The 13th international exhibition of furniture and interior design, Baltic Furniture 2008, to be held on 2–5 October 2008 at the International Exhibition Centre in Kipsala, will feature the awarding of the Baltic Furniture Manufacturer Design Award 2008 in three categories: Industrial Design, Unique Design and Design Idea.

The aim of the Baltic Furniture Manufacturer Design Award 2008 competition is to highlight the achievements of the Baltic furniture manufacturers in the field of design, to foster development of furniture design and cooperation of furniture manufacturers with designers, to improve recognisability of manufacturers of industrial and unique furniture on domestic and international markets through boosting exports of furniture.

The competition is organised by the International Exhibition Company BT 1 and the association Latvijas MÄ“beles (Latvian Furniture).

The Baltic Furniture Manufacturer Design Award 2008 may be contested by samples of furniture design developed in the period from October 2006 to October 2008 by Baltic furniture manufacturers, designers and students in furniture design. Competition entry may be an item already in production. The nomination Design Idea invites to participate free of charge students of educational programmes in design, designer groups and designers under 36 years of age from the Baltic States and other countries. Applications will be accepted by 15 September 2008 (more information at www.balticfurniture.net).

Competition entries will be judged on 2–3 October by a professional international jury consisting of Latvian, Lithuanian, Estonian and Russian designers; Latvian, Russian and German journalists from leading interior magazines; teaching staff; furniture manufacturers and dealers.

The jury will judge competition entries according to aesthetic considerations, functionality and usability (ergonomics), technological solution, quality, market potential, innovation used in development.

Organisers of the exhibition will give a grand prix award to a product manufacturer and a prize to the best product manufacturer in each nomination.

Prizes will also be given and events covered by cooperation partners and information sponsors of the competition from Russian ELITE. Teritorija Interjera, Domus, Novij Dom, Ideji Vašego Doma, Project Baltia, Tatlin, Proekt Rosija, Proekt International, Proekt Klassika; from German Möbelmarkt; from Latvian Dizaina Studija, Latvijas Architektūra, AD Baltii, Dienas Bizness, Bizness & Baltija, DF, Multiprese, Interior, www.e-mebeles.lv, www.1180.lv, www.reklama.lv; from Lithuanian Namas Ir Aš and Centras; as well as by Estonian media.

Prize winners will be announced and awarded on 3 October 2008 at 12:00 at the International Exhibition Centre in Kipsala.

Baltic Furniture 2008 exhibition with its accompanying activities and competitions will take place during the project Design Month in Riga managed by the Riga City Council. This project will feature various events and activities throughout the whole month of October in Riga.

The fair, Baltic Furniture 2008, is held by the International Exhibition Company BT 1 in cooperation with the association Latvijas MÄ“beles, Riga City Council, Latvian Designers’ Society, Baltic Architecture Centre, Latvian Investment and Development Agency and Estonia’s Wood Processing Association Eesti Puutööliit.

Betty Bacon and her husband turned a small mom-and-pop furniture store into a chain of stores with 14 locations throughout Southwest Florida.

Betty Bacon, who died Sept. 4 at age 85, and her husband, Robert, bought Palmer Furniture shortly after moving to Port Charlotte from Fort Myers in 1973.

The family-owned business, which featured moderately priced new and used furniture, expanded with the help of their four grown children.

Betty Bacon remained a fixture at the Port Charlotte store, renamed Bacon’s Furniture, after she and her husband sold the company to one of their sons in 1987 and retired.

For the next 15 years, Betty Bacon continued to regularly drop by on Saturday mornings to mingle with customers and co-workers over coffee and her fresh-baked cookies, said her son, Bill Bacon, of Port Charlotte. Read more »

The second installment in this planned three-volume guide will, no doubt, join the first and third (to be published at the end of this year) in offering woodworkers of all competencies a great set of reference books. More important than words here are the high-quality photographs illustrating each step, especially if there’s no expert or teacher nearby. Former magazine journalist Rae does a creditable job of organizing concepts and contents, and explaining the most technical of terms in plain English. Techniques are presented in a range of skill options, catering to both novice and highly professional craftspeople. Some of the tips on how to save time and money are ingenious; for example, recycling Popsicle sticks and gluing them to sandpaper to clean up tool marks in hard-to-reach corners. Barbara Jacobs

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Timing is everything, and Allstate Billiards and Patio Furniture opens its new Birmingham showroom at 690 S. Woodward Ave. just in time for you to furnish your outdoor space.

The 7,000-square-foot showroom features upscale furniture by Lloyd/Flanders, Whitecraft, Brown and Jordan and Tropitone (shown here) as well as Napoleon Gas Grills and outdoor rugs and lamps.

The retailer now has five Metro Detroit stores, including other locations in Detroit, Novi, Bloomfield Hills and Ann Arbor. For more information, go to www.shopallstate.com.

What do armoires, console tables, credenzas, cabinets, bars, baker’s racks and refrigerators have in common? They are all designs that have been transformed into a new breed of furniture for the wine enthusiast — or even the wine novice. Wine furniture is an attractive way to properly store wine and add to the beauty of your home.

Some furniture companies, such as Howard Miller, long known as a leading clock company, are featuring lines of furniture specifically designed to house wine, spirits, stemware and accessories. It has just launched a line of more than 25 wine and spirits cabinets and bars. Read more »

The World Bank is planning to open a store this spring that will sell crafts from developing countries to help promote socially responsible trade — and help burnish its image in response to critics who say the agency does exactly the opposite.

The store, Pangea Artisan Market and Café, is to be in the downtown Washington headquarters of International Finance Corp., the branch of the World Bank that is overseeing the project. It will sell a variety of handmade merchandise such as banana-leaf handbags from Indonesia and silk pillowcases from Cambodia. Read more »