May162010

What is Vintage Furniture?

Question: What is Vintage Pieces of furniture?

“What exactly does the term ‘vintage furniture’ mean? How is it various from antique furniture?” Question from reader Consuelo.

Answer:

Basically, vintage furniture is furniture that may be between 30 to 100 years old. Pieces of furniture that is older than 100 years is termed antique. Anything additional recent would qualify as merely employed furnishings. A really well-known vintage look is Mid-Century Modern.

Vintage furniture is incredibly preferred, and not the least since:

It gives you the chance to decorate in your own unique style

It truly is less high priced than purchasing new pieces of furniture from the same good quality.

It can be one in the greenest ways of furnishing your home, as you’re saving furniture from the landfills, and even toxic finishes are not off-gassing any longer. Read More »

Apr242010

International Casual Furniture & Accessories Market

The International Casual Furniture & Accessories Market held in September in Chicago provides an insight into the latest trends for outdoor furniture.

The show, which is exclusively devoted to the indoor/outdoor casual furnishings industry, is the only one in the United States that is recognized and formally endorsed by the International Casual Furnishings Association and Casual Furniture Retailers Association. It is managed by MMPI, and Jaclyn Kotzum, MMPI’s marketing director for the International Casual Furniture & Accessories Market, discussed some of the trends and developments for outdoor furniture.

On Market Attendance and How the Show has Grown over the Years:

She was very happy with the 2009 Market and feels that attendance has grown. “It was actually up a bit from last year. There were a lot of manufacturers and buyers with big orders and commitments.” She feels it seems like a good sign for the industry.

She feels the show has grown over the years. There are temporary exhibitions as well as permanent ones, and a lot more exhibitions have opened up and expanded. A lot of companies feel the need to be a part of this. There are a lot more product offerings.

On New Products:

Jaclyn feels that outdoor furniture design is now more high end and fashion forward. There has been a vast improvement in weatherization. Outdoor furniture in now more multifunctional. For instance, you have umbrellas with docking stations and light fixtures.

Colors and patterns are more fashion forward. You notice runway colors and vibrant hues such as reds and yellows.

On Outdoor Trends:

An interesting thing is that a lot of indoor manufacturers are branching out and traditional retailers are also venturing into the outdoor furniture sector. Brands like Brown and Jordan continue to do well, while Century, La-Z-Boy, Broyhill, Laneventure have stepped into the outdoor sector.

With the interest in outdoor rooms, the importance of outdoor spaces has increased, homeowners are making more of an investment in it. Even when selling real estate, outdoor space is becoming a selling point.

On Indoor/Outdoor Furniture:

The distinction between indoor and outdoor furniture seems to be vanishing. Outdoor fabrics are now more attractive than ever, and come in better textures and colors. You can take the look from inside the home outside or vice versa. Outdoor pieces can be used outside the home or taken inside depending on your needs. Read More »

Apr132010

sustainable pieces of furniture

What is sustainable pieces of furniture, truly? The term sustainable pieces of furniture is bandied about everywhere, and not the least by by manufacturers who keep telling us their furniture is sustainable. Not all of them are telling the complete truth, as green-washing is one from the biggest trends proper now. Let us demystify sustainability by taking a look at what makes home furniture sustainable.

Components:

Sustainable furnishings is created of material that has specific characteristics. It’s recycled or re-purposed, renewable, and uses safer supplies.

Manufacturing Practices:

Employing sustainable products is only part of producing sustainable household furniture. Responsible manufacturing practices matter just as much.

Transportation:

Since transportation also uses power, responsibility in transporting is also portion of generating a sustainable product.

It may be efficiently transported and does not use excessive space and power during transport.

Locally produced household furniture employing only locally-sourced components has a reduced carbon footprint. Read More »

Mar302010

The best 10 home furniture trends

The best 10 home furniture trends of the decade came about the way trends in furnishings generally do, dictated by who is buying, and how they live. Trends really should not to be confused with fads, which are fickle, but need to be witnessed as the undercurrents that drive what you see.

Some in the forces working behind the home furniture trends for this decade are that pieces of furniture buyers are younger, and ladies, with much more acquiring power than ever, are additional involved in choosing and acquiring furniture. Technological innovation is an integral element of our lives, the globe is apparently shrinking, and there may be a rising concern for the environment.

1. Furniture Going Green

Green furniture has constantly been available, but now it appears to be heading mainstream. Environmental concerns for example awareness of how deforestation impacts climate change and the effects of toxic finishes about the air inside homes have led furniture buyers to need green furnishings.

Makers are transitioning into greener resources and approaches of production. Inside last decade pieces of furniture imports rose due to lower costs, but the concern to get a more compact carbon footprint is behind the beginning of a gradual shift towards locally manufactured furniture.

Diminishing resources and pollution concerns have led to additional recycled or repurposed materials. Material from torn down buildings is becoming utilised for pieces of furniture being a step taken to cut down landfills.

2. Furnishings Having a Smaller sized Profile

Since our living spaces are shrinking, this decade has viewed pieces of furniture that has a scaled-down profile.

Large and ponderous household furniture pieces seem out of place in today’s shrinking homes. The shift towards smaller sized piece also goes hand in hand which has a liking for less ornate furniture, and a preference for a additional contemporary style.

Since rooms are more compact far more streamlined furnishings appears to be the logical alternative for buyers making an efficient use from the obtainable room.

Recliners and chairs which has a scaled-down profile are becoming increasingly readily available being a result of ladies wanting to buy furniture far more suited to their preferences.

3. Multifunctional Furniture

Multifunctional furniture just isn’t a new concept by any means. But it has truly appear into its personal as there is certainly a rising need for it. This could also be considered a factor of smaller sized area living.

When space is at a premium, you need pieces of furniture that can perform multiple tasks. A lot of buyers are looking for extra storage to cut down clutter. You are able to discover storage in tables, under beds, and also in amusement consoles.

Multifunctional home furniture isn’t just for additional storage alone, it can serve any number of additional uses other than its primary function. Multifunctional furniture may be utilized for sleeping guest or even pets, as shown in this picture.

4. Technologies Driven Furniture Design

The use of modern technological innovation has determined furnishings design and style as perfectly. It is most apparent inside the style of entertainment centers.

Even though entertainment centers are obviously manufactured to accommodate the new amusement paraphernalia, bedroom sets, accent tables along with other home furniture pieces are also getting made to accommodate our gadgetry. A traditional piece including a roll best desk might be updated to accommodate laptops and peripherals.

The nightstands in the Hooker bedroom collection pictured here have pull-out shelves, outlets and USB ports for charging laptops, iPods and phones.

5. Recognition of Vintage Home furniture

Vintage furniture has genuinely are available into its very own as being a result of a few factors. Yes, there is nostalgia involved, but also the research for green furniture.

Vintage household furniture is green on a lot of counts. The finishes, though not originally non-toxic, have finished off-gassing so they are safe for indoor air. By buying or making use of inherited vintage furnishings you rescue it from going to landfills. Since it has survived so quite a few many years, it includes a chance of getting properly created and consequently durable.

Nostalgia plays a component, as well. And well-liked culture including movies and TV shows feed it and feed on it. The difficult economic times inside later portion of of this decade also make purchasing vintage furniture a feasible option.

6. Globally Inspired Furnishings

The globe seems to be shrinking, and other cultures no longer appear as distant or foreign. The idea of bringing the world to our houses is catching on.

It seriously isn’t just confined to bringing in furnishings from other parts with the planet, but other gone-by eras as perfectly. It may be the lookup for the exotic and romantic.

From the case of Asian inspired household furniture it could be considered a lookup for a a lot more Zen-like interior room or drama. Whatever the reason behind it, the lure of travel and days of yore has made globally inspired pieces of furniture incredibly well-known.

7. The Growing Importance Outside Furniture

Casual furnishings or outside furnishings has manufactured leaps and bounds inside the last decade or a lot more.

This has arrive about as shoppers discovered they could considerably add to their existing spaces by using outside areas as nicely. Outside rooms have become very desirable, as well as the high quality and style of outside household furniture has created tremendously. Quite a few home furniture pieces could be applied indoor or outdoor.

Outside material has improved tremendously, too. The colors, textures and patterns can just as very easily be applied indoors with the additional benefit that they’re easier to sustain.

8. Custom-made Furniture

Customization of home furniture is apparently a trend that continues to develop and evolve. Even though some makers for example Norwalk have been supplying it for years, the growing demand has produced much more producers take notice.

More compact studios have offered customization for many years, but a lot more mainstream makers such as Ethan Allen and Thomasville are providing an increasing amount of customization. It can vary from material color or pattern to changing the design of an arm or leg on a sofa. Quite a few let the customer provide their own material. In casegoods, their are alternatives in finishes, colours or veneers or hardware options. It depends on the manufacturer, but customization appears to be a trend that’s catching on.

9. Specialty Sleep Surfaces

An interest in specialty rest surfaces began with waterbeds and has grown and created over the years to ensure that now specialty rest merchandise make up a sizable share in the rest market.

With specialty sleep solutions there exists the lure of finding the perfect item for you. With our hectic lifestyles, a night of excellent and comfortable sleep appears like the ultimate reward. Whilst it is feasible to uncover your perfect rest surface, it is just not the easiest of tasks, and might entail a long period of research prior to you settle on a item to purchase.

10. Leather Home furniture

Leather-based home furniture has a new found popularity because now it comes in diverse shapes and colours. Leather-based is an old favorite, nevertheless it now has a new face.

There exists plenty of excellent leather-based home furniture in colours and designs that were never witnessed ahead of in leather. American Leather-based is a single of the leaders in leather home furniture, but other suppliers offer plenty of choices as effectively.

Leather is quick to maintain and clean and retains its appeal much longer than material.

One downside of leather’s reputation is that some stores are offering bi-cast leather-based also known as by-cast leather, that may be not even leather. It wouldn’t be so bad if they did not classify it as leather-based which may be misleading for consumers.