Las Vegas Summer Furnishings Market Recap

Aidan and I just got back from one of our largest trade shows and wanted to share what we saw.  Sadly most of what we saw was the same old Chinese furniture we'd seen before and you've already seen at the big chain stores.  Since we are not adding any lines from China it did make it a bit easier for us as we didn't have to waste time looking at it!  

Over at Intercon we saw a table that just has to be seen to be believed.  The top actually stretches!  Yes, stretches, not opens for a leaf, but stretches!  It's kinda like expanded steel when it's stretched.  I wish I could show you a picture, but I can't until the tables get to the dealers, copyrights and all that.

Oak is actually starting to make a comeback, but it looks so different you might not even be able to tell it's oak.  The factories are taking a wire brush and removing the softer part of the grain, basically grinding down about an 1/8" into to the softer part creating a very interesting texture that's a bit like weathered barn wood. They're also staining it a sort of grey color.  We should have some examples in the store in a few months.

Next was more grey.  Grey, along with Silver, looks to be the dominate color in upholstered items (sofas, chairs, beds).  I can't tell you how many Grey/Silver sofas we saw in every style you can think of.

As for wood finishes, lighter colors are coming back around.  Looks like the rest of the country is finding out what we here in the Northwest already light colors brighten up your space and don't need as much dusting!

Regarding styles, Contemporary is definitely taking over the market.  There were intros from just about every manufacturer in nearly every category in every kind of contemporary style you can think of.

If you'd like to know more about what we saw, come on in, I love to talk about furniture almost as much as I like shopping for it!