What’s the Big Deal about High Point? High Point Furniture Market

I have to admit that for many years, as an interior designer, but having primarily worked in the Kitchen and Bath Industry I was clueless about the significance of High Point.  I mean I knew about it; I knew where it was. I knew that it was where anybody who was anybody went to buy furniture.  What I didn’t know is how it would affect me, my business and my life as a designer.

Up until I started my own business, Time2Design, I had worked primarily in kitchens and baths where I became an expert in all things cabinetry.  Now 23 years later, and owning my own business for nine years, I am still always on a quest to learn, see and experience life.  My company, Time2Design, is a full service custom cabinetry and interior design business.

As an Interior Designer, specializing in the Kitchen and Bath industry has been for me the perfect blend or outlet for my artistic abilities and my technical skills.  I love to engineer or figure out how to construct or build something, and at the same time, I enjoy selecting the finishes, materials, colors and being a part of how it all functions in a space both structurally and visually.   It is why you will often hear me say “I live and breathe design, it’s who I am.”

OK, so what does all this have to do with High Point?  Well here is the thing, several years ago I was working on a project where I was selecting and supplying  furniture, and I decided it just might be time to go check out this High Point place.  In my quest to learn about High Point or should I say High Point Furniture Market, I discovered that High Point Furniture Market takes places twice a year, once in April – called Spring Market, and then again in October – known as Fall Market.

It was not always called High Point Furniture Market but it has been taking place for over 100 years.

So what do they mean when they call it “Market”?  Rest assured it is not a farmer’s market, though similar in many ways.   The term “Market,” as in High Point Furniture Market, is used to describe basically a time of year, when everyone from and in the furniture world descends on High Point, North Carolina to check out what is new and hot in the furniture world.  With over 10 million square feet of showroom space, there are literally thousands of “showrooms” owned and operated by individual furniture manufacturers and suppliers.  So the “Market” is a market for furniture, a place for manufacturers, distributors and suppliers to showcase their goods so to speak.  It is open and accessible to the trade only and in order to attend you must qualify and register to attend.   High Point Furniture Market is to me exactly like New York Fashion Week but it is a Fashion Week for all things furniture and interior design.

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I went to High Point Furniture for the first time several years ago.  I vividly remember when I arrived that first day that I instantly knew it was much more than I could have ever imagined.  As I stood on a side walk, in the middle of downtown High Point, I was truly overwhelmed.  Though I quickly realized it was, for me, the motherland of all things interior design and that for a week it would be total and complete design overload.  Not to worry I loved every minute of it and couldn’t wait to go back!

To me it was and is more than just a furniture market, it is a place I go to have my creative juices recharged!  It is like spending a week walking thru a live magazine.  A magazine so large that you know it will be impossible to see it all.  There are 180 buildings with over 10 million square feet of showroom space many of which are multi-story, and they are spread out over the whole of downtown High Point, North Carolina and the surrounding area.

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So the big deal is, High Point Furniture Market is the epicenter of the interior design and furniture world.   Each and every one of us, in the interior design profession, look to High Point Market as a sort of spring board for connecting with new and current products and trends.  This is where we go to discover new and exciting products, attend seminars and be immersed in our own sort of Fashion Week for Furniture.

The year’s October Fall High Point Market’s theme is Fashion Focus and directly correlates with much of my design philosophy so to speak and is very often how, when I am working with a client, I am able to discover or figure out what will work best for them.  For me there is a direct connection with Fashion, Furniture and Interior Design.

A person’s home should be a reflection or a representation of who they are, very much how a person’s fashion sense is a reflection of who they are.  Often an individual person’s fashion style will give me great insight into a direction or a style that will work best for them and make their house their home.   I feel strongly that a person’s fashion sense, their personality and how they live in their home should mirror who they are, how their home looks, how it feels and what components or furniture are used to design and decorate their home.   As trends change in fashion they also change in furniture, fabrics and in interior accessories, and interestingly they often coincide both in color, texture and style.

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High Point Market Style Spotter Contest

In all of this I am excited to report that I will be going to High Point Furniture Market again in October and I couldn’t be more thrilled.  Though I do have something to be pretty excited about, I am one of 15 finalists selected to participate in the High Point Market Style Spotter Contest.  Each of the finalists have created a room board on Olioboard’s website and the voting began August 1^st and continues thru August 22^nd.   The board with the most votes will win the honor of filling the spot as the 9^th Style Spotter for Fall Market.  High Point Market describes a Style Spotter as follows:

At each High Point Market, the award-winning Style Spotters program names home fashion trendsetters who showcase their favorite products and top trends from Market exhibitors on Pinterest, a website that lets users organize and share photos on virtual pinboards. The Spotters also present selected exhibitors with signs that highlight the Style Spotter’s name as well as a QR code and URL for the Market Pinterest board. Market attendees also participate by voting on the pinboards and products, generating “likes” or re-pinning.

I am first and foremost beyond excited to have been nominated and selected as a finalist to compete.  And if I were to win, it would be pretty fabulous!   So this is my shameless request asking for your votes to help me see Highpoint Market as a Style Spotter!  Voting is from Aug.1-22, you can vote daily, and the winner will be announced on Aug.23.  I am even doing a giveaway on my website,  each time you vote for me you will be entered to win a signed copy of Monica Pedersen’s new book Make it Beautiful.   Your help and support is greatly appreciated!

click to image to vote

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Note from the Hosts:  Those that know Carmen, know that Carmen has been driving hard for Style Spotter slot (a smart little marketing initiative for Olioboard). She really wants it and I feel I’d done my best to do my part.  But my idea to stop her and ask, “Why?”  So from that, we get a little education on High Point.  Carmen & I were dinner buddies and “market research partners” on my first BMoxie visit New York and Brizo’s Fashion Week.  Based in Florida, Carmen is a good person.  You can find her on Twitter @Time2Design. & Vote! ~jb