BDNY 2024: 3 Standout Trends

Presented by Boutique Design Magazine, BDNY connects boutique hospitality brands and designers with vendors and hospitality products. It takes place each November in New York City and is a manageable and inspiring show. Walking the floors of BDNY 2024, I could see how general trends in the hospitality industry are influencing the design choices of interior designers.

While it was an eclectic show, these three themes stood out at BDNY 2024.

Using Digital Printing to Customize a Space.

Hospitality offers the perfect opportunity to use digital printing to customize a space and give a hotel, spa, or restaurant a truly unique experience. As interior designers get more comfortable with the freedom digital printing offers, we notice more exciting uses of it.

Large Scale

Digital printers are no longer limited to standard repeat sizes. In fact, there doesn’t need to be a repeat size at all. We noticed a lot of patterns in large scales used for statement pieces. This was particularly true of wallcovering, but we can also picture it in other places, such as flooring.

Texture

At NeoCon 2024, we launched our Technology X Tradition collection to highlight the unique capability of the Dimense printer. At BDNY, Dimense had its own booth. This was heartening to see as it showed us printers are serious about approaching this market. On display were large walls printed with striking patterns that showed off the texture of their product.

Murals and Engineered Patterns

Wallcovering, in particular, showed a lot of creativity with digitally printed materials. The hospitality industry is in the business of making memories and creating experiences for people using a space. With digital printing, they can incorporate unique surprises into the décor and work with local artists to establish a sense of place.

Working with Nature.

Incorporating Nature

Hospitality continues to emphasize incorporating outdoor spaces into their design and blurring the lines between indoor and outdoor. Think, a modern outdoor patio designed to flow into an indoor lounge. There were also many natural materials, such as wood and stone, and tropical patterns on upholstery and wallcovering.

Tech that didn’t feel sterile.

We live in a world where tech is a necessity. Hospitality spaces want to have whatever technology their guests want. Yet, they also don’t want to eliminate a human element completely. Many tech solutions, particularly charging stations, were very integrated into products so that they didn’t detract from the aesthetic while serving their purpose.  

Building a sense of community.

A sense of community.

Hospitality is about welcoming people and helping them have a good time. People should feel comfortable in a place that fosters community by facilitating meaningful connections. Nicole Lashae Ben, founder of Thrive in Design, was also at BDNY 2024, and she picked up on this sense of connection for both the designers working in hospitality and their intended users. “Many booths featured activations designed to spark conversations beyond the product itself, creating an atmosphere for authentic connections and community building.”

Where does Design Pool fit in?

We have been singing the praises of digital printing since we launched in 2019. In fact, it was the inspiration for launching! Since 2019, Design Pool has been at the forefront of bringing digital printing to the interior design community. With the launch of our new shop, sourcing wallcovering and woven window film has gotten even easier.

BDNY returns to New York City November 9 – 10, 2025, at the Jacob K. Javits Center. This is an accessible show, especially for those on the East Coast, and the perfect excuse to plan an inspiration day around the event. Save the date for 2025!