Softening the edges in Milan

For the last couple of years, designers at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile here tried various ways to tweak or even subvert high-end minimalism, which has enjoyed a long run as home decor's default style.

At this year's furniture fair, which ended Monday, some of those strategies were still in evidence. Attention-grabbing figures like Philippe Starck and the Dutch group Moooi archly undercut the smooth look with baroque decoration, blasts of color and pattern or razor-sharp edges. At Edra, there were chairs and sofas that seemed happy to take on any form, from tangled to crinkled to lumpy, as long as it was not a streamlined one.

A more surprising and compelling challenge, though, came from designs with a sensibility reminiscent of Sofia Coppola's film "Lost in Translation": genuine and even sweet, but with more than a touch of wistfulness. Brightly colored odes to childhood and fantasy-filled displays that used new technologies and materials to look low-tech drew the most attention, along with designs that sought to provide a bit of refuge or calm. Irony or too-clever posturing seemed to hit the wrong note.