The biggest events in the furniture and home furnishings industry are the Spring and Fall shows in High Point, NC. An annual award is given for excellence in showroom design which honors the most creative and innovative exhibitors. We’re very proud, here at ccino to point out that several of the nominees (and both of the top winners!) are vendors of ours that we love to work with. Here are the top award winners and the remarks that the judges made about them:
Best of Market:
Four Hands
“Known for providing an eclectic mix of products collected from different countries, expressing the aesthetic ideals of numerous cultures, Four Hands has established itself as trend-setting leader in the home furnishings industry. Judged as the very best at the Fall 2009 High Point Market, this showroom… makes exceptional use of color, lighting and textures to create a visually rich and emotionally engaging experience.”
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In the constant search for the new and better, furniture manufactures are looking again at ultra suede. Ultra suede (used as a generic term for a type of fabric) became very popular some years ago and then faded from favor. There were many reasons, but chief among them were the proliferation of cheap products calling themselves ultra suede. Since the high quality versions have such desirable wear, comfort and color characteristics, manufacturers would like to include some offerings in their fabric options.
UltraSuede brand
What does this mean for you? [click to continue…]
In the home furnishings and interior design world the High Point, North Carolina market is widely acknowledged to be the largest, most important event of the year. And it happens twice a year!
Each April and October 85,000 buyers, manufacturers and members of the press descend upon this small city. They walk the streets between over 100 buildings showcasing every imaginable piece of home furnishings: upholstered furniture, wood furniture, steel furniture, living room, dining room and bedroom furniture. Area rugs, cocktail and end tables, mirrors, wall art, bedding, botanicals, accessories and much, much more! At over twelve million square feet of display, we know that we’ll never see all of the companies or merchandise displayed here.
Here are some of the exciting things that we discovered in the High Point market this April: [click to continue…]
Specialty fabrics often add the flair or punch to a fabulous room design. At the recent fall High Point market those specialty fabrics frequently came from ikats and susanis. There are furniture grade designs in these fabrics available. Most often, fabrics with designs and colors this strong will be used as one of the accent fabrics in a room. Perhaps on a chair or on some of the accent pillows.
Ikat Designs
The word “ikat” means “to bind.” It is a very ancient way of creating designs in fabric by resist-dyeing (a bit like tie-dying) the threads before the fabric is woven. In Thailand, villagers take the weft (crosswise filling threads) and tie tiny bits of plastic onto the threads.
- Traditional ikat fabric
The tightly tied areas of thread, when put into the dye pot, resist the color and create a pattern, once the plastic ties are removed. Traditional Thai ikat cottons are often indigo-dyed in lively and engaging motifs representing the village life and beliefs of the people. Modern Thai ikats in cotton and silk are brightly colored with good imported chemical or natural dyes.
This time-honored process creates a fabric that appears highly detailed, complexly woven and hand-crafted. Ikats often have an ethnic look or feel to them.
- Ikat fabric on black lacquer chairs
In fact, Carole Sloan writing in Furniture Today said that many of the new ikats “in their latest interpretations evoke almost a Native American feel”. Using this process with newer fabric design and fresh colors can provide a wonderful mix of traditional feel and contemporary fashion. Take a look at the incredible black lacquered chairs shown here with a vibrant ikat fabric. Wow.
Susani Textiles
Susani (sometimes spelled “suzani”) is the word for “needle” in Farsi, and the large embroidered dowry textiles of Turkic groups are so named because of the many hundreds of hours of needlework required to produce them. Susani textiles originate in Central Asia: Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and other countries where Uzbeks and Tadzhiks share similar textile traditions with the Turkmen and other neighboring peoples in Central Asia .
- Traditional Susani Fabric Design
Susani from the Uzbekistan cities of Samarkand and Tashkent have larger, bolder patterns than susani from their sister city of Bukhara, known for susani with smaller, very intricate flowers and tendrils reminiscent of certain Indian textiles.
Used in Central Asia primarily as bed covers, susani in the hands of Western collectors often are framed and hung as wall art. Modern fabric designers are bringing this wonderful textile into our homes as accents and even core fabrics. But… take a look at susani used in an upholstery application.
- Ottoman in blue susani
You can see why designers love to use this vibrant design and color to add excitement and personality to a room.
Specialty fabrics often add the flair or punch to a fabulous room design. At the recent fall High Point market those specialty fabrics frequently came from ikats and susanis.
The word “ikat” means “to bind.” It is a very ancient way of creating designs in fabric by resist-dyeing (a bit like tie-dying) the threads before the fabric is woven. In Thailand, villagers take the weft (crosswise filling threads) and tie tiny bits of plastic onto the threads.
- Traditional ikat fabric
The tightly tied areas of thread, when put into the dye pot, resist the color and create a pattern, once the plastic ties are removed. [click to continue…]
Susani (sometimes spelled “suzani”) is the word for “needle” in Farsi, and the large embroidered dowry textiles of Turkic groups are so named because of the many hundreds of hours of needlwork required to produce them. Susani textiles originate in Central Asia: Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and other countries where Uzbeks and Tadzhiks share similar textile traditions with the Turkmen and other neighboring peoples in Central Asia .
Susani from the Uzbekistan cities of Samarkand and Tashkent have larger, bolder patterns [click to continue…]
