To call Salone del Mobile a furniture trade show is like calling the Super Bowl a football game. And the crowd is bigger. The huge event, now back on its annual cadence, stretches over a campus of cavernous halls and draws hundreds of thousands of visitors. (To give a sense of scale, roughly 386,000 people visited in 2019… the population of Milan is around 1.3 million.)

But in addition to Salone, dozens of exhibitions also pop up in showrooms, studios, and temporary venues all over town, with everyone from tech companies (Google, Microsoft) to fashion brands (Louis Vuitton, Loewe, Issey Miyake) also creating often-elaborate presentations.

So how do you sort through it all and figure out which of these furnishings might eventually make its way into your living room? We sent three of our editors to cover a lot of ground (we stopped counting steps long ago) to separate the brilliant from the bland and the awesome from the awful. These are their personal picks for best in show, updated daily.

Day 3: Megan Reynolds, senior home guide editor

I’m Dwell’s in-house authority on bad renovation shows and occasionally, tile. In Milan, I’ll be immersing myself at the fairgrounds of what I’m affectionately calling the Chair Fair. Find me looking for the new, the opulent, and the pleasantly absurd.

Salone del Mobile is the reason everyone refers to Milan's entire week of design as “Salone.” The main event is both the least and the most interesting, depending on who you ask and how you’re feeling at the time, but it is the main event. Set in a giant complex outside of Milan, in Rho, the trade show portion of these proceedings are exactly as overwhelming as it sounds—six buildings chock-full of furniture, as far as the eye can see.

Though it’s a bit flip to say that if you’ve seen one chair, you’ve seen them all, that’s sort of true. Still, I spent five hours trawling the booths to sort through the chairs, chaises, loungers, and divans to show you what’s coming down the line. (Spoiler: The low-slung couch aesthetic isn’t going anywhere.)

Knoll

Gandía Blasco

Fermob

Edra

Glas Italia

Magis

Leolux

Gebrüder Thonet Vienna

Connubia

Day 2: William Hanley, editor-in-chief

I'm an arch minimalist, but one who is easily seduced by the strange and the surreal—my ideal sofa is a concrete slab with a fun throw pillow if that gives you any idea.

After a couple of quiet years, the manufactured mania that stirs up around the design crowd when they swarm Milan seems to be back to pre-pandemic levels—with everyone buzzing breathlessly about jammed schedules and must-see shows. I’m no exception. It’s the end of the day on Monday, and I can’t believe it’s only Monday.

Today was all about legends and discoveries—checking big names off of the list and finding people you’ve never heard of. Here’s what happened.

First Stop: Via Durini and Thereabouts

VL56 by Vilhelm Lauritzen

Galaxy Light by Ray and Charles Eames

Bar Cart by Bodil Kjaer and Hayama Cabinets by Particia Urquiola

Bodil Kjaer or the Hayama cabinet by Particia Urquiola in shades of blue and brown, both released in the last few years." layout="" credit="Add credit" photoUserId=""/>

Bombom Sofas by Joana Vasconcelos

Second Stop: Alcova

Third Stop: Bagni Misteriosi

Day 1: Julia Stevens, style editor

In a world full of beige sofas, I’ll be on the hunt for personality-filled pieces with some shock factor: the iridescent resin furniture of the world that makes you do a double take. It’s day one in Milan and the energy is electric. Here’s what I saw (and may never stop thinking about).

First Stop: The Bright Side of Design, Nilufar Depot

Poikilos Collection by Objects of Common Interest

Celestial Proceedings by Audrey Large

Fontana Amorosa Collection by Michael Anistassiades

Talco Side Tables by Draga & Aurel

Second Stop: RoCollectable 2023, Rossana Orlandi

Facade Cabinet and Light Sculpture by Jordan Artisan

Mag Floor Lamp by Mandalaki

The Repeta Collection by Con Crazy

The Art of Living Together by Tjitske Storm

Third Stop: The King, Atelier Biagetti

The King Sofa by Atelier Biagetti

Fourth Stop: Take It Or Leave It, Paola Navone

Prototype Tray by Alessi and Paola Navone

Ghost Armchair by Gervasoni and Paola Navone

Related Reading:

Our Favorite Forward-Looking Designs From Salone del Mobile 2022

Salone del Mobile 2021 Delivers Exactly What We’ve Been Missing

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It’s Furniture Design’s Big Week. Here’s What We Saw During Salone del Mobile