Comfort, Color, and a some 'star' sightings....... LaDiff's recap of the October 2009 High Point furniture market

1. COMFORT is king: deep, plush seating wowed us. Sink into comfort. Don't want to get up and keep walking comfort. No 'perching' on the edge of your seat; we're talking become one-with-the-furniture comfort.

2. FABRIC is BACK in modern design. While microfiber covers and ultrasuede are still out there, and still have their places, ‘REAL’ fabrics in rich textures are BACK: linens, chenilles, woven cottons, etc. This only adds to the lushness of the COMFORT (see #1!).

3. Where there is FABRIC, there is COLOR. After the safe sea of brown, brown, and brown (okay: tan, taupe, and chocolate), we loved seeing the other colors of the earth splashed around: cranberry reds, plum purples, ocean-inspired teals, and pumpkin oranges, all mixed with new neutrals like pewter grey! Our friends at American Leather did it particularly well!

4. MID-CENTURY MODERN was the style inspiration. Heywood-Wakefield-inspired case pieces, trim upholstery, clean lines – minimal yet fun and funky. Keeping with that feeling, AMERICAN WALNUT brings the essence of the 1950’s and high craftsmanship to the almost 2010’s. LaDiff faves Copeland, Skovby, and BDI showed it off with new introductions throughout.

5. INNOVATION – George Emerson presented his Geneva Sound Systems, where you can get really big sound out of sexy, small boxes: it is SO MUCH better than some other European options we’ve seen, and a whole heaping lot prettier in your room!

6. ‘PURPOSEFUL ECLECTICISM’ (defined in an earlier blog) from was rampant in the urban rustic/loft living looks from GUS* Design, Archetype, and Design Workshop. Cold, raw steel mixed with distressed woods; clean lines and minimal arms on a deep seated down-filled sofa; rustic textures against glass & metal. GUS* even puts ‘tree trunk’ patterned texture onto an otherwise very mod clear acrylic accent table: love it.

7. ECO-FRIENDLY IS AFFORDABLE – it does NOT cost more to be GREEN. The discovery of highly affordable and completely eco-friendly upholstery resource BKind3 was a delight, and speaking to Carl Gustavson about his BiOH-foam (soy) cushions, SFI lumber frames, and fabrics made from recycled plastic bottles, inspired us to “be kind” to our planet. We are also ‘getting in bed’ with North American mattress manufacturer Natura who has been eco-friendly since before the expression existed!

8. Last, but certainly not least, some LaDIFFERS get star-struck by famous designers: Lisa hunted down Thom Filicia , and I came within spitting distance of Candice Olson (note, I would never spit on Candice: 1. b/c she is very tall and could hock one right back on top of my head, 2. b/c she is truly divine). Thom is adorable, and Candice is gorgeous, and both are talented and charming, but neither had the naive appeal of this uber-star, Mr. Squarepants himself...
High Point just doesn't get any better than this!

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