FURNITURE TRENDS: WHAT MAKES a sofa worth thousands? Why would you pay a lot for a set of shelves when you can get something cheaper at Ikea? A visit to Interieur '08, a trade show in Brussels last week, where some of the most influential (and expensive) furniture companies show their wares, answered these questions

Many of the companies that show there are Italian, often thought of as the best because they have advanced furniture making tools that mean they can make a sofa that's better constructed than others, or a chair leg that's slender but strong. They also employ the most creative designers.

MDF Italia is one of the coolest manufacturers and is selling a new storage system that involves a wall from which shelves and three dimensional storage boxes are suspended.

Forget those horrible units that hold a TV and DVD player (although it does accommodate these): this is an elegant solution to organising books, music and objects. The components work on a grid and there are endless configurations. A small scale model helps you work out how it will look: and it is something like a board game.

Also on the stand was a classic white table called Keramik designed by Bruno Fattor. It is made from a wonder material that is scratch, weather, heat and stain resistant. The proportions are perfect and it can be ordered in almost any length.

MDF Italia sofas do not cost huge money - one that is two metres long costs €3,500. If you consider that an average sofa will set you back by almost €2,000, it could be worth saving for something that is of superior quality, style and fabric.

Flexform is another great Italian company which is all about layering materials in a dark, sexy look, so a chair might have leather, wood, mesh and metal combined. The company's linen sofas are so deep and comfortable they are almost beds. These (the perfect hangover sofa) come in two depths and most people order them in an L-shape with a section in each depth.

A lot of this furniture is about touch - when you feel and sit in the furniture you understand why the prices can be steep.

Flexform's colours this year are deep brown, black, beige and white, which doesn't sound very exciting but the way they are mixed is luscious.

Flexform also layers furniture, not just materials: three small tables act as one large one and an ottoman has a little side table that swings over it. Enormous ottomans are big news.

Place a tray on one and it becomes a coffee table - otherwise it's another place to sit.

Among all the quiet good taste Moroso stands out: it is a company that goes for wild bright colour and ethnic touches. A sofa in shimmering blue fabric sits on a rug with a blown-up embroidery pattern next to a low 1950s style chair made from a woven mesh. This is typical of its look: a streamlined sofa next to a chair that's completely different.

Cassina reproduces classic 20th century furniture, much of it by Le Corbusier. This is a theme throughout the show: Ligne Roset, the French furniture company, is producing a desk designed in the 1950s by Pierre Paulin, a genius French designer who in the early 1970s decorated the private apartments of the Elysée Palace with sci-fi interiors during the presidency of Georges Pompidou. Incidentally, there's a big retrospective of his work running in Paris at the Galerie des Gobelins.

Minotti Cucine make kitchens for people who want a kitchen that does not look like a kitchen (and who probably never cook).

This involves two large brown and grey square units that sit, temple like, in front of a long horizontal unit. One touch to the top of the squares and a flap opens to reveal a sink in one and hob in the other.

The horizontal unit is also touch-controlled and hides a microwave, fridge and storage. The opening panels move fast and so you must too if you don't want to lose a finger.

If you're going to Brussels and want to see the latest designs, visit a showroom called Instore. It gives a snapshot of where furniture design is at now.

What's also noticeable walking around the showroom is that many of the manufacturers are upping their game: because this furniture is usually copied by lower level companies, the high end is becoming more complex in design by layering materials and making things harder to replicate.

So you will sometimes find four or five materials used in one piece, which makes for a lush appearance.

Some of the furniture has a memory of the past, rather than being too hard-core modern. There might be a blanket stitch on a sofa for example, or an armchair with cocooning wings that's a contemporary version of an antique wingback chair.

One of the strongest trends is the fashion for enormous standard lamps with shades so big you could get into one with a few friends.

The colours at Instore are black, grey and white but the idea is that life will bring colour to your room, not the furniture.

Sofas are huge and there's a certain way to sit on them: don't perch - take off your shoes and jump in.