Tag Archives: High Point Furniture Market

{High Point-Baker Showroom}: “The History of Luxury”

Design Lines, Ltd. Baker Showroom Event Jan. 2010

Judy, Ashley, Brittany, Lauren and Hilaire traveled to High Point, North Carolina yesterday to hear a talk on “The History of Luxury” by James Caughman, who is currently the senior marketing executive for the Kohler Interiors Group, responsible for the Baker, McGuire, Ann Sacks, and Kallista brands. This event was an ASID Carolinas CEU Community event. Thank you to the team at the Baker Knapp & Tubbs Showroom for hosting such a wonderful event!

The talk was very informative and further explored the history of luxury. Below are four great takeaways that we thought you might be interested in knowing from the presentation.

  • What is luxury? Luxury is about good design, wonderful materials, crafted by artisans but most importantly luxury is about an experience.
  • In the world of luxury we (Americans) look to the so called “captains” for aspiration and emulation.
  • In the past, luxury was reserved for the court, but today luxury is much more accessible. It’s changing from conspicuous consumption (buying because I can) to conscientious consumption.
  • “We live in an opaque world. We need to create transparency.” As in, it is our role (interior designers) to educate on quality and to share our knowledge.

What is your perspective on interior designers and the history of luxury? To you, how has luxury evolved over the years?

2009 High Point Furniture Market Finds

Two trips to High Point. Twice the fun.

For this year’s spring market we met with reps from furniture and accessory companies who showed and educated us on the new trends/products for the spring.

I can see where one might feel overwhelmed by the millions of choices and selections but for designers it is our mission to find the best products for our clients.

We often take mental notes, pictures, and even order pieces we know will work with our current-client projects.

We say: the more educated we can be about a particular line or know how the furniture “sits,” the better!

So here are some of our favorites we found this go-around:

BoBo Intriguing Objects: Definitely Intriguing

Bungalow 5: Hip Accessories & Furniture

Cyan Designs: Unique Accessories

(Notice the over-sized Monopoly pieces)


Lee Industries: Eco-friendly furniture


Pearson : Great upholstery pieces


Hickory Chair: Made, not Manufactured


Hickory White: Classic pieces for the home


Natural Curiosities: A lot of great prints


Pine Cone Hill: Awesome Bedding


Trends: In several showrooms we spotted groupings of pendant fixtures. Here are a few! My favorite is the top left one.

I adore OLY Studio.

This postcard from OLY Studio came in the mail today with the rest of the High Point Fall Furniture Market teasers. They are really piling in now, we keep them in a beautiful porcelain container on the transaction counter near Laurie’s desk and peek at them during lunch (see photo below) The styling of the postcard caught my eye, but let’s be honest, so does anything from OLY. Their collections are eclectic & clean, with some pieces looking very Hollywood Regency and others looking rustic and earthy with hand hewn qualities.
For instance:
I just specified the Elisabeth Buffet for a client’s Dining Room. I love the details on this piece.


The pieces below will be at our first ever sale- The Pear Square Event the first week in November. (You can call the studio if you’re interested in them, now though)

The Christine Cocktail Table would look so great with piles of big books underneath it.

A pair of Bella sonces could break up a photo arrangement in a gallery hallway.

This,albeit, huge, is the. perfect. mirror.

I would hang it on a wall in my bedroom & tape just a few b & w photos on it a la The Diving Bell & The Butterfly (which I also love) to make it a little less stuffy.

New Favorite!


I have so many favorite things. It’s during the summer months in particular though that I get a little carried away– think of Julie Andrews as Maria from the Sound of Music (which by the way is an old favorite) .


Summertime Favorites (what I like to call “The Classics”) :
1- Roadtrips
Two weeks ago the Biltmore: (I’ll be sure to post more pictures of this, soon)

& Fearrington Village last weekend, check out the famous “Belties” below:

2- Anything with fresh Strawberries, like this delectable strawberry rhubarb pie recipe I adore.

I especially love the pick your own berries from Creedmoore’s Lyon’s Farm.

3- & of course, fireworks


As far as new favorites go… my new favorite furniture line is Bradley Hughes. Based in glittering Atlanta, the exclusive furniture line is all about beautiful shapes that I continue to be drawn to.

Below: A photo of Judy with Bradley-Hughes’ Michelle Bradley at the High Point Furniture Market in April.



My Top 4 Reasons to love Bradley-Hughes:

1– The Lily Chairs, pretty as a picture by themselves (although I think they are stronger as a pair). Judy used a pair of the Lily chairs in the ASID Showhouse

2– The Marie ottomans. I can’t wait to put these in a client’s guest bedroom at the end of the bed. Never before has an ottoman looked so welcoming to me.3- H. Pierce Wallcoverings, exuding warm, lived-in texture. I recently specified this product in the Ginger Root Colorway for a wallcovering in a metropolitan master suite.4- Someday, I’ll own the Lucille Hand Forged Iron Chandelier for myself. Beauty!
Hey Design Lines Ladies, what are your favorite things?

A stuffed chicken, an old hunk of wood, & a chia pet


Molly, Judy, and I traveled to the Center of the world at the beginning of the month for an
ASID Conference in High Point, NC. The conference was filled with plenty of mingling time with our fellow Carolina Designers, a superb couple of hours hearing from the talented & famous designer, Barry Dixon, & let’s not forget, our favorite…shopping time. We perused our mainstays for antiques and came home with some interesting & unexpected objects (see post title). But first, a few delicious photos from the showroom of Randall Tysinger Antiques

French cloches c. 1920 on an executive table

Scaled Beautifully

There were interesting compostions like the one above on every wall…


Who wouldn’t love to have a pair of natural slate and forged iron nightstands from France? This bed is a feast for the eyes, for sure.

Molly selecting a stuffed chicken for a lake house client, now that’s a trying decision…

Cha Cha Cha Chia! This planter, from Bali, had too much potential for a conversation starter, we just couldn’t resist. (This one can be yours, folks)


& last, but certainly not least is this stunning Petrified Wood Table with beautiful coloration we picked up for the ASID Showhouse. (Look for Molly’s blog on the topic, coming soon) At the end of the day, the DLL van was packed with a collection of interesting objects we can’t wait to place in our client’s interiors.

To Market…

IS TO

IS TO


IS TO


It doesn’t take high scores on an IQ test full of relational equations to realize how much DLL loves going to Market. We arrived at the High Point Furniture Market again with wider eyes, eager to take in all the Season had to offer. Howard, Judy’s husband, joined us this year, adding a new dynamic, a stopwatch, & a whole lot of fun.

We visitied some tried and true vendors’ showrooms; namely Pearson, Baker, & CTH Sherrill-Ocassionals.
We also fell in love with the showrooms of our new vendors, as well. Century Furniture , Stanford Furniture, Emeson et cie, and Global Views just to name a few.

Our observations:

Birds (we knew this was coming)
Blue
Black and White

Faux Bois and Petrified Wood


Bold patterns

Great chairs

At the end of the day we realized that Design Lines has been setting a design pace in our own right. As we saw the crop of new things we were reminded of the words of great Architect and Designer Mies Van Der Rohe, in a variety of circumstances “Less (really) is more” and some things (and by that we mean not specifically a painted porcelain foo dog or a gold lamé footstool) should just be kept in the closet.


The End.

Award Winning Interior Design | Raleigh, NC