More notes on the Casual Furniture Show--Better Late than Never!

Wow! I just found another of my notebooks from the recent (September!) Casual Furniture Show in Chicago. The notes remain timely as the show has to do with what's hot for Spring/Summer 2008.

Photo Left:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that is the Design Guy's actual desk top!

Do you see how I could have misplaced my notebook?

WHAT TANGLED WEBS WE WEAVE!

And weave they did, in weather proof outdoor materials! Woven synthetic wicker, rattan, bamboo, even woven leather was everywhere and was available in every price point. Sectionals, sofas, love seats, lounge chairs, bar stools, tables, swings, bars, consoles, floor screens, stools, ottomans, you name it, somebody wove it! Is wove a word? Is now!

There were many Cheap versions (yes, with a capitol "C"), that were poorly scaled and lacked any sense of quality.

Retail for the above type of merchandise , the less desirable, but necessary price points, for example: A dining chair that was priced to sell from $85-$100, was in fact similarly styled to a more upscale models that priced at $500-$750 each depending on the manufacture, but that was where the similarity ended.

After a few more days of wading through a sea of woven look-a-likes and wannabe's, it became clear to us that it would be worth it, and ultimately to you the consumer to step up to the plate and not sacrifice quality for price.

We did find well designed, and nicely made chairs and furniture, woven in Hularo. Hularo is a synthetic material, developed by the "Denmarkians". Yeah, it was developed in Denmark by the Dedon Group (handled in the USA by Janus et Cie--and conveniently available at the Cabana Home Santa Barbara and Mill Valley stores). What an unlikely place to develop a material for outdoor furniture! Isn't it cold as heck...I mean hell, there most of the time?

The material was patented for a period of time, but the technology is now widely used throughout the outdoor furniture industry. The color in the hularo material is solid. Meaning if you nick it, or cut it, the color is all the way through, therefore making any damage less noticeable.

This is the Bonneville Dining Chair from Dedon, list price is $895. each.

Other pieces in the collection include Dining tables, Love seat, Lounge Chair, Reclining Lounge Chair, and Ottoman.

The less expensive chair models appear to have been copied from a Dedon Design (see Janus et Cie, above), and retail from $995 each. We found other knock-offs (brands that aren't household name brands), that would retail from $395-$495. Though slightly less stylish as those made by Dedon, but hey, you can't have everything at that price! We couldn't bring our selves to go for the cheapest version, but we did select a model in order to accommodate both price ranges for our customers, Cabana Home has both the Dedon chair, and this similarly styled private label chair, pictured below, in stock.

This is the private label Dining Chair, similarly styled to the Dedon model, above. The retail price for this chair is $696.

Janus et Cie outdoor furniture is available in stock in the Cabana Home-Santa Barbara store, and is available by special order in the Cabana Home-Mill Valley store.

Tune in tomorrow for the last report on the Casual Furniture Show in Chicago.

Good Night Moon.