Design: Visual Comfort Lighting at HPMKT

I’m back today with another update from my first High Point Market experience. I already shared my overall impression of HPMKT and my prediction of trends, but today I’m sharing a close-up look at one company in particular that really came to impress!

As soon as I stepped into the Visual Comfort & Co. showroom, I was pretty much speechless. The staff was extremely welcoming and informative, and I instantly learned so much about Visual Comfort’s place in the lighting industry and its many designer partnerships. Based in Houston, Texas, Visual Comfort manufactures lighting for the likes of Thomas O’Brien, Kelly Wearstler, Aerin Lauder, Alexa Hampton, and Suzanne Kasler (impressive list, right? See the full list of designers here.).

Visual-Comfort-White-Cabana-HPMKT-1Visual Comfort & Co. showroom entrance at High Point Market

Here’s some of what caught my eye (warning, beautiful forms lie ahead):

Visual-Comfort-White-Cabana-HPMKT-2E.F. Chapman

White-Cabana-Visual-Comfort-EF-ChapmanE. F. Chapman

Visual-Comfort-White-Cabana-HPMKT-6Thomas O’Brien

Visual-Comfort-White-Cabana-HPMKT-4Kate Spade

Visual-Comfort-White-Cabana-HPMKT-3Kate Spade

Visual-Comfort-White-Cabana-HPMKT-7Aerin Lauder

Visual-Comfort-White-Cabana-HPMKT-5Aerin Lauder

Visual-Comfort-White-Cabana-HPMKT-8Suzanne Kasler

Gorgeous, right? Every piece was even more beautiful in person if you can believe it. The showroom sparkled!

And…for your entertainment…here’s how I spent much of my time at Visual Comfort:

White-Cabana-HPMKT-1Action shot! Thanks, Corie, for snapping this one.

Come back tomorrow as I’ll be sharing my design-star-struck moment.

Photos by Jordana.

Event: High Point Market in North Carolina

My apologies for the lack of posts over the last few days. I didn’t mean to step away from my blog, but life has been hectic, and I couldn’t find even a minute to write. I have loads to share, but I’m not quite sure how quickly my news will come. My week is absolutely hectic (MBA life and work life are completely overwhelming this week!), but I’ll do my best to keep on writing!

Last week I had the pleasure of attending High Point Market in North Carolina. Oh man, was it ever interesting! I was only there for one day, so there was absolutely no way to see everything. That said, I had a fully productive High Point adventure, and I’m happy to share my recap with you.

I found High Point Market to be a very well-run operation. Getting to Market was completely effortless as was the parking and shuttle situation (side note: my TomTom came in handy once again and I discovered even more features that I like). After we parked our car in the free parking lot organized by the market, my sister and I hopped on the shuttle trolley which took us directly to the centre of Market. Effort-less.

I have quite a bit to share, but for this post, I’ll begin with what I discovered as I walked through the showrooms at the International Home Furnishings Center.

The furniture and accessories at Noir were cool, modern, and had a rock-n-roll vibe. Some of the accessories reminded me of Kelly Wearstler designs. I was smitten with the bookshelves and some of the side tables.

White-Cabana-HPMKT-Noir-4 White-Cabana-HPMKT-Noir-5 White-Cabana-HPMKT-Noir-2 White-Cabana-HPMKT-Noir-3 White-Cabana-HPMKT-Noir-1Selamat was chock-full of bamboo pieces, and the quality of the metal bamboo pieces really surprised me.

White-Cabana-HPMKT-1 White-Cabana-HPMKT-2I wanted just about everything at Europe2You. As soon as I stepped in the showroom, I felt like I had traveled to France. The displays and styling were absolutely gorgeous, and the showroom staff was friendly. In this showroom, I was drawn to a lot of the art installations. I think the cameos (see photo below) are especially interesting and unique.

White-Cabana-HPMKT-Europe2You-2 White-Cabana-HPMKT-Europe2You-1 White-Cabana-HPMKT-Europe2You-3Speaking of all things French, Eloquence had a bed and a daybed that I adore! (and I realized only recently that I already featured the bed here). It was such a pretty and feminine space.

White-Cabana-HPMKT-Eloquence-2White-Cabana-HPMKT-Eloquence-1The acrylic pieces at B. Pila Design were unexpected, unusual, and definitely hip. They were unlike anything else I saw in my short time at the market.

White-Cabana-B Pila Design-High Point MarketFinally, Currey & Co. was full of so many beautiful items. Their selection of lighting fixtures was sort of overwhelming, but I was drawn to all the pieces that had shells on them. I think I need a beach house. As an added bonus, Currey & Co. generously offered food, so we were able to enjoy delicious bread pudding (among other things) while we were browsing the showroom goodies.White-Cabana-Currey and Co-High Point Market-4 White-Cabana-Currey and Co-High Point Market-5 White-Cabana-Currey and Co-High Point Market-2 White-Cabana-Currey and Co-High Point Market-1 White-Cabana-Currey and Co-High Point Market-3

As you can observe, High Point Market includes items from across the design spectrum. Traditional, French, delicate, modern, rock and roll, refined, quirky…there was something for everyone!

To wrap-up today’s High Point post, I thought I’d share six trends that I spotted at High Point Market (regardless of the design focus). They are:
1. books without covers on them
2. navy
3. gold
4. shells (including oyster shells) on mirrors, furniture, lighting, etc.
5. bamboo
6. acrylic

Later this week (I hope!), I’ll share news about Visual Comfort & Co. and Jaipur, which ended up becoming my two favourite stops on my High Point tour.

Note: High Point Market takes place twice each year. The spring market is scheduled for April 16-20, 2016. Will you attend?

Photos by me.

Furniture: High / Low Comparisons

One of my favourite features in magazines like Style at Home is the high / low spread. Essentially, the magazine styles up two very similar versions of a room and leaves it to the reader to guess which version is expensive / affordable (before revealing the true prices on a later page). Anyway. I love this feature and I get sucked into the guessing game every. single. time.

If you love this as much as I do, go ahead and read on. I have prepared a similar high / low challenge for you.

Beds

1a.panel bed-1

1b.panel bed-2

Lights 1

2a.41098-71_4

2b.soneca-frosted-pendant-light

 

Dressers

3a.2532262-13b.white dresserBenches

4a. $_57

4b.Mongolian-fur-bench-whiteLights 2

5a. 02575003_L5b.hg147409_1So? How do you think you did? Check the prices (and see the sources) below.

Answers:

1. a. Parallel bed in walnut and leather, $5800; b. Piper wood panel bed, $1149
2. a. glass ball mini pendant, $69.98; b. Soneca frosted pendant light, $229
3. a. matching Milo Baughman for Thayer Coggin white lacquer chest of drawers, $3800; b. Malm six-drawer dresser, $199
4. a. Jennifer Taylor white Mongolian fur bench, $550; b. Jonathan Adler Mongolian lamb bench, $1595
5. a. 1-light pendant fixture, $23.90; b. Greene pendant large, $595

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