable at low cost, seasonal updates possible
• Layer 3 – Accessories: vases, lamps, art objects. This is where personality comes in

Connox provides a strong selection, especially on layers 2 and 3. If you want to store specifically, start with the color or material filter – and then let yourself be guided by the “Bestseller” category, which shows what is really being bought.

Tip: Buy layer 1 furniture in neutral colors (grey, white, natural wood). This gives you maximum flexibility for layers 2 and 3 – you can completely transform the room with new textiles and accessories without changing the furniture.

Sustainability in the design furniture segment

Today, good design and sustainability go hand in hand. By definition, high-quality designer furniture has a longer lifespan than fast furniture – that is already a sustainable advantage. In addition, there are brands that explicitly use recycled materials, FSC-certified wood or low-emission paints.

If you apply capsule logic to furnishings – buy less, but better – you reduce both costs and your ecological footprint in the long term. This applies just as much to fashion as to furniture: a good sofa that lasts 15 years is more sustainable than three cheap ones in the same amount of time.

Online shopping for designer furniture: what you should consider

Buying furniture online has a catch: you can’t judge the feel of a sofa by looking at a photo. If you still want to make the right purchase, use these strategies:

• Read material specifications carefully – real wood vs. wood decor makes a huge difference in quality
• Check dimensions twice – products often appear larger or smaller in photos than in reality
• Filter customer ratings by “Quality” and “Dimensions as specified”
• Clarify return conditions beforehand (often more complicated with furniture than with fashion)

If you are unsure, you can also view pieces in the manufacturer’s stationary stores and then order online – many brands listed on Connox have their own showrooms in major German cities.

Recommendation: Make a furnishing plan with floor plan and measurements before you buy online. Even roughly drawn on paper, this gives you a lot of security – and prevents costly bad purchases due to incorrectly estimated room ratios.

Frequently asked questions

What is Connox?

Connox is a specialized online store for designer furniture and home accessories with over 350 brands – including Vitra, Muuto, HAY, Ferm Living and many more. The store was founded in 2005 and is now one of the leading design furniture platforms in the German-speaking world.

Which design brands will be particularly popular in 2026?

Muuto (Scandinavian design), HAY (color and function), Vitra (classic icons), Ferm Living (understated elegance) and &Tradition (Danish design classics reinterpreted). For luminaires: Louis Poulsen and Gubi.

How do I recognize good designer furniture?

Genuine materials (solid wood, genuine leather, metal frame), clean workmanship, clear manufacturer specifications and durability of construction. Reputable manufacturers often also offer spare parts – a sign of real longevity.

Can I buy designer furniture cheaply?

High-quality designer furniture is rarely “cheap” – but there are legitimate ways: outlet sections on platforms such as Connox, display pieces at retailers, last year’s models or consciously investing in a few, but long-lasting pieces instead of many mediocre ones.

Which furnishing style suits me?

It depends on your personality, living situation and color preferences. If you are looking for orientation, you will find concrete clues in the style guide for different living styles on FIV. The rule: consistency beats trend.

Roberto Cavalli Home Collections: Extravagant and animalistic

The designer (Roberto Cavalli died 2024) always establishes animal prints and pompous applications in his creations. His home interior collections are in no way inferior to the clothing designs. Here, too, themes from nature can be found. Savannah animals in particular, but also corals and much more have found a place. Unusual decorations also come into play.

Tip. All luxury brands for the perfect interior from A-Z can be found in our comprehensive article Interior Brands XXL!

Living room: fancy sofas, furniture and lamps

The selection of Roberto Cavalli interiors is really wide. To bring you closer to the individual products, we will present them per room. Of course, the layout is not binding. Interior design should always be selected according to personal taste to guarantee maximum well-being.

Sofas with capitonée and animal appliqués

The couch is the centerpiece of many living rooms. For this reason, the purchase of this very couch is particularly difficult. You want quality and good looks. But the comfort factor must not come too short. After all, the sofa is often the place where you end a busy day relaxed.

Cavalli offers both single sofas and modular sofas. This selection ensures that the perfect place to relax can be found for every room.

• Bold_2: Leather sofa with embedded Cavalli logo
• Empire: velvet sofa with lion heads and feet
• Montenapo: Corner sofa with a special shape
• Hamptons: simple modular sofa system
• Kingston: Mix ‘n’ Match sofa system

Lamps: sturdy floor lamps with elaborate brass feet

Floor lamps have many advantages over ceiling lamps. For example, for their installation only a working socket is necessary and so they can be placed flexibly in the room. In addition, they represent a decisive design element.

• Brick: Lamp with brass base that reflects the light excitingly
• Coral: Lamp with brass base inspired by coral reefs
• Dummy: lamp with a mix of industrial and antique design
• Sioraf: Lamp with brass base, characterized by natural shapes

Carpet: durable leather carpet

Leather carpets have many advantages over classic woven carpets. Because leather carpets are, depending on the model, particularly durable and easy to clean. Thus, even with constant use, only very few traces of use form on a good leather carpet.

• Gnou: leather carpet in wild animal look.
• Mongolia: Fluffy fur rug
• Zebra: get the savannah animal on your floor
• Cavallino: leather carpet reminiscent of wooden floorboards

Hand sculpted sculptures from Cavalli

Roberto Cavalli ensures with his sculptures that the room is not only beautifuly furnished, but that aesthetics in the form of art also find a place. Because beautiful art objects make the interior design perfect and can be proven to lift the mood of the residents. The offered sculptures have unusual shapes, which can hardly be called geometric. These are natural shapes that leave room for interpretation.

Armchair upholstered with fine fabrics

Whether in velvet or with animal prints: the selection of armchairs from Cavalli Home is huge. We give you a little insight into what you can expect here:

• Blake: soft armchair with wide armrests
• Cosmopolitan: Round armchair with base in metal
• Curaçao: dynamic armchair shape in the style of the fifties
• Diva: royal looking armchair with metal details

Bedroom: private paradise with Cavalli furniture

The bedroom is a room that plays a particularly important role in our private lives. Here you spend a lot of time, which you want to enjoy relaxed. Cavalli helps you transform your bedroom into your own personal heaven.

Table lamps by the bed: for bedroom, dresser and nightstand

Who doesn’t know it: The discussion who has to get up again to flip the light switch. The best way to avoid such arguments is with light sources that you can operate from the comfort of your bed. Table lamps by Roberto Cavalli Home are such lamps. This is just a small sample of the collection. If you do not like these lamps, one of the many other models is certainly the right one.

• Abby: Murano glass base
• Logipi: Brass & Animal Pattern Laser Cut-Outs
• Lipari: brass with logo & glass details
• Maya: Foot decorated with leaves

Fabric rugs: Fluffy and comfortable

The selection of fabric carpets from the fashion house offers something for every taste. Some a little more simple and some a little more fancy: The carpets are made of high quality fabric and have the most diverse patterns:

• Cameron: Zebra pattern
• Charlize: Palm leaf pattern
• Geometric: geometric design
• Dots Camouflage: Camouflage and animal prints

Beds: furniture for luxury in the bedroom

The bed: the heart of the bedroom and the ultimate retreat from everyday stress. Of course, the right choice must be made here, which is why the label’s range includes a variety of different models.

• Guam: Design in 50s and 60s
• Key West: Rounded edges in animal print
• Nilo: Wide headboard
• Tuxedo: Plain, thick padded headboard

Bookcases with system: shelves with a difference

The variety of shelves of the label is not huge. All the more sophisticated are the different variants. It is possible to fill entire walls with a shelf system of the fashion house and to create space for all necessary items. Especially the Acapulco shelf can be extended as needed and offers many different possibilities to merge with your home.

• Acapulco: asymmetrical shelves
• Selfie: mirror elements
• Wall: mirror effects & Swarovski details

Dining room: tables, lamps & chairs with noble fabrics

With guests or privately with the family: the dining room offers space for interesting conversations and daily exchange. To create a beautiful environment for this, the fashion house offers suitable furniture and decoration for successful meals and their presentation.

Fancy ceiling lights

Eye-catching ceiling lights look particularly good above a dining table. Therefore, we summarize the most beautiful from the Cavalli collections for you:

• Kivero: Glass lamp series
• Batten: chandelier with hanging glass elements
• Planetarium: large metal chandelier
• Sioraf: Hanging brass frame

Dining tables for relaxed sitting together

The part that allows the dining room to fulfill its function. Although, of course, the way of dining varies depending on the background and personal preferences, a table at which you can sit together fabulously creates a very special flair.

• Antigua: with metal feet forming sculptures
• Comore: stone with geometric porcelain borders
• Lazy: round table with snake detail
• Soho: glass plate on elongated mirror base

Chairs: Extravagant yet comfortable

Matching chairs to the dining table make the ensemble perfect. Depending on the table model, these should be more unusual or more restrained. Let’s take a look at what Cavalli has to offer in this area together:

• Grace: upholstered with diamond pattern
• I Love You: All around dressed up chair
• Kivu: fancy chair with metal backrest
• Upholstered wooden chair in the style of the fifties

Plates, glasses, bottles for on the go: 5 affordable pieces

Tableware makes the table perfect. The designer has also thought of this and integrated a few pieces of tableware into his collections without further ado. In addition, he has included refillable bottles in his assortment in the sense of the environment. You can see what you can get here. So if you want to own a piece of Roberto Cavalli porcelain you don’t have to look deep into your pocket. The pieces make a real statement piece and are perfect to enhance a plain table.

• Drinking bottles: 104 €
• Cups: from €71
• Trays: from 54 €
• Serving platters from 84 €
• Place plate: from 148 €

Cavalli apartment: Video of the interior design

No matter how much effort we put into writing these articles, nothing compares to seeing the furniture and decoration live in action. That’s why we have for you a little insight into a luxury apartment in London equipped with Cavalli furniture.

Bathroom: towels, bathrobes & carpets

Cavalli has not left out any area of daily life and so you will also find various items for the bathroom among the products offered. From fluffy towels to practical bathrobes, everything is there.

Signature Style Towels

The towels offered by the label are made of 100% cotton and manufactured in Italy. On the one hand you can get a model with zebra print, which was embroidered with the Cavalli logo, on the other hand the towel offer includes a very fine, large towel in classic white with gold embroidery.

Bathrobes and slippers for casual fireside evenings

Nothing is better than slipping into a fluffy bathrobe after a warm shower, putting comfortable slippers on your feet and letting the evening come to a relaxing end. For example, in front of the fireplace with a good book and a relaxing drink. Or in front of the television with your favourite film. To make this evening perfect, the fashion house offers bathrobes with your own logo or a matching wild animal print. Best of all, the robes even have a hood. Of course, there are also matching slippers. So you are definitely prepared for cool winter evenings.

Just Cavalli Club in Milan: Video

Party and exclusivity simply belong to Roberto Cavalli. For this reason, there is a club of the designer in Milan where you can of course see the interior of the fashion house up close, but also party in Cavalli-style and get high-quality drinks and excellent food. You can get an insight into the events and the interior here:

The design – colours, furniture and toys

You don’t just expect offspring, but already have a child who is slowly reaching the age where it wants to play in its own nursery? Then you will have to deal with the design of the children’s room a lot in the near future and we have the right tips for you.

Colors in the nursery – Which are the right ones?

Each child is different and therefore the perfect nursery for each child is individual. Since children are often cosmopolitan, cheerful and active, it is important to support this attitude in the wall paint as well. No child would feel comfortable in a gloomy dark nursery, which is why light colours should always be used. Light colours such as yellow, light blue, pink or orange are particularly suitable.

Since children, unlike many adults, have an enormous amount of imagination, it can be a nice idea to create a mural. No matter whether you paint it yourself, have it painted or attach a purchased mural, your child will automatically feel more comfortable. It can be a world map that the child can discover or a painting with mythical creatures.

If your child is already able to occupy himself alone in the nursery, then it can also be a good idea to simply ask the child: Which colour do you like? Which mural would you like to have on the wall? If the child is given the opportunity to participate in decision-making, then this will not only strengthen the child’s self-confidence, but it will also help to make the child feel comfortable quickly.

Furniture: From bed to sitting area

In addition to the design of the walls, the selection of suitable furniture also plays a role. It is not important to buy the most expensive bed for the child, but to make sure that the overall concept is right. Most children are reluctant to sleep and therefore it makes sense to buy a bed in which the child likes to lie down. No matter whether there is a slide for the morning, a bed that is built up like an Indian tent or simply a mosquito net that is stretched over the bed and covered with butterflies, you will see that your child will much rather go to bed and generally feel more comfortable in the children’s room.

Besides the bed, it is important that you choose furniture that is suitable for a child. At some point the time has come and the child wants to pick out its own clothes for the first time and do everything on its own. Therefore it is important that the child gets the feeling that the nursery is completely aligned to him.

You should also think about where the child should play. If the nursery is big enough, a cosy seating area with cushions and upholstery could be just the thing. Many children also like to sit in beanbags to watch books or listen to a radio play. Make sure that your child has many opportunities to sit down and play.

Place toys – You should pay attention to this

What do children like to do best at a young age? Playing. Since the main activity of children is playing, it makes sense to buy several boxes in which you can store the toys. Here too, the boxes should be placed at a height appropriate for the child so that they can serve themselves and choose what they want to play. Especially if the child has many different toys, you might want to consider placing small symbols on the boxes so that the child knows immediately which toys are in which box.

Because you store the toys in boxes, it is not so easy for the child to be over-stimulated and can use their own imagination more often. Nevertheless, the nursery should not be as tidy as an adult’s room, which is why they can consciously place their favourite toys.

Safety in the nursery – You should consider this

Here we have 4 tips for you that can help you make your child’s room safe. Sometimes there are risks that have not been taken into account, so it is a good idea to read these tips.

Fasten cupboards and chests of drawers

No matter how many aspects there are to consider when furnishing a child’s room, the safety of the child always comes first. Children are not always careful and do not have too much life experience, which is why it is important to ensure that they stay alone in a nursery. Securing means in this context that cupboards and chests of drawers should be fastened to the walls. Why does this make sense? Many children feel the urge to climb up everywhere for a variety of reasons. If a cupboard is not fixed to the wall in such a situation, it could fall down together with the child.

Securing sockets

Small children in particular enjoy exploring their environment with all their senses. It is not unusual for fingers to be used. Usually this is not a problem, but when it comes to electricity and sockets, there is a great danger. For this reason you should secure the sockets in the children’s rooms with a child safety device. You can get child safety devices in any DIY store and there you will also get the appropriate technical advice if you need tips for installation.

Elighten children about dangers

Many accidents can be avoided by informing your children about dangers in good time. If the child understands why he or she should or should not do something, he or she is unlikely to do it. Give your daughter or son children a fair explanation of what can happen and they will be able to avoid some accidents.

Selected toys only

For most parents, it has always been clear that the child will not be given toys that contain parts that could cause the child to swallow or that could be toxic. Make sure that you only provide toys in the nursery with which the child can play alone. With many families there are a few exceptions for toys, which may be played only if the parents are present, like e.g. dough. These toys should not be placed in the children’s room, but in a place that is not accessible to the child.

Videos you may like about your baby’s nursery

Hacks for Moms To Be – Room DIY’s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drJ5DvGAgbE

Designing her baby’s nursery – what you need

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSNlsb1SwpU

Setting up a nursery – newborn baby’s