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