WITH happy families, lush landscapes and a hokey theme song, the State Government’s “Make it Happen” ads have been busy selling the idea of Melburnians moving to regional Victoria since its launch in 2003.

Packing up and making the tree change might be the right move for some people, but for Jimmy Possum, the furniture maker from Bendigo, it’s vital for attracting skilled labour.

The company has taken to advertising for tree-changers on its website: “Think ‘Tree Change’ … Think Wood … Think Possum … THINK … Jimmy Possum!” starts the sales pitch. Read more »

MEXICO CITY–With a population that may be as high as 30 million – no one’s sure – this chaotic city doesn’t have much in common with calm, quiet Toronto.

In Toronto, streets are used to get from one place to another. In Mexico, people live, work, eat, play and die on the streets.

It is a different way of life, to say the least, but strangely refreshing to a Torontonian more accustomed to the Canadian culture of complete control. Some might say Canadians are anal, but we seem to like it that way. Indeed, much of what Mexicans take entirely for granted would get you arrested in Toronto, or your business shut down.

The street food, for example, breaks every rule in the Toronto book. Mexicans don’t eat hot dogs, so nothing that’s sold on the sidewalks here would be legal in Toronto. And as for street vendors, the Mexicans make Chinatown look neat and tidy. Read more »

Developer Ira Levy gained support from the Downtown Development Authority this morning for a $500,000 state loan to acquire and renovate the former Adams Furniture Building at 519 Broad St.

The Georgia Cities Foundation and the state Department of Community Affairs is making the two $250,000 loans possible.

The project has a total cost of $1.4 million, DDA director Ann Arnold said. Read more »

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - You’ll soon see three new furniture lines from American institutions: The Smithsonian, Better Homes and Gardens - and Donald Trump.

Trump created the most buzz when new looks were unveiled late last month at the High Point Market, formerly the International Home Furnishings Market. He strode the red carpet like a rock star and gave a thumbs-up to more than 300 cheering fans. He even managed to get in a snarky comment about Rosie O’Donnell.

Trump’s furniture will be at home in your uptown penthouse or country estate, but the line from the iconic magazine is most likely to fill your suburban great room. A few pieces in the Smithsonian line were surprisingly current, even though they’re based on historic artifacts, proving that classic design endures.

Celebrity endorsements have been important to the furniture industry for more than a decade. The industry said the three lines helped push the trend to a new high at this market, and offered a recent survey to help explain why. Read more »

With the theme song from his reality television show blaring in the background, Donald Trump strode into a showroom at the world’s biggest furniture trade show and started to brag about, of all things, his couch.

“Trump Home furniture offers consumers a tangible way to experience the luxurious Trump lifestyle for themselves … even if they can’t afford millions for one of my properties,” Trump said. “Now the public can not only wear my clothes, they can sit on my couch.”

Should Trump’s over-the-top bombast not suit your personal style, how about a couch from model Cindy Crawford? Or a couple of chairs from teen stars Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen? Such boldface names are all over furniture today, and some touted at this spring’s International Home Furnishings Market in High Point, N.C., are among the increasing number whose fame isn’t rooted in the business of hearth and home. Read more »

The “Fuorisalone” Furniture Fair Fringe Show from 19th to 22nd April on the NABA Campus Via Darwin 20.
grand opening on Wednesday 18th April at 20.00

NABABOOM will be inaugurated on Wednesday 18th April at 20.00 after the “Dynasty” conference with Nicoletta Morozzi, Lorenza Branzi and La Pina, a meeting that forms part of “Wednesdays at NABA”. a regular series of lectures and cultural debates.

A patchwork of illuminated tents will be installed throughout NABA’s Campus. Each one will become an original mini- exhibition space containing different projects. The exhibition, conceived by Soup Studio, is the starting point for the “parasitic” projects developed by the students and designers at NABA. Read more »

Toronto Mayor David Miller wants us to believe he’s committed to the idea of Toronto, the clean and beautiful.

If so, he should ensure that council refuses all three proposals for street furniture sent to the city last week.

The schemes were submitted by a trio of large media companies that would design and manufacture the furnishings in return for a portion of the advertising revenues they generate.

None of the entries – from Astral Media/Kramer Design, CBS Outdoor/Elements and Clear Channel/Zeidler Partnership – is worthy of being on the streets on Toronto. Indeed, they would only make a bad situation worse and set back the cause of cleaning up the city by years. Read more »

Rec Room Furniture and Games, one of the largest specialty retailers with an exclusive focus on furnishing game and recreational rooms, today announced retail veteran Judy Ann Quye has joined the organization as President and COO. Bringing nearly 30 years of sales and operations experience at some of America’s best known apparel and hard-line retail organizations, Judy will be responsible for the execution of Rec Room’s planned national expansion.

“Judy has a proven track record as a revenue leader and a pioneer when it comes to improving the customer experience in-store and in-the-home”, said Rick Weber, Chairman and CEO of Rec Room. “Her national reputation as an inspiring, hands-on retailer coupled with her vast experience working with customers, will be invaluable to both our short and long-term growth strategy.” Read more »

Irwin Feld believes he has captured the “wow factor” in the unique hybrid furniture he offers at his new business in the arts and antiques district in Stamford’s South End.

Located at 583 Pacific St., Irwin Feld Design displays an array of eclectic pieces that Feld and his assistant, Joanna Leone, assembled from assorted furniture and household items.

The 4,000-square-foot showroom features 21st-century innovations on classic 20th-century modern designs, including a vintage 1967 dining room hutch transformed into a high-tech media center, a 1940s ottoman re-created into a coffee table and a cocktail bar that was once a 1930s airline beverage cart. Read more »

HIGH POINT, N.C. - Large-screen TVs, laptop computers, cell phones and homeowners desiring ambience, innovative styling and smart storage solutions are clearly driving furniture design.

Furniture makers have been challenged to create pieces that meet the desires of the sophisticated, savvy homeowner, and clearly they have managed to deliver with furniture that makes being organized hip and simple without sacrificing style.

At the spring High Point Market, which ended Sunday, multifunctional furniture pieces were as plentiful as the shuttles carrying the thousands of interior designers, buyers and reporters to and from the world’s largest exhibition of residential furnishings.

Several showrooms had at least one new introduction that qualified as a piece doing double or multiple duty. Read more »