Sourcing Interior Inspirations – Why I Go to High Point

“The next six days that matter.”

 

A most distinct privilege, as an interior designer, is to have entree to one of the best furniture shows in the world . . . in High Point, North Carolina.  Even though I’m able to take more frequent advantage of visits, as I live a short drive away, I never take for granted the special access I am able to have to such a huge variety of trade and industry-only showrooms!  With over 11.5 million square feet of showroom space, (yes, this isn’t a typo), I can’t even begin to cover every venue in the six days of this show.  Aside from examining and experiencing the many product lines, there are all sorts of events, seminars, and exchanges of new concepts in design.  While it can be quite a bit to process, I always come back energized from being immersed in the field I so love!

(Trend predictions?  We’ll see a continuation of:  classic, modern, new traditional, jeweled tones, mixed metals, painted finishes, Asian flair & bold graphics.  This room, bathed in purple and accented in gray, is indicative of the trends experienced in the European shows.)

Since the market is geared towards appealing to our visual sense, I’m going to step back and let you “stroll” the virtual halls and buildings with me, via a sneak preview.  I’ll unveil my market finds, in a follow-up post.  You’ll be in the “know”, even before some home design magazines hit the newsstands!

On the morning of October 17th, I’ll be having breakfast with Barry Dixon!  (Well, actually, he will be the guest speaker for the WITHIT Education Breakfast.)

As a WITHIT member, I’m excited to be able to hear this world renowned interior designer expound on his presentation, “Organically Inspired: Referencing the Natural World Beyond the Window in the Modern Interior”.  I’m a huge admirer of his work and can’t wait to see more!  (And for a 7:30 am breakfast, you know I have to be a BIG fan!)

Some of the vendors will be unveiling new showrooms.  Hickory Chair and Pearson are moving to the North Hamilton complex.  They will be in fine company with several other distinctive manufacturers.

Not only will Hickory Chair be in an exciting new showroom, they will be the location for several fabulous market events!  If you are in the industry, come meet up with your Twitter & Facebook Design friends on October 17th!

 

 

For the past eleven years, I’ve considered Pearson as my “go-to” line, for some of the industry’s finest quality upholstery.  I think they offer wonderful construction, comfort and fabulous custom options!  In comparing their pricing with some of the well-known catalog companies, they bring a higher value story to my clients.  I love that they are a North Carolina manufacturer, about ten minutes from the center of the High Point Market.  The food concept of, “from farm to table”, is not too far-fetched, in parallel, when I’m able to provide the Pearson experience to my clients.  I can have it delivered directly from the plant to their home.  I not only consider how products are made, I also consider how far they have to travel to a destination.  Pearson allows me to bring clients to the showroom, between markets, for a hands-on shopping experience!

While at market, I’ll be on the prowl for some great accessories!  These are the “icing on the cake” items which can take a simple setting from dull to divine.  I zero in on great lamps as they can serve the multi-purpose of function and fashion.  If a room needs a new life, I’ll often scrutinize the lamps to see if they are up to par.  (No lighting pun intended!)

(Lamps are taking their cue from organic shapes, with the ever popular gourd lamp still holding its own.  Asian influences have been very strong, as the historic, clean lines work well with almost any style and period in design.  Drum shades, which once graced 50’s & 60’s retro decor, will probably be interpreted from simple to pleated, and I hope, with a few more edge details.  Of course, one can always add a bit of trim or braid, for a personal touch.)

A new exhibitor, for the upcoming market, will be Snug Furniture, a truly artistically inspired line of casegoods and upholstery. According to Snug’s Creative Director, Maybelline Te, “Snug Furniture explores shapes and forms that are both fresh and familiar. Each artistic design reflects the essence of the Snug Life---functional | beautiful | personal comfort that is truly at home now.”  I had the honor and privilege to feature the Cocoon Chairs, shown below, at a tabletop event in the Charlotte area.  I’m so excited for my dear friend, Maybelline, as she and her partner, Alex Hendricks, will share the Snug lifestyle in their Interhall Showroom!

 (Snug’s sculptural pieces can be appreciated in all types of interiors.)

A doyenne of interior style, Bunny Williams, will also be debuting her BeeLine Home collection, during the fall market.  She has written several books about the subject of interior design.  Her experience, at the famed Parish-Hadley design firm, as well as her accomplished career at her own firm, Bunny Williams, Inc., brings her talent full-circle with this lovely line!  Her collection will be found in the Wesley Hall Showroom, at 310 North Hamilton.

Looking for the true one-of-a-kind piece?  The Antique and Design Center will definitely be on my agenda for a visit.  This new venue will be opening with a preview on Friday evening, October 15th.  With over 50,000 square feet of treasures from all over the world, their website declares the showroom to be “swoon worthy”.  I can’t wait to see if that’s true.  (And hopefully there will be an early 20th century fainting couch to catch me!)

Meanwhile, a first, not only for the High Point Furniture Market but also for the home furnishings industry, will be the big reveal of the winner of Project U Design on October 20th!  (You can read all about it in my previous post.)  There are now three finalists . . . students from the Savannah College of Art and Design, who will be waiting with baited breath to see if their wing chair design will be selected to be produced by Century Furniture.  I can only imagine, when I was a student, what an impact this might have had on my career!  Be sure to cast your vote for your favorite chair.  Just click on the link, below. 

Yes, my dance card will be full, as I waltz down the side streets and aisles of a wonderful world, filled with design inspiration!  I’m reviewing my market books, my wish lists, and I’ll have my camera ready to take it all in.  One of the reasons folks hire an interior designer is to help them sort through all of the choices and to provide the best possible options for creating a surrounding that say’s, “Hello, I’m home.”  For that, I’ll put on my best walking shoes and hit the market trail! 

(In my humble opinion, comfy feet = happy market!)

Shouldn’t you experience the best about design?  I’m just a phone call away!

All my best!  Wanda

Some other great lines to see, while at market:

John Strauss Furniture and TLS by Design – Showplace

Eloquence – Interhall

Scott Thomas – 525 North Wrenn – Tomlinson Bldg - *New Location

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Making A Beautiful Choice in Interior Design

 

Sustainable . . . It’s not exactly a word which brings to mind a sultry, sexy image.  In fact, the concept can be so complex it can create a bit of a yawn. 

Paul Hawken has said:   "Sustainability is about stabilizing the currently disruptive relationship between earth’s two most complex systems—human culture and the living world.” 

A titillating discussion for some, while not so much for others.  I promise, if you’ll stick with me, this post will become more exciting!  (And if you’re an interior designer, who will be attending the High Point Furniture Market, you should continue to read on to the end.  There’s a juicy tid-bit waiting just for you! . . . No reading backwards, either!)

First, here’s the “skinny” on BiOHpolyols ' Project UDesign:

It’s a contest, in collaboration with the Savannah College of Art and Design (On Twitter as @SCADdotedu), Century Furniture, and Toray Ultrasuede, to crowdsource the next generation sustainable wing chair.  (Crowdsourcing is simply where a group or community is asked to participate,through an open call, in order to collaborate on an idea or a project.)  In the case of Project U Design, you get to help to decide, (via your vote), which design, created by one of the students at SCAD, moves forward to actually be manufactured by Century Furniture, a truly glam furniture manufacturer who also happens to be interested in incorporating eco-friendly, sustainable products into their production process.  Beauty isn’t always in the eyes of the beholder, it’s behind the scenes, too!

There are currently six designs and five semi-finalist students in competition for the decision. Between now and Oct. 3rd at 11: 59 pm, everyone can vote for the three finalists. They will be selected only by those who vote online and the 3 finalists will be announced on Monday, Oct. 4th on www.facebook.com/BiOHFans.   

(Okay, I promised to spice things up so I thought you might enjoy a visual reference for all of the key partners in this historical design adventure.  The Tortoise Chair is one of the six designs, for which you can place your vote.  You’re getting warm if you’re wondering about my vote.)

(The Tortoise Chair, designed by Colin Jones.  You can click on this picture to read his comments about this design’s inspiration.)

How can you place your vote?

The voting for the three finalists, (who will be announced on Oct. 4th), will end at 11: 59pm, Tuesday, Oct. 19th. The designer of the chair who has the most votes will win. The winner will be chosen only by online votes and none of the partners or related parties have any say so in the winner. It is completely the public's choice.

What will the winner receive?  (Aside from your vote of confidence?)

1. A thousand dollars from BiOH – immediately!  (What budding new designer couldn’t benefit from that?)

2. Their winning design will be produced and put into Century's regular line up for intro at the Spring 2011 HP Market!  (Can you imagine?  I would have to be tied down with a ton of bricks to keep from hitting the ceiling!)

3. The winning student will be paid royalties by Century on all sales of their winning chair, once it's produced! (Mom and Dad would sure be proud to know “sustainable” could live up to it’s other application!)

4. A lot of publicity!  (You can say you knew them “when” and helped to put them in the pages of “House Beautiful”, “Forbes”, “The New York Times”, or perhaps they’ll even be chatting it up online, with you, as they develop their next big idea!)

Now for My Big Reveal!

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m southern born and bred.  Having created interiors in the Charlotte, NC area, for the last fourteen-plus years, I like to say I have a foot in the past, (as I have an affinity for antiques and history), but with an eye towards the future.  I happily embrace the style which is being referred to the “New Traditional” or “New Classic”.  The Tortoise Chair, by Colin Jones, appears as if it would nest just as comfortably within an antebellum estate or in a mid-century modern ranch.

(Please click on my inspiration board to enlarge it for a better view.)

When I looked at Colin’s design, I thought about some long past days when I was in interior design school.  I imagined it might be fun to see if I could utilize the colors of my alma mater, East Carolina University.  They aren’t always the first hues I would think about bringing into an interior – purple and gold – but then . . . 1.  I am an interior designer, after all, and I should be able to address most design requests  . . . and . . . 2.  Purple has been making a grand entrance at recent market events. 

(This was my color combo challenge!  How well did I do?)

Thanks to Alluminaire.com, I was able to create a custom shade, for a ceiling pendant fixture, which helped me to incorporate another accent color, timely for the fall season. . . Pumpkin!  I also added in a little gray as I envisioned it to be the background color of the walls in this room.  (Painted in Sherwin William’s Harmony paint, of course!)  It was fun, as well, to peruse some of the latest runway fashion statements, as I knew those trends can eventually work their way into the lines created for home interiors.  I loved this photo of singer, Joss Stone.  She had the perfect backdrop as she posed in her embroidered silk dress and with a lovely plum shock of hair!  (I could just envision that dress being made from some draperies yanked down from windows, Scarlett O’Hara style.)  I decided to tweak the original chair’s covering and selected Wild Plum from Ultrasuede’s line-up of eco-friendly fabrics.  (A soft landing at the end of a hard day.)  Duralee provided a great little accent pillow fabric with their line from Clodagh - coincidently, in the color pumpkin!  The modular carpet tiles, from Flor, offered a curvilinear backdrop as well as the “Sensuous” gourd vases from a local Charlotte area gallery, Red Sky.

Good design should always be about making a beautiful choice.  The beauty of the choice will be the one where it’s based on being all about you!  As a designer, I bring it to your home with the selection, the knowledge, and a bit of gentle guidance. 

Please be sure to vote.  The industry needs your feedback to develop sustainable products, which are stable, sultry, and sexy!

PS – I didn’t forget my interior designer friends!  Are you attending the High Point Fall Market?  Be sure to put October 18th at 5pm on your calendar.  All registered market/trade attendees are invited to share time with the traditional shelter print press in the Century Furniture showroom.  It’s a great opportunity for mixing and mingling.  Come meet the folks involved in creating your favorite publications!

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