Carol Bell

• Spring High Point Market is over and I’m looking forward to receiving all the great new products that I purchased while I was there. They never seem to come quick enough for me. Over the course of the summer, we will be continually receiving new merchandise, so stop by often to see the new things.

Fabric and Leather combination are still popular for the comfortable Southwestern and the Tucson Traditional look. The color trend is moving away from the dark browns into a more neutral palate.

Mineral is a new leather color that I saw at this market was at Lee Industries. It will be paired beautifully with a taupe woven fabric sofa and wait until you see the pillows with a fabulous glazed sea foam flange.

It’s often very difficult to find just the right accent table for those small space. Here is a collection of outstanding and unique pieces that will be perfect for your home.

American Leather’s  Menlo Park designed by Rick Lee, is becoming a classic. Here it is shown in a current color palette with  sassy throw pillows. A bold new look for a classic design.

American Leather which is famous for the best sleeper on the market is now entering the recliner market with their new Comfort Recliner. It will come in three sizes, seven arm styles, three base styles, 70 leathers and multiple fabrics. You are not going to believe how fashionable this recliner is. It’s perfect in every way, except that we will not get the first ones until fall. I’ll keep you posted.

ABC:Made in America: Remodeling the Home

We proudly carry Lee industries at Contents Interiors. As seen in this ABC World News report.

Carol Bell

• I’m back from the High Point Furniture Market and there’s so much to tell. I ran into Michael Payne, former host of Designing for the Sexes. I hope you were one of the lucky people that got to see him when he gave a presentation here at Contents Interiors. He is a dynamic, fun and talented designer. He is continuing to design more home furnishings so look for more introductions from him.
• Contemporary continues to have a strong presence with white, charcoal and lilac remaining strong for the color palette. As we baby boomers get a little older, even the contemporary furniture is more comfortable than several years ago.
• The light wood finishes are everywhere. You will be seeing more and more with a washed, or taupe, or grey finish. After years of dark java finish, it is a great fresh new look. The eclectic mix of different styles is very strong as shown in this photo. Feel free, to let your creativity run wide and you mix all the things you love. Our design staff can help you make a cohesive look while mixing styles.

By Carol Bell

• As we were previewing Thom Felicia’s new line of furniture, we were able to capture this Kodak moment while Thom was telling us about his new TV show called “Dress My Nest.”

by Carol Bell

• Both in Milan and High Point, outdoor furniture is center stage. As we all begin to create outdoor kitchens and outdoor living spaces, we have all discovered that we want our furniture to be as comfortable as the furniture we have in our home. This line dropped a chair in a lake for one month to see how it would hold up. I saw it at market and it looked great.

by Carol Bell

• Spring High Point Furniture Show is always one of the most exciting markets every year. After a year of “the same” over and over again, the manufacturers came out with some fresh new looks for this market. After years of showing brown leathers, brown fabrics, brown finishes, everything is getting lighter.

• For those of you that remember the 80’s, light or river washes finishes are coming back. These finishes are combined with neutral fabrics, including linen. You’ll be surprised to learn that linen was being combined with leather for a fresh new look.

• In the modern world, gray remains important and in Milan it was being shown with accents of lilac. So if you are inclined to be trendy, it’s gray and lilac for you.

• Tamara and I got a little carried away with all the new and exciting looks. Many will arrive this summer and others will be arriving in the fall. I will definitely keep you updated.

Carol Bell

• Tamara and I just returned from the annual Contemporary Design Group conference in San Diego. What a wonderful opportunity for us to spend 5 days with retailers from across the country and with many vendors that are there to support our group and learn how they can help our stores. We all meet the first couple of days and we had a fabulous speaker in Jeff Hiller, president of the Sustainable Furniture Council. He presented such valuable information; both the vendors and the retailers were taking notes as fast as we could write. (He’s a very fast talker.)

• The “Green” movement is growing exponentially. More and more people are concerned about their planet and even closer to home, their families’ health. Tamara and I are committed to continue taking steps to carry furniture products from companies that have a great “Green” story and doing what we can to run Contents Interiors in a manner that keeps the environment in mind.

• The last three days are spent just with our retailer friends. We share all kinds of information including advertising, marketing, merchandising, and operations. It’s inspirational to see what great things small business owners are doing in this economic environment. Sarah Paxton from La Difference in Richmond Virginia is trying to teach me the importance of social networking. She has her blog posted before we even leave San Diego. Please enjoy Sarah’s take on the conference.

• Finally, the group let’s off a little steam with a wild night of bowling. Tamara was able to capture some candid shoots. What will we possibly do