A pair of nesting coffee tables, a tiny drink table and a sofa from Dutchbone Furnishings (Photo courtesy High Point Market)
Last October, I spent a weekend scouting North Carolina’s High Point Market, the largest furnishings industry trade show in the world. It’s the interior design industry’s equivalent to fashion week.
Here, I had the good fortune to tag along with Sarah Paxton and Andy Thornton of Richmond's LaDiff, as well as local designers Janet Brown, Kathy Corbet, Beth Scherr and Erika Vaden, as they shopped their favorite vendors and looked for new resources. As I explored the showrooms with my professional guides, I discovered a number of trends that manufacturers across the board — contemporary and traditional, European and American — have embraced for 2020.
Many new collections signaled a return to the classics, with traditional furniture forms (seating, case pieces and tables) that have been embellished, exaggerated or simplified to create something new.
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Whimsical wallpapers and accessories in Richmond designer Dana Gibson's showroom (Photo courtesy High Point Market)
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Cattelan Italia’s nesting coffee tables (Photo by Susan W. Morgan)
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Lush green velvets at Kravet (Photo by Susan W. Morgan)
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Upholstered pieces by Tony Duquette for Pearson (Photo by Susan W. Morgan)
Statement pieces abound for every taste: from upholstered chairs and sofas with fabulous sculptural, exoskeletons of metal or wood to tables, consoles and chests with unique forms and jaw-dropping chandeliers dripping with detail.
Color and texture are back. Blues, greens, soft pinks and earth tones (even a bit of ’70s harvest gold) complemented neutrals. Norwalk Furniture added Richmond-based designer Dana Gibson’s colorful upholstery pieces to their collection. Elsewhere, chairs, ottomans and sofas were upholstered in soft velvets and fuzzy sheepskins, as well as snakeskin- and alligator-embossed fabrics. Traditional florals, in petite and overscale prints, are also making a comeback. At Selemat and Hable for Hickory Chair, florals also embellished case pieces such as media cabinets and consoles.
Sofas, chairs and ottomans upholstered with vertical channel tufting took on art deco vibes, while other pieces with horizontally tufted bases, like designer Tony Duquette’s Ottoman Banquette for Pearson Upholstery, seemed a bit more exotic.
Mixed metals continue to make a major statement, but this year brass is back in the mix in a big way. At Calligaris, an Italian firm specializing in contemporary furnishings, shiny ’70s-style brass tubing was used to accentuate upholstery and case pieces and mixed with blackened nickel or bronzed metals. More traditional makers such as Hickory Chair also embraced brass, but with a softer, brushed finish. Designers mixed more than metals: I also saw cabinets and consoles with upholstered frames and natural stone tops, textured metal forms and caned insets.
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A pair of reimagined wing chairs from Wesley Hall (Photo courtesy High Point Market)
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Blue-and-white wallpaper, fabrics and furnishings at Thibaut (Photo by Susan W. Morgan)
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A quartz crystal fireplace surround and decorative box from Kathryn McCoy (Photo by Susan W. Morgan)
Stone finishes — natural and faux — were everywhere, from thick, chunky ’70s-inspired stone tabletops to the sleek, high-performance porcelain surfaces finished to look like marble presented by the European firms. Geodes and crystals have also taken on new life as fantastic decorative bowls, boxes and even a fireplace surround.
Dining room tables, whether round or rectangular, contemporary or traditional, were almost conference room sized; most with sculpted pedestals. Nesting side tables and coffee table groupings were shown across the board, as were groupings of tiny drink tables (a ’70s staple, then referred to as cigarette tables).
Practicality was also apparent. I saw a number of multimodal pieces, like Amisco’s adjustable, two-level console table that would function equally well behind a sofa or as a narrow kitchen island; sofas with rachet backs that move forward and back to adjust for lounging; and cocktail tables with tops that raise to desktop height. Indoor/outdoor performance fabrics are also having a moment; as more traditional fabric houses like Thibaut and Kravet add them to their core offerings.
