HIGH POINT FURNITURE MARKET, Day 4, Part I

Notice the title above says Day 4, Part I. That's because this is a huge marketplace, and Cabana Home Buyers probably cover more than the average furniture store owner or Interior Designer, by far. So today is focused on our appointments at Baker Furniture, Bolier & Company, an interesting find at Artitalia, and of course, Worst in Show. Photo below, the entrance court to the Baker Showroom in High Point, NC.

First, a Color Forecast Update: Light purples and I mean every shade of it from the palest lilac to berry pinks continue to dominate this falls color story. Baker Furniture had a version of this paint called Tempest by Benjamin Moore—have a look at it!

 

 

 

 Thomas Pheasant used what looks like a darker shade of Tempest on his Kent Sofa which was at the Entry of the Baker showroom.

 

For showrooms that didn’t have product in the new color shades, they used lighting and fixtures to convey their hipness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another color also began to show itself: Emerald Green (more on that later).

 

 

 

 

 

Today we started out with our annual appointment with one of the major Cabana Home suppliers, Baker Furniture. This venerable firm, never disappoints with spectacular collections and new introductions created by their stable of designers, Thomas Pheasant, William Sofield, Laura Kirar, and of course the most charming and talented, Barbara Barry. The largest new collection, 60 pieces, introduced this year is by Thomas Pheasant, the Washington, D.C., based Interior and furniture designer.

 

 

 

Pheasant’s work is rather contemporary, references the past without copying it, in almost an art deco way. Thomas Pheasant calls his reference, moving forward, not retro. I have to agree.  Some of the new intros were just a finish change, say from Brass to Polished Nickel, especially on his (and ours) bestselling occasional tables.

 

 

 

Where other designers in the marketplace are just starting to show leather or parchment clad furniture, Pheasant has been showing it for a few years now. Photo below, Parchment is inset in the Thomas Pheasant Dining table tops.

 

Other favorites are the new Modernist style Patricia Chaise, the textured metal on his tables, lighting, and cabinetry and even on his occasional chairs.

 

 

The Patricia Sofa and Chaise lounge, above

 

 

 

Pheasant slipped an suede upholstered and tufted Ottoman under his cast bronze Cocktail table, above.

In the Entry Hall at the Baker showroom, Thomas Pheasants Center Table with Bronze finished brass top, and Brass trimmed chandelier.

My favorite new chair is the Athens Chair, shown in both wood stain and in the Cameo painted finish. I see the chair as a Klismos style chair, Elle Deco Magazine refers to it as Greek inspired, though I’d always understood Klismos to be Egyptian. Pheasant found it in an antique shop in Italy….go figure.

 

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I also loved the new Bevel Chair, made with beveled wood detailing around its barrel back. It reminds me of the coffered ceiling in the dome above the David in theAccademia in Florence, above.

 

 

 

 
 

The faceted Amanda Light in hand cut crystal with forged bronze link chain, is a wonderful smaller hanging light, above. 

I’m not sure I get the pieces Pheasant does that have floral details in bas relief which appeared on several of his new casegood pieces.

Loved the Arcade Table, with limestone top, which is great in either stained or Cameo finish. In an interview with Architectural Digest Magazine, Thomas Pheasant told them that the table was, “inspired from a panel on the bronze doors of the baptistery across from the Duomo in Florence.”  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nostalgia reigned, with the reintroduction of several early Baker furniture pieces:  McGuire (now owned by Baker) showed a vintage Lacquered Rattan Officers chair design with cowhide seat and back.

 

 

The 1950's expandable Butlers Table, below

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 1960s Paul Tuttle Friso Bench.

 

 

Baker put a new twist on its impressive, though stodgy, Stately Homes Collection: Set it up on white marble floors; add contemporary art and sculpture, Italian cast bronze lighting and a zebra rug and pow! Stately Homes never looked so cool!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Design Idea: In a Laura Kirar Dining room setting in the Baker showroom, the walls were painted a lilac tinged in blue/grey, with yellow upholstered dining chairs and white hand painted (actually splatter painted) linen curtains! The curtains were cool, and something you can do with your own curtains when you’re ready to ditch them!

 

 

 

 

 

I also liked a French style chair by Barbara Barry upholstered with the stripes running horizontally.

 

Next we toured the new collection at BOLIER & COMPANY, a company owned by a former Baker Furniture President, who himself was the person who hired Bakers first celebrity interior designer as a furniture designer, Barbara Barry.

The BOLIER line is much more contemporary in style, exercising restraint in their every detail of their furniture styling. The stunning statement in understatement, the Bolier Showroom, above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We loved their two new Slipper chairs styles, one a straight back and the other a curved back. Both of them have exquisite wood detailing inset into their fabric back and sides, shown above.

 

We also loved the anniversary edition of the Rosenau Estate Chair in burled wood, which we bought for Cabana Home the minute we laid our eyes on it. Show above.

 

Bolier’s classic cocktail table built of quartered oak, the Domicile Arch Coffee Table, is now offered in two sizes and in an additional finish, Grey Cerused Oak finish, shown below.

Lastly, we spotted a great looking Dining table, with a live edge, at Artitalia Group. Typically this group is known for heavier, more formal traditional Italian and European inspired furnishings, so this is a huge departure for them, and a great one at that! A huge slab of French walnut is left with its natural spilt and is butterflied with wood to make it a solid piece.

 

 

Worst in Show: Several candidates in todays lined up today!

First there is the “Sign Waver”, and attempt to make a bombshell mannequin with bleached blond hair/wig, dressed in tight clothes to sit outside your store or on a busy corner. This mannequin is motorized and waves your sign back and forth… your mom would be so proud!

Next was from the Italian Moroso line, which makes the Diesel Furniture Collection (yes, from that Diesel fashion house). Perhaps they should stick to clothing, because this was beyond interesting: A sofa named Mr. Softy, in a jacquard weave fabric depicting a photorealistic tromp l’oeil scene of ancient Roman ruins. 

 

This was only half our day, so look for Day 4, Part II.

 

Goodnight moon.