The amazing High Point Market – Century Furniture

My first stop at the High Point Market was Century Furniture.  I will admit to having a very fond spot in my heart for Century; their furniture truly resonates with me, and I have purchased many pieces of Century furniture over the years.  The tour of the beautiful Century showroom was guided by the granddaughter of the founder of Century, Comer Wear; Century is a family business now in its third generation.  Founded in 1947, Century Furniture prides itself on being an American brand primarily made in the USA.  Century offers over 50 finishes, and thousands of customization options, and the dazzling number of items in their line were on full display in their showroom at High Point.  Their showroom was truly amazing!

I particularly liked a new line of furniture introduced by Century at this market, called Monarch.  The light tones and relaxed elegance had great appeal to me.  I particularly liked this dining table, which has the aged oak look that I love but in a more refined finish that protects the surface and eliminates the raw edges often found in furniture of this style.

 

Also a favorite from this collection was a center table with beautifully turned legs, and a detailed top that reminded me of a rose window.

Century has everything from traditional to contemporary in their line.  I have admired this Kelly Hoppen screen for years, and it was great to see it in real life! Click here to see more of the Kelly Hoppen collection.

Some of the rooms featured Century’s more traditional lines, and there is a large market for furnishings that are rooted in traditional design.  However, what Century is seeing is a desire to have ‘traditional with a twist’ – classic lines and forms, but mixed up with vintage inspired pieces, or contempory art, or even bright and vibrant wood finishes and hardware to make the design more 21st century.

 

The Bob Timberlake Home Collection by Century, which spread out over at least five large rooms, truly made me feel as if I had been transported to either the mountains or a lake house.  Bob himself is very involved in the styling of the rooms, and many of the accessories and wall hangings are from his personal collection.  Here is a great YouTube video of the new Bob Timberlake collection, featuring an interview with Bob himself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCFYwar2gHM

One way that Century keeps their lines fresh and updated is with a vast array of finishes.  This is a Greek Key chest is from the Oscar de la Renta collection (click here to see more from this collection); on the left is a green finish in the showroom (my picture), on the right it is shown in a darker finish (picture from the Century website).  Century has a list of recommended finishes for each of their items, but the sky is the limit with Century’s customized approach to furniture making.

The blue finish are one of my favorites! Both of these pieces are from Century’s New Traditional collection (a style that really resonates with me). Click here to see more from the New Traditional collection. (Picture on the left taken in the showroom, picture on the right from the Century website).

The silver captured my eye too…

A peek at the outdoor furniture area of the showroom.  The new hot pink Sunbrella fabric took almost five years to develop (as I understand it, a tricky color to capture in outdoor fabric).  I am loving the huge variety in color dinishes on the outdoor furniture, as seen on the chairs perched on the shelves!

As a way to encourage and mentor new design talent, Century sponsored Project UDesign, and SCAD student Ryland Quillen’s wing chair was the winner.  It is now in production and here it is!

I hope you enjoyed getting a view into the Century showroom – I found it to be so inspirational and very interesting.  This just reflects a small, small glimpse into the vast array of furnishings that Century offers.  Much more can be found on the comprehensive, newly redesigned web site that can be found here: http://www.centuryfurniture.com.

To visit my store, Quatrefoil Design, click here – come see the brand new art and scupture items in the store!
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The amazing High Point Market

I have always loved furniture, even as a young child.  I remember thumbing through the Sears catalog, circling items that I wanted for my bedroom (a canopy bed was at the top of my list).  As an adult, my love for furniture only grew as I became more aware of the vast variety of styles available, and one of the highlights of finally buying a house in Atlanta was picking out furniture of my own, instead of the hand-me-downs that I had used as a newlywed.

When I was invited to attend the High Point market, with a behind the scenes guided tour of five showrooms,  I accepted the invitation immediately.  High Point is legendary for a furniture aficionado like me, and the High Point Market in particular is the pinnacle of the home furnishing experience.  It is the largest home furnishing industry trade show in the world, and it attracts visitors from all over the world.  The sheer number of languages that I heard spoken is a testament to the international presence of the High Point Market.  With over 10 million square feet of space, and over 2,000 showrooms, it is an immense but amazing place.  I had never visited before, and I was looking forward to it as much as my children look forward to going to Disneyland!

The mood was very upbeat, and the attendance was strong with an estimated 80,000 plus visitors this year.  There is a feeling that the economy is turning around, and the showrooms were packed with designers and buyers looking for what’s new and fresh in the world of home furnishings (approximately 1/3 of the attendees are designers, and 2/3 are retail buyers).  The High Point market is definitely a place where the latest and greatest in trends are presented and discussed.  It is also like a testing ground of sorts; some of the showrooms that I visited noted that the High Point Market is their primary place to see first hand how designers and buyers react to their offerings, and the reactions determine what their products lines will contain over the next year.

The trends that I observed and read about were interesting.  Customization was mentioned at just about every showroom that I visited; the designers and buyers like to tweak the designs and furniture colors to suit their client base, and many of the furniture lines can deliver on this.  One showroom noted that the collector’s approach to purchasing furniture is alive and well.  It is rare for people to buy a matched set of furniture these days, and furniture makers are delivering unique and eclectic accent furniture lines that suit this style of buying.  Even in the world of outdoor furniture, the last bastion of purchasing an entirely matching set of furniture, there is a trend towards the art of the mix.

The High Point Marketing Authority also noted the following trends:

• Furniture that shelters, and makes the home feel like a sanctuary. Upholstered beds, deep wing chairs, products that are made in the USA (the patriotic element of shelter), antique and retro styling
• Bold florals, fruit, and vegetable style fabrics
• Strong pops of color in both furniture finishes and fabrics, and fair amount of light toned wood finishes (driftwood and oak colors, whitewash) mixed in with the dark and medium tone finishes
• Menswear inspired patterns and fabrics (I even saw a sofa that was upholstered in men’s suiting fabric)
• Focus on shapes – lots of geometrics, and the trellis and Greek key motif were quite prominent
• Tribal and cultural designs, particularly in fabrics but also in hardware

Here are a few images that I took during my whirlwind day.  I am going to post more details in future posts about the amazing showrooms that I visited, including Century Furniture, Hooker Furniture, Sligh Furniture, Theodore Alexander Furniture, and Hickory Chair.  I learned so much about furniture and presentation and the sheer variety of choices out there – I can’t wait to share my discoveries with all of you, but it is truly too long for one post!  More to come.

Please note that all of the images were taken by me, with my humble camera.  There was so much to see that I feel as if I wasn’t focused on my photography skills, so please forgive the quality of the photos!

Oscar de la Renta for Century Furniture

The mix of traditional and contemporary was a signature look at Century Furniture

A piece from Century Furniture's outdoor line - this piece was a best seller at the market

A new line introduced at the spring market - Monarch by Century Furniture

A vignette from the Hooker Furniture showroom

A room scene from Hooker Furniture's new Harbour Pointe collection.

Hooker Furniture's Mélange line features accent furniture that are designed to mix into any home decor design

Beautiful detail on a piece from a chest in the Mélange line

A variety of finishes available on chairs from Hooker Furniture.  Interesting and vibrant colors in wood finishes were seen throughout the High Point Market.

Great office furniture, scaled smaller than in the past, and geared towards the latest in technology, was  beautifully displayed at the Sligh Furniture showroom.

A charming 'D' shaped desk at Sligh Furniture.

Custom color cabilities on many of the products at Sligh, with a very short lead time.

At Theodore Alexander, the Keno brothers were on the floor to showcase their new collection of furniture, composed of expertly and exquisitely crafted original pieces with a classically modern flair.

Hickory Chair's new showroom was filled with light, and there were beautiful pieces of furniture to discover in every room.

This was one of my favorite rooms - with the Candler bed upholstered in a beautiful Hickory Chair fabric.

A view of one of the rooms featuring the Suzanne Kasler for Hickory Chair collection.

Mariette Himes Gomez for Hickory Chair

Have you ever been to the High Point Market?  I highly encourage a visit for those of you ‘to the trade’!  The next market is October 22-27, 2011.  For more information on the High Point Market, please visit http://www.highpointmarket.org/.

To visit my store, Quatrefoil Design, click here – come see the brand new art and scupture items in the store!
To subscribe to my blog by email, click here.
To follow my blog on Facebook, click here.
Twitter: @TTIBlog
To see design, architecture, art, and decorative books that I recommend, please visit the Things That Inspire Amazon store.