HIGH POINT, N.C. — New furniture this year can trace its heritage to a home fashion world that turns with Internet speed and reflects today’s global culture.

Get ready for a multiethnic ride of decorating trends seen at the recent International Home Furnishings Market in and around High Point, N.C.

East Coast urban style salutes New York City: New York designer Bill Sofield has been described as a choreographer of space. He offers a refreshing take on modern design for Baker Furniture. This is a sophisticated collection that teams traditional elements and reflects his love of 19th- and 20th-century design. The mix of materials is especially interesting: American walnut, bronze, mercury glass, and solid onyx. The result is pure Sofield.

One of the best new collections that can trace its roots east across the Atlantic Ocean is French Provencal: warm, antique in texture, generous in scale. Introduced by Drexel-Heritage Furniture, the collection is called Belle Maison.

Reproductions: Baker Furniture has added significant pieces to its collection of Historic Charleston reproductions with lots of marble and wrought iron. Hickory Chair has introduced a collection of exquisite reproductions by Albert M. Sack, the dean of American antique dealers and son of pioneer dealer Israel Sack, plus 30 new pieces to its Winterthur collection with an eye toward cleaner, straighter lines.

And for the first time, Magnussen is offering reproductions of pieces from the Biltmore House in Asheville, N.C. These are investment-grade pieces.

African influence: Coral Park by Henredon Furniture Industries takes a different direction. This exotic luxury collection is named for a nature reserve in Africa and the style could be called upscale safari.

Stephen Carlson, vice president of marketing for Henredon, calls the collection “dressy casual.”

“It’s inspired by luxury destinations,” he explains, places we dream about visiting, destination hotels with luxury rates.

“The whole matchy-matchy suite thing is gone,” says Carlson.

Source: shreveporttimes.com

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 27th, 2005 at 6:44 am and is filed under Furniture, Reviews. Tags: Africa, African, Albert M. Sack, America, Antique, Asheville, Atlantic, Atlantic Ocean, Baker, Belle Maison, Bill Sofield, Century, Charleston, Coral Park, Decorating, Design, East Coast, Exel, Furniture, Henredon Furniture Industries, Hickory, Hickory Chair, HIGH POINT, Internet, Internet speed, Israel, Israel Sack, New York, New York City, North Carolina, Shreveport, Stephen Carlson, Today, . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.