High Point Market Fab Five

I've finally recuperated from my trip to High Point Furniture Market a couple of weeks ago, and now it's time to share the highlights with all of you!

For those of you who don't know, High Point is to interior design what Fashion Week is to fashion design.  Manufacturers unveil their latest and greatest designs in furniture, fabrics, accessories, and lighting.  It's pretty much heaven on earth.

Aboard the Raleigh Rickshaw with Andrea Brooks

I was thrilled to share this experience with fabulous designer, and my good friend, Andrea Brooks of Andrea Brooks Interiors.  Both High Point first-timers, we navigated the market with pluck (and wee bit of wanderlust) and found ourselves in interior design mecca.  Fortunately, we tend to like the same things, which made narrowing down the list of showrooms pretty easy.

In compiling my favorites from market, I had to give myself some parameters - and believe me, narrowing down the 900+ pictures on my iPhone was not easy. My criteria for an item to make it to the top five were:  Have I seen it before?  Is it a show stopper?  Is it ordinary material, used in a new way?  And the biggest thing - how many times I've thought of it since then.

 Here are my top five finds from the week (i.e., the things I have not stopped thinking about since market):

 Bernhardt

I absolutely fell in love with this faux cow hide and resin horn chair from the Bernhardt showroom.  I am totally not an antlers or horns kind of girl, but I would die to have this chair in my house.  The soft cream color helps to make it applicable to various settings, and those curvy arms are downright sexy.  It's masculine and feminine all at the same time.  Love!

Regina Andrew

Shagreen (faux stingray or shark skin) was a huge, huge, huge trend this fall.  I've been a fan of shagreen for years, and I'm happy to see it making a comeback.  What stood out to me on this particular piece from Regina Andrew was the happy coral-y, pink-y, red color!  Lots of showrooms had gray, steel blue, even cream shagreen.  But this was the only piece I saw with such a luxe combo of texture and color.  Bonus points for the pulls that look like fragmented pieces of coral. 

Amy Howard Home

I have a special place in my heart for all things lucite, and this sweet bench from Amy Howard Home brings a smile to my face!  It's traditional meets modern in the best way.  My biggest question now is which of my clients will end up with one?!

Currey and Company

Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm a stickler for fabulous light fixtures.  I firmly believe they're the one place where you should not skimp on investing.  Case in point:  This dazzling frosted, beaded chandelier from Currey and Company.  Unfortunately, this picture doesn't do it justice, because the way the light is diffused through those translucent beads is amazing.  The impact is the same as something bling-y and tricked out with crystal, but a bit more soft-spoken.  The longer I stared at it, the more in love with it I fell!

Mr. Brown Home

Who knew soda bottles could be so fancy?!  Absolutely loved these up-cycled soda bottle sculptures at Mr. Brown Home.  Kelly green was a major trend, too, and I thought these were a nice way to introduce it without having it take over a space.

And a little lagniappe....

 With Candice Olson.  Yes, THAT Candice Olson.

One of my personal highlights was getting to meet Candice Olson.  She was there to promote her new line of furniture for Highland House (which is a total must-see, by the way), and was so gracious to the many throngs of people wanting to meet her.  We happened to come into the showroom during a relatively empty moment, and I got the chance to talk to her for a few minutes about how big of a role she has played in my development as an interior designer.  For years, her show has been the only HGTV show I recommend that my clients watch (because there is a real process to design, and she is a master at it), and after buying her first book (Candice Olson On Design) and devouring it cover-to-cover, I transformed my own design process for the better.  Her new book, Candice Olson Bedrooms is already on my wish list for this Christmas. Sidenote:  she is easily 6'6" tall, so I asked her to please scrunch down while I stood on the very tips of my toes to get this picture.  I love that the result is her looking like she's just run into a long lost friend.  (Cause that's what we are, duh.)

So there it is, my top five High Point picks!  Stay tuned...I'll be posting more about my runners up this week!