Kim Salmela is not easily defined, and that’s precisely what makes her work irresistible. The Los Angeles–based designer, known for her spirited collaborations with Norwalk Furniture and Crypton, approaches each collection like a storyteller rather than a trend follower. Drawing from her Finnish heritage and shaped by a lifetime of global experiences, from Scandinavian minimalism to Istanbul’s vivid maximalism, Salmela’s aesthetic thrives on tension: old meets new, bold meets timeless, relaxed meets refined.
As she prepares to debut her latest pieces for Norwalk and her second fabric collection with Crypton, Salmela reveals the intricate dance between intuition and discipline that fuels her creative process. She speaks candidly about the grind behind design partnerships, the realities of manufacturing in America, and the constant challenge of appealing to both established and emerging buyers. Her work, she insists, isn’t just about making beautiful furniture; it’s about designing for how people really live now: sustainably, fluidly, and joyfully. In this conversation with Design News Network, Salmela Kim Salmela is not easily defined, and that’s precisely what makes her work irresistible.
The Los Angeles–based designer, known for her spirited collaborations with Norwalk Furniture and Crypton, approaches each collection like a storyteller rather than a trend follower. Drawing from her Finnish heritage and shaped by a lifetime of global experiences, from Scandinavian minimalism to Istanbul’s vivid maximalism, Salmela’s aesthetic thrives on tension: old meets new, bold meets timeless, relaxed meets refined.
As she prepares to debut her latest pieces for Norwalk and her second fabric collection with Crypton, Salmela reveals the intricate dance between intuition and discipline that fuels her creative process. She speaks candidly about the grind behind design partnerships, the realities of manufacturing in America, and the constant challenge of appealing to both established and emerging buyers. Her work, she insists, isn’t just about making beautiful furniture; it’s about designing for how people really live now: sustainably, fluidly, and joyfully. In this conversation with Design News Network, Salmela shares how she continues to evolve without losing her creative compass, all while shaping what comfort and color will mean in the homes of tomorrow.
Preparing for market
DNN: Every High Point Market, you’re expected to deliver something new. How do you avoid recycling ideas while still staying true to your design DNA?
KS: Fortunately my personal style is all over the place! People say that they can see a DNA running across my designs but I have a hard time identifying what that is. I’m 100% Finnish and grew up in MN with parents who love clean Scandinavian modern design, but had interior design clients who loved traditional design… and then I studied in Europe in college and got to see how modern furnishings blended with centuries old architecture.
Now I am in Southern CA where my doors are open most of the time and friends are in and out of the pool during the summer so my home is very relaxed and nothing is precious. This background allows me to understand and appreciate many different aesthetics and lifestyles.
Each market I look at what stories we want to tell based on what I see happening with trends and in this subtle way try to show retailers what colors, shapes, and patterns will be trending over the next year or so. And for designers I always try to have a few things that are a bit ahead of the trends…the things they are wanting right now.
When needing to appeal to a range of customers who are all over the country, I never have a lack of stories to tell!
DNN: What does your seasonal design calendar look like: When do you start sketching, sourcing, sampling, and what’s the most stressful pinch point in the cycle?
KS: After each market we take a few weeks off and then it’s right back to planning next market! The fabric show (Interwoven) where the mills show their new collections is about 4 weeks after the High Point show and I need to have fabric selections made just a few weeks after that.
Norwalk has a very tight deadline for having the whole showroom set so they can order fabrics early enough that they are sending new swatches to retailers as market starts. What’s nice about Norwalk is that they don’t ‘test’ fabrics, they commit up front. So what you see at HP market you are going to get within 6 weeks of the market ending.
Knowing what sells
DNN: The market moves fast, but manufacturing has long lead times. How do you gamble on what people will want a year from now? Has there ever been a piece/collection/theme you were convinced would work but didn’t? What was the lesson learned?
KS: Manufacturing in the US (speaking of both Norwalk and Crypton) gives us a huge advantage because we don’t have to worry about transit time. And in both cases, everything is made to order, so there doesn’t need to be a huge investment in ready to go product that just sits there if the design doesn’t take hold.
DNN:. Designers often talk about avoiding “trendy” pieces, but you also can’t ignore what’s selling now. How do you teeter that line when designing a new collection and trying to project what will sell?
KS: We all know the 80/20 rule. That also applies to everything I am launching or creating. When picking colors, patterns, I really do stand back and make sure I feel confident that 80% of the selections/designs/colors are “no brainers”. This doesn’t mean that I feel that I am playing it safe, I just know that we already have the customer for it. And then I always make sure that there is a selection of items that will ‘inspire’ and show current and new customers that they know we can be a source for the most current and trending designs.
Kim Salmela’s design influences
DNN: Travel has always been a huge influence in your work. What places and cultures are influencing your work most lately?
KS: I honestly haven’t been traveling a lot the last two years as I am saving money to do some work to my house, but thankfully I really have traveled so much my entire life that all of that influence stays within me. My last most inspirational trip from a design standpoint was to Istanbul. The layers of color and pattern are so on trend right now with the maximalist look going on. But I never take inspiration from one region and leave it as is. I like a mash-up of styles because I think that takes away the ‘trendy’ factor.
For example, I am launching my second fabric collection with Crypton fabrics this fall (we will have a preview of a few of the fabrics in the Norwalk showroom this upcoming market) and I wanted a brocade pattern for furniture, but I didn’t want it to feel like an overtly traditional pattern. So I tried to make some of the elements have a more ethnic flair. And I have a ditsy pomegranate pattern that normally would have been something you’d see as an Indian block-print, but this is woven with a lot of texture so suddenly it has a more modern vintage vibe.
DNN: Beyond fabrics and forms, what lifestyle behaviors such as remote work, smaller homes, or sustainability, are you baking into your designs right now?
KS: All of these factors have been a given for me for my entire design career. Designing and eventually manufacturing was a result of needing to solve problems and come up with solutions. Some of the problems being: I (and my clients) have expensive taste but can’t afford super high-end furniture. How do I have access to high design that I and my clients can actually afford? Also, I am single and have a lot of single friends. We are not living in huge homes and thus everything we put in our homes has to matter. And with all the materials that go into our product, we look at who we want to support and buy from (for my LA factory.)
In the direct case of Norwalk furniture, one of their mantras is to source locally as much as possible, meaning that a majority of what they source (other than fabrics) comes from within a few hours of their facility. Making sustainable furniture means crafting pieces that are built to last
using responsibly sourced materials, low-impact manufacturing, and eco-friendly finishes. It’s about reducing waste, minimizing environmental impact, and creating beautiful, functional designs that you can feel good about bringing into your homes.
DNN: Millennials and Gen Z are less brand-loyal and more price-conscious. Do you think about how to keep them engaged in the kind of high-quality, long-lasting furniture you’re designing?
KS: I think that Gen Z is too young to be our customer, and for the Millenials who can afford furniture, they are looking for easy access and designs that fit their styles. I think my aesthetic lends itself to a younger lifestyle, and in fact that is one of the reasons Norwalk brought me on as a partner 7 years ago…I offered an esthetic that they really didn’t have. Norwalk had very established brick and mortar accounts and they used my collection as a way for their retailers to have access to designs that a younger clientele is looking for, to make sure they are bridging to that new customer that would be shopping at CB2 or West Elm for example.
I also believe that marketing and social media is the biggest component to attracting them, so that will be a continued area for us to grow.
What goes into launching a collection
DNN: Many young designers want to “launch a collection,” but few understand the grind behind it. What’s the unglamorous reality no one talks about?
KS: This is more about business than it is about design. Many manufacturers are going after influencers who have a high number of social media followers, but do they all understand how their ideas get made? As a designer/licensee you have an obligation to the licensor to drive sales and profit. Many times you have to give up on the ‘ideal’ and not be disappointed when an idea ends up looking completely different from the original concept because of value engineering.
DNN: What’s a common misstep you see happen during the development and/or launch of a new collection? What is a piece of advice you’d give to a designer who’s just secured their first partnership with a manufacturer?
KS: Study what is already working in a company and make sure you are giving them something totally different. The manufacturer is coming to you to bring in a new clientele. To be successful you need to really think “What can I do for the company” not “what can the company do for me?”
DNN: Finally, if you had to bet, what’s a design direction or consumer shift that will change how collections are built in the next few years?KS: With still so many looming unknowns with things like tariffs, local sourcing will be at the forefront. In times of uncertainty I feel that design can be a source of respite and joy, so I see lots of color and pattern being strong in the next few years. During Covid we were making our homes cozy, and I think the shift now will be to them making us happy.
