Salone Internazionale del Mobile 2011-the 50^th anniversary of the massive annual furnishings and accessories exhibition in Milan-provided the backdrop for InterfaceFLOR and its fiber partner Aquafil to host a group of customers in Italy for five days of inspiration, education, networking, and a considerable amount of fun. This year, 26 architects, interior designers, and end users from across the United States, Canada, and Latin America joined InterfaceFLOR and Aquafil representatives from North America and Europe to visit the Salone, tour the Aquafil extrusion facility on Italy’s breathtaking Lake Garda, and soak up the culture, cuisine, and design of Milan, Verona, and Venice.

Salone always offers the most interesting and comprehensive vision of global design trends in commercial furnishings and finishes, and throughout the week, our guests pooled their thoughts (and pictures) to arrive at the following conclusions about what are the most evident influences in commercial design now. Overall, simplicity and lightness ruled, which is no surprise at a European design show. In this case, however, we got an overwhelming sense that the design community is embracing simplicity and honesty of materials as the new form and definition of luxury.

Below is a slideshow of some of the themes we saw at Milan this year. Over the next few weeks, we’ll address each of these lasting inspirations in greater depth.