Eco-friendly home decor is trend to watch

I'm already getting a sense of what designers and others in the trade will see when they arrive for the fall furniture market in High Point next week.
A folder in my email account is stacked with announcements and images that are a preview for what's ahead.
It's so easy to focus on the visual brilliance in the home decor industry, but breathtaking design may come at a price to the environment.
I was reminded of that this week when talking with Fernanda Vergara at Tronk Design, a fairly new boutique furniture company that will bring its designs to the trade show for the first time.
Tronk uses solid walnut for many of its designs, which combine an industrial look with influences of midcentury modern style. But Tronk's new Williams dining table is not solid walnut. It’s made with walnut plywood, an alternative that has LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
“Walnut is everywhere right now,” Vergara said, explaining that its popularity is causing Tronk’s suppliers to be concerned about availability in the future.
Meanwhile, some of Tronk's clients are asking for ecology-friendly furniture. The Williams dining table is a step toward answering both concerns.
So now I've got a better sense of what to look for next week when I visit showrooms to get a sense of trends that are coming for spring. Environmentally thoughtful design is on the list.

Karen’s blog: http://homelifeclt.blogspot.com; on Twitter @sullivan_kms

Charlotte designer Traci Zeller's pillow collection is headed to High Point

Charlotte interior designer Traci Zeller sometimes is unable to find the right decorative touches for a client's home.

That was the inspiration for a new line of pillows. She believes the collection will get a boost when they are added to the CR Laine showroom at the spring furniture market in High Point, which runs through April 10.

Zeller said presenting a new product there is an opportunity that designers dream of getting. Organizers say the twice-yearly event is the largest furnishings industry trade show in the world, drawing more than 75,000 people each time.

"This is a way that I can share my viewpoint and my aesthetic with more people," she said.

The look that the Cotswold resident came up with is a twist on traditional style, she said.

The collection includes softly colored linens with velvet appliques. Those elements work well with her design style, which focuses on practicality as well as beauty.

"It's a luxe-looking pillow, but you're not going to have a heart attack if your 7-year-old boys put their heads on it,' she said.

The price is about $150 each on tracizeller.com. Other distribution points are in the works, including sales by the manufacturer, Design Accents.

She hopes others will see her collection as the right finishing touch for a room.
"It's also exciting to express your point of view on the product and then in the house."

Karen's blog: http://homelifeclt.blogspot.com; Twitter, @Sullivan_obs

Duck Dynasty furniture line coming to Charlotte

It doesn’t stop with camouflage shirts, pants and hats. If you like those, the shuffle over to a pillowy recliner or sofa in huntsman-themed upholstery could be pretty natural.

That was the thinking behind Jackson Furniture Industries’ launch of a new Duck Dynasty collection at the fall market in High Point.

And who better to be the face of the brand than the camouflage-wearing, duck-calling Robertson clan whose reality show the collection is named for?

 “Duck Dynasty” brought the A&E network to the top of the TV charts last season with more than 10 million average viewers. Recliners and sofas are a big part of their simple, family-focused home life.
Someone seemed to be talking about the collection wherever I went at fall market. The reviews were mixed: Some thought the collection quacked. A few women just didn’t get it. Others thought the Robinson family look-alikes, posters and cutouts at Jackson’s showroom launch were good entertainment.

Fortunes have been built on lesser ideas, and Jackson’s team and a sister company, Catnapper, has worked out deals to put their mallard prints and similar lodge looks in more than 1,000 retail showrooms nationally. Shipping begins Jan. 1.

“I’m not sure the appeal would be (there) for the design-oriented female,” said Greg Van Pelt, chief operating officer at Next Generation Interiors of Bakers, a Cramerton retailer that will carry the line. “I think it will be hot for the sportsman who has a room that he wants to label with his identity.”

Also look for the collection at Kimbrells Furniture, Factory World Outlet in Waxhaw and Tindall Furniture in Pineville. And you can also see it here.

Camouflage and sportsman themes have been creeping into the furniture industry for about eight years. The Duck Dynasty collection creates more of a designer-label brand, said Anthony Teague, who handles sales and merchandising for Jackson.

“A lot of times we see apparel trends transfer to the furniture industry,” said Anthony Teague, who handles sales and merchandising for Jackson. “You see so much camouflage in the Southeast ... to see that spill over into the living room is not surprising.”

Sullivan: http://homelifeclt.blogspot.com and @sullivan_obs on Twitter