Last month I made my bi-annual pilgrimage to High Point, North Carolina for the furniture market, the East coast designer event of the year. My friends at Lexington Home Brands not only asked me to host a breakfast for them, but I got a personal tour of their stunning showroom facilities and gorgeous collections.
I began my day at the fantastic Lexington facilities in Thomasville, North Carolina. If you have not seen them, you must go! My Design Camp partner Lori Dennis and I jumped on stage sharing “The Top 10 Takeaways of Design Camp” to a welcoming crowd.
To round out my morning, I took a tour of the latest collections covering two floors and over 60,000 square feet of beauty. Lexington Home Brands is a company with a long history of beautiful designs dating all the way back to 1903.
There are several big names in the furniture world that are part of the Lexington Home Brands portfolio including Tommy Bahama Home and Sligh.
Sligh, my goto office furniture manufacturer, really caught my eye this year because of their Bel Aire line.
Bel Aire is all about a combination of form and functionality—which is a necessity when dealing with workspace furnishings and media consoles. At the Market this year we got to see the debut of several console-style desk designs and media consoles.
What’s great about Bel Aire is the way the items in the line seamlessly blend functionality along with a touch of timeless glamour – you know I love the gold glimmer!
The Bel Aire collection wasn’t the only standout in the Lexington show room. I love how their namesake designs are elegant and timeless and they really combine elements of traditional design with a sense of freshness.
So often in design we’re talking who’s on the cutting edge of trends, but with Lexington’s collections there’s a real reflection of classic sensibilities and quality design that you know are going to allow these pieces to be something you’ll loving having in your home for decades.
With that being said, traditional and elegant definitely doesn’t mean run-of-the-mill with Lexington—they tend to put unlikely details and twists into their designs that make them a standout.
One of the newest Lexington collections is Kensington Place—there’s a real balance between clean, sophisticated lines with comfort—when you look at this collection even though it’s gorgeous you really feel like these are going to be the items that will fit into your and become part of your life.
As a student, I attended the University of London and lived in South Kensington. I learned to appreciate the classic lines of traditional furniture. I love this collection because it marries the traditional yet adds a touch of curved clean lines and mirror for the perfect juxtaposition of old and new.
With the Tower Place collection, I love the sense of luxury you get with every piece and I’m also a big fan of the combination of rich wood tones like mahogany with the trending rose gold details and hardware.
The detailing in this collection is also really distinctive—one of my favorite elements is the use of the Greek key pattern.
New to High Point Market this year are several lines I enjoyed at The Las Vegas Market.
The Coventry Hills Line is a fresh look at the classic country manor. With lighter finishes and slight distressing, we see a marriage between the old and new using unexpected fabrics to highlight the union.
As a lifestyle designer, I know the influence of lifestyle on interior design has never been more powerful than it is today as affluent, savvy consumers take a leading role in using home décor to define their personal style. The Carrera Line is contemporary, with clean organic lines, dark finishes, striking hardware and rich textural fabrics. The perfect Carbon Gray finish sweeps the collection.
And of course, being a Southern California and Las Vegas Designer, the importance of classic yet functional outdoor seating is essential. I had a chance to view the Tres Chic and the Royal Kahala Black Sands Collections for Tommy Bahama at The Las Vegas Market – what a treat on any coast!
The Trés Chic collection is crafted from hand-rubbed teak and stainless steel, with “chic” linear design elements and a bold contemporary look. With 21 pieces in the line, you will surely wow with this collection.
The Royal Kahala Black Sands collection is crafted from cast aluminum in a rich custom finish, is the outdoor complement to the Royal Kahala indoor collection from Tommy Bahama Home. This line is stunning indoors and out. Without being told you would never guess this line to be outdoor. Detailed pierced quatrefoil pattern on deep seating frames and a stylized interlocking x-pattern on the swivel lounge chairs are a delight!
As usual, I enjoyed every minute of my time with the Lexington Home Brand Crew. I cannot thank the Lexington team enough for allowing me to celebrate another fantastic market with each you and letting Lori and I host your beautiful breakfast.
And a special Thank you to the Ladies of Media Matters, Kathy Wall and Dawn Wagner Brinson, for facilitating our day. Lexington Home Brands is a Class Act, through and through!
