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

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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, and 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. I became an expert in all things cabinetry.  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 Kitchen and Bath, it’s the perfect blend and outlet for my artistic abilities and my technical skills. I love figuring out how to construct or build things. At the same time, I enjoy selecting the finishes, materials, and colors. All around 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.”

HPMKT

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.

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. 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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Juicing Your Creative

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, many of which are multi-story. They are spread out over the whole of downtown High Point and the surrounding area.

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Trendspotting at High Point – Fashion in Focus

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 Immerse ourselves in a 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.

I feel strongly that a person’s fashion sense, their personality and how they live 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. 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.

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! Your help and support is greatly appreciated!

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Carmen and I were dinner buddies and “market research partners” on my first BMoxie visit to New York and Brizo’s Fashion Week.  Based in Florida, I am really excited to learn more about High Point, here. You can find her on Twitter @Time2Design. ~jb