I thought this was a humorous account from reporter, John Boyle. This story is John's account about the High Point Furniture Market that takes place in North Carolina. His account is very accurate about the size of the show and the world wide draw of designers, buyers and decorators to the event.
Here's what I know about furniture: I like to sit on it while I'm watching TV.
And I like it to last a really long time so I don't have to shop for it very often.
So you can imagine what a rube I looked like in High Point last week at the semi-annual Furniture Market, which draws 80,000 attendees from all 50 states and 110 countries, according to the American Home Furnishings Alliance.
We're doing a series on furniture starting later this month, and I drew living rooms, so it was my duty to patrol the market in search of the latest styles.
My wife, Grace, found this amusing, as we haven't replaced our family room furniture in 15 years. Upon my return, I tried to convince her that dark floral tapestry is making a comeback, but she wasn't buying.
I expected a crowd in High Point, but I had no idea it would be the jet set one. Walking the streets or getting on elevators it was common to hear people jabbering away in Italian or Japanese, with all the men wearing the latest suits and the women dressed to the nines in heels and dresses.
Continue reading "Propsective on the High Point Furniture Market" »
Helps lower price points for similar leather offerings
AT THE MARKET -- Leather upholstery producers are working with a variety of new covers here, including fabric, leather/fabric combinations and what's called bonded leather -- a new, somewhat controversial leather-like material.
Higher-end manufacturers including American Leather, Elite Leather and Palliser have launched full-fledged fabric programs.
At the promotional end, companies like Klaussner and Catnapper have added bonded leather, which contains 10% to 17% leather.
As bycast -- polyurethane-coated leather splits -- was viewed with skepticism when first introduced about five years ago, bonded leather -- a layered mixture of polyurethane, cloth, glue and leather scraps or shavings -- is perceived by some as a threat, a falsehood and a fraud.
Ashley is urging buyers to "be aware" of bonded leather.
"We just want people to be aware of exactly what they are buying," said Tom Leon, president of Ashley's Millennium division. "We are not taking a stand either way, but we do want dealers to know what it is and that it is not leather."
Leather suppliers are selling the product, however, displaying it in leather-designated showroom areas. Leather upholstery companies categorize it as a leather SKU. It is as flexible and supple as a leather cover and can be processed to carry a flat, grainy or two-tone patterned effect. It also affords an almost waste-free yield of nearly 100%.
Klaussner has built a program around bonded leather.
"It has the same polyurethane face as bycast but it's less costly than leather," said Chuck Welch, leather product manager for Klaussner. "We've created a new category for it, like bycast or microfiber."
With bonded leather sofas retailing from $699 -- compared with $1,199 for similar leather frames assembled domestically -- Welch predicts the alternative material will take away from leather on retail floors.
And bonded leather isn't relegated to mainstream merchandise only. Simon Li/Trayton America has introduced a reconstituted product, producing a textural Nubuck effect.
"It's bycast with a suede top, not a polyurethane top," said Peter Pilgaard, sales and marketing director. Simon Li calls the product "suede leather."
"It is like leather to work with because 65% of its thickness is leather," Pilgaard said. "It is a good way to control price points in the wake of leather hikes."
Ashley, Flexsteel, Universal, Nicoletti and Natuzzi are among those companies that don't carry bonded leather in their lines.
Source: Joan Gunin -- Furniture Today
Do you have one of those rooms that are too small for just about everything, but needs to be used for everything? You need a home office, a guest room, a craft or sewing room but the only space available is that too small room. It's time to get creative!
By efficiently using the space available - especially the walls you can make this room useful and inviting as well. The first step is to make a list of the functions and activities that will need to be accommodated. Then a list of the gadgets and equipment needed, including furniture and filing or storage needs. Measure all of the existing pieces you own that may be used in the room. Note which items could be replaced by smaller, more efficient pieces.
Now you need to measure the room and put your dimensions on graph paper. One-quarter inch is best and most universal when using furniture templates. If possible, this is the time to have your room empty. It will be easier to imagine the finished space without the clutter of misplaced items piled up. Make sure you measure and note all electrical outlets, cable boxes, light switches and windows, doors and closets. Don't forget to note which way your doors swing.
An important part of home office design is assessing your power needs. Add up the wattage of your office equipment (and related office design features such as lighting). You may be able to cut down on your power needs by "combining" some of your office equipment. For example, instead of having a separate printer, fax, copier and scanner, you could have one multifunction machine that performed all these functions.
Determine the best place for each piece of office furniture and equipment by running through a work test. Whatever you use frequently should be close to hand and easy to access. If it's not, move it.
For instance, if your work involves using the phone a lot, your phone should be in a position where you don't have to get up or reach awkwardly to use it. If your work involves handling and filing a lot of paper, your filing cabinet needs to be close enough that you can get to it with a few steps - or even better, have filing drawers within your desk that are close to hand.
Before you begin the color and decorating aesthetics of your home office design, plug in all your equipment and try to use it, as you would on a normal working day. If you experience electrical danger signs, such as breakers popping or lights dimming when various pieces of equipment are operating have an electrician check your circuitry and see if any simple rewiring can be done. In my experience, houses, especially older houses, are often wired very eccentrically and need electrical updating.
Chances are extremely high that the existing lighting in the proposed location of your small or home office is inadequate for workspace needs. Few residences have rows of fluorescent lights installed, for example, as commercial office spaces do. While you don't need to go that far, you do need to incorporate strong overhead lighting in your home office design - and in many cases, that means purchasing and installing new or additional light fixtures. Various types of track lighting are easy to find and relatively easy to install.
When choosing the lighting for your home office, sit in your proposed workspace and determining how much illumination you need to work efficiently and where the light should be placed. An office with inadequate lighting is not only useless but can lead to all kinds of health problems from headaches through neck and shoulder pain.
Determine the best place for each piece of office equipment and furniture by running through a work test. Whatever you use frequently should be close to hand and easy to access. If it's not, move it.
Continue reading "Creating an efficient home office" »
While the practice of sustainability and responsibility may not be in line with much of corporate America 's philosophy of infinite economic growth, there are choices you can make that will have a lasting impact on the planet we leave to our children and future generations to come. Small acts of responsibility, like recycling and conserving water may not seem like much at the time, and may not pay dividends in your lifetime, but take pride and comfort in the fact that you are doing your part. That's really all each of us can do.
Another area where you have the power to enact change is in the wood products you purchase. Most of you probably never gave a second thought to where that new coffee table or bed frame came from. And that's fine; chances are you weren't armed with the information compiled here. But after reading the following, you will no longer be able to claim ignorance nor turn a blind eye to these catastrophic environmental concerns. My hope is that by the end of this short essay, you see the huge social and ecological advantages of purchasing wood products that are certified as sustainably harvested, and that you make a concerted, conscious effort to seek out these responsibly manufactured products and also pass this information on to family and friends.
So what exactly does 'sustainably harvested' mean, you might be asking. Sustainably harvested wood comes from protected, regulated forests; ensuring ecosystems aren't impacted by the loss of trees and that replanting occurs after harvesting. The basic tenet is that the amount of goods and services yielded from a forest should be at a level the forest is capable of producing without degrading the soil, watershed features or seed source for the future. Sustainable harvesting also takes into account the potential damage to vegetation and wildlife. While there are a few different methods of harvesting trees in these regulated forests, the most common mimic natural forces such as fallen trees, insect infestation, and forest fires.
We've all heard the motto "save the rainforest." But why does the rain forest need saving and not the forests of North America and Europe ? The fact is that while much clear-cutting was done to pave the way for urbanization and industrialization, regulations and governing bodies are now in place to ensure responsible use of the forests in Europe in North America . Most of the world's rain forests, however, are located in developing countries where establishing governance of and enforcing responsible use of the land is almost impossible. Slash and burn as well as clear-cutting techniques are often used in rain forest areas not for the wood, but to clear space to plant crops that irresponsibly deplete the soil, leaving it infertile and practically useless after only a few yields.
The impact of deforestation on the environment is currently being felt all over the earth. From the regulation of groundwater to the moisture in the atmosphere, a major function of forests is the management of the world's finite water supply. Cleared areas are more susceptible to flash floods and soil depletion due to run-off and on a larger scale, deforestation has been linked to tsunamis, forest fires, volcanic eruptions, and our current climate crisis or state of global warming.
What you can do as a responsible consumer is to make sure your wood furniture purchases are all products made from sustainably harvested wood. In most cases this isn't a very difficult task and won't cost you any extra money. Many retailers, such as eco-furniture.com, only carry wood products from manufacturers whose wood comes from forests managed by one the main third-party certification entities. These include the Canadian Standards Association, the Forest Stewardship Council, and the Sustainable Forest Initiative. As of December, 2006, there were over 2.4 million square kilometers of certified forest, with over 1.2 million of that certified in Canada alone.
Source: James Allen
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