Introduction
For more than a decade, Chad Falkenberg and Kelly Reynolds of Falken Reynolds Interiors have travelled to Milan for Salone del Mobile, the world’s leading furnishing and design event. The fair itself is in a sprawling convention centre filled with new products from lighting to faucets, chairs to rugs. And in the city, Milan Design Week spans exhibitions, installations, and showrooms across the city and beyond. Salone is their chance to be fully immersed in design: meeting people from all over the world, peering into future trends, materials and products and how technology and manufacturing processes will impact the homes of their clients.
The activity packed week is also filled with special moments that fuel their design process with inspiration beyond the products being launched during the fair. Here are a few favourites they return to—from people, fashion, food, and the simple everyday rituals of Milanese life.
Places
Osteria del Corso
Osteria del Corso is one of our favourite cafés in Milan—it’s family run, open for breakfast and dinner, and they remember our coffee orders from year to year. We love watching the locals stop in for a quick espresso and catch up with the baristas, all the while embodying that rushed-yet-slow way of living that is so quintessentially Milanese. It’s a great spot for fashion watching and getting back into the vibe of the city.
Corso Garibaldi, 75, 20121 Milano, Italy
Fresh Produce Mini Markets
Milan’s mini markets line the streets with impeccably stacked fruits, vegetables, and flowers. They’re a great example of elevated yet approachable service—locals and tourists can relax or learn all about the food while vendors carefully choose the best produce, weigh it, and package it for you. Frutteto Garibaldi is a favourite, in the heart of the Brera neighbourhood.
Frutteto Garibaldi
Corso Garibaldi, 18, 20121 Milano MI, Italy.
Secret Rooftops Overlooking the Duomo di Milano
Salone is filled with events, but we’re always searching for the hidden and unexpected places that make Milan feel especially memorable. This year, German appliance brand Miele toured us through several of their factories and hosted an unforgettable dinner at the Michelin-starred Horto Restaurant—its rooftop terrace tucked high above Milan’s bustling city streets.
As the sun set, panoramic views of the Duomo’s Gothic spires unfolded around us, glowing against the skyline. It was one of those distinctly Salone moments where design, food, and place come together—and where the journey from cooktops to rooftops felt especially fitting.
Horto Restaurant
via San Protaso 5, Milan, 20121, Italy
Views from a City Bike
The pace of the city feels so unique from a bicycle. While traffic in the city is fairly calm, and moves at a slower pace than Canadian cities, navigating on one of the City Bikes is incredibly easy. We love how it’s so easy and quick to get from one event to another, and the electric ones mean we arrive looking fresh.
Bike-Mi
Lime
After the Fair...
We are usually on such a high after the fair (and somewhat exhausted from long days and even longer dinners) that we spend a few days close to Milan. This year we went to Vals, Switzerland—an alpine village halfway between Milan and Zurich. The attic level of the quaint bed and breakfast Brücke 49 is a few hundred metres from the venerated 7132 Therme, designed by Peter Zumthor. A morning hiking the mountains (with roaming goats and sheep) and an afternoon relaxing in the monolithic cave inspired spa that overlooks the village was the perfect recovery from a week of design.
