by While many collections offer updated traditional design footprints, there are also plenty of soft modern and contemporary forms to see at market
HIGH POINT — Case goods and upholstery suppliers kicked off the fall market season with a mix of new products highlighting design capabilities in wood finishes and forms, mixed-media elements, and frames and fabrics aimed at sparking interest among consumers seeking to liven up their homes with a few pieces or completely new room settings.
The introductions largely offer flexibility in the ability to buy product that suits both needs and wants in a time when many are not moving but rather redecorating their existing homes to suite their personalities and design preferences.
In some cases the mix includes a scale story that includes smaller nightstands shown alongside larger ones, offering options for smaller space living. In others there are massive items including a 106-inch credenza in Hooker Furnishings’ Barton Springs collection along with larger dining tables that can seat 10-12 seen throughout the market.
In both wood and upholstered furniture, there also were products that appeal to both contemporary and modern tastes, while also addressing new traditional forms that are familiar, yet updated with new finishes and materials that spark a sense of nostalgia, while also reflecting a sense of longevity in their design aesthetic.
A|R|T Furniture’s Willow collection offers a mix of updated/contemporized traditional pieces that are reminiscent of antiques that can be mixed or matched. Made with prima vera veneers, it includes three beds and three dining tables, plus three living room settings.
Signature pieces include a breakfast nook featuring a rectangular pedestal table with rounded edges and a scalloped apron that retails at $1,995. Shown in a dark wood-tone finish, it was featured with an updated Chippendale chair in a contrasting off-white painted finish, giving the traditional design a more contemporized feel. Another rectangular table with turned legs was shown in the same dark wood finish with the contrasting off-white Chippendale chairs.
Signature beds include a wood-framed leather upholstered panel bed with nail-head trim retailing at $2,700 and a bed featuring a wood-framed fabric upholstered headboard and footboard retailing at $2,300.
Bernhardt’s mix included two whole-home collections, including the 47-piece Chatham Park, which has casual modern cottage design elements. It is made with oak and ash veneers and also features mixed-media elements such as acrylic, water hyacinth and woven wicker as seen on a sleigh bed retailing around $1,800. A second upholstered bed retailing at $1,600 features a dramatic fleur de lis shaped headboard, reflecting some of the sweeping curves and scalloped shapes seen throughout the collection.
Its second major collection is the 25-piece Pavilion, which has modern architectural-inspired design elements seen in the clean lines of case pieces made with oak solids and veneers and featuring bronze metal accents on door and drawer pulls. It has one bed and two dining tables, including a round dining table with a pedestal base that retails at $1,900 and a panel bed featuring inset metal on the headboard.
The company also showcased about a dozen new pieces in its Interiors collection, 19 new frames in its Bernhardt Living upholstery mix and 14 new frames in its motion division.
Universal’s mix of product included Emerie, a 34-piece transitional collection that features soft curves, fluted detail on case pieces and a mix of materials including Emperador stone seen on the tops of dining tables and nightstands, for example. Shagreen also plays a role on the drawer fronts of select case pieces, while stainless-steel hardware in a champagne-tone Dusty Bronze finish makes a statement on dressers, nightstands and other metal accents.
Meanwhile, the 45-piece Cassia collection is being added to Universal Modern. Made with white oak veneers in a softly wire-brushed finish, it also features mixed-media elements such as light Emperador stone as well as hardware and other metal accents in the Dusty Bronze finish. A total of nine stones and minerals are available on select pieces that also include white travertine, cherry gold marble, green marble, white marble and golden Portoro marble.
Universal’s Weekend Getaway, part of its licensed Coastal Living collection, includes two new finishes and eight new accent finishes seen scattered throughout the mix of 20 new pieces that include two new beds and eight new chair options. The line also introduced a new stone, White Quartz, and a new fabric called Nomad Snow.
Finish, fabric and hardware options took center stage at Vaughan-Bassett, which launched its new Nantucket solid white oak bedroom collection. It features three beds, including a panel bed with an arched headboard, a pencil poster panel bed and a wood-trim upholstered panel bed. With queen beds starting at $999, the collection features a five-drawer chest, a bedside table, a two-drawer nightstand and a seven-drawer dresser with mirror.
There are also four finishes, 10 fabrics including three cashmere-like performance fabrics and 12 hardware options. This yields some 1,440 combinations that will all be in stock at the company’s Galax, Virginia, warehouse, company President Doug Bassett told Home News Now.
“This is the most custom (options) we have ever had with 48-hour delivery,” he said of the quick-ship capability.
Fabric selection also is important to the mix.
“We want to cover as many bases as we can with the fabrics,” he said.
Some fabrics at premarket reflected an updated traditional design aesthetic on upholstery pieces seen at Hooker Custom Upholstery and Craftmaster, which has increased the size of the space it devotes to its New Traditions footprint.
“We essentially doubled the space because the category is growing,” Sandi Mowry, Craftmaster vice president of merchandising and marketing, told Home News Now.
Legacy Classic | Modern’s mix offered two collections, including the 14-piece Alden, a soft modern collection made with mindi veneers in a light wood-tone finish called Stonewash. It features two dining tables including a round-to-oval table with an open pedestal base and a trestle-base rectangular table with rounded corners. Two beds included a wood shelter bed and a panel bed with an upholstered headboard and storage footboard. Queen beds start at $699 retail.
Another standalone bedroom called Horizons has casual contemporary design elements. Made with oak veneers, it is at more of an opening price point, featuring a queen bed that retails around $599. The same bed is available with footboard storage.
Hooker Furnishings showcased two new collections including the 30-piece Barton Springs, which has soft contemporary design elements seen in the clean-lined forms made with European clustered oak veneers and flat cut oak veneers. It also features mixed-media design elements such as natural stone tops that add further dimension and visual appeal.
Its 30-plus-piece Alto Loma collection has casual transitional design elements. Each piece is available in two finishes, a lighter wood tone called Fresco and a darker tone called Sable. Signature pieces include a raffia-wrapped panel bed, a media console with hand-hammered aluminum, a credenza with a quartrefoil design on the doors and a trestle-base refractory leaf table. Featuring a narrow width of 38 inches, it seats 10-12 people with the leaves on each side of the table.
While traffic did not appear as strong as at some previous premarkets, most exhibitors said they were pleased overall, having a chance to get feedback and some early interest in their product mix a month before the October market.
“Our partners seem to have had a good Labor Day, and they are seeing much better business conditions out there, which is encouraging,” Hooker Furnishings CEO Jeremy Hoff told Home News Now. “We are excited about the opportunity we have with the products we are bringing to market and thank goodness we have the team we have.”
Bobby Robinson, president of upholstery manufacturer and event sponsor Rowe Furniture, estimated that his company was about 70% market-ready with some 275 pieces on hand, including some existing items that many customers coming to premarket had not seen previously.
“We are sponsoring in hopes that we will see some folks that haven’t seen us for a long time,” he said, noting that with such a high percentage of the showroom market-ready, both with new frames and new textiles, “it will be as if it is new to them.”
The event continues today in downtown High Point.
