Oh, Mickey!

Today's New York Times has an article on the new marketing prospects of Disney. It seems that Disney is starting market its brand in apparel, art and furniture without the character connection .

In 2006, Disney began a venture with Drexel Heritage, The Walt Disney Signature collection that features retro or modern inspired furniture, the kind which you might have found in Walt Disney's office or home when he was alive. Drexel Heritage describes this line as follows:

Streamlined shapes and sleek textures accentuate this collection of furniture inspired by Walt Disney. These superbly crafted furnishings for every room of the home feature decorative veneers, multiple finish selections, brushed nickel accents and fanciful shaping reflecting an Art Moderne style that has been carefully edited & outfitted to appeal to today's tastes.

They have pieces for any room, dining room, living room, bedroom, or even your home office, truly something for any room. And wall art too. It really looks enticing.

Modern Furniture, Is It Your Thing?

As you undoubtedly know by now, modern designer furniture does not fit into my design scheme but that's not to say that I don't think its sleek lines and color choices are not intriguing.

I like this Baroque Low Table that is available in seven color options, one for any color scheme you are working within:



In the right space, I love this table and actually all of the elements in this design. I think what I really like about modern designer furniture is the simplicity of it. Generally modern design elements carry clean lines, usually with some circular element thrown in for interest and movement. Also, the color scheme used in modern design is either monochromatic, different shades of the same color, usually neutrals, or black and white with some pop of red or other vibrant color.

Now, I need to buy a second home so I can employ some modern design elements while still keeping my Country French style intact.

Bracing for Furniture Deals

The High Point Market is underway in North Carolina and the furniture manufacturers are bracing themselves for a brutal forecast, Forbes reports.

If you have never heard of it, the High Point Market happens only twice a year and is the "largest furnishings trade show in the world," according to the High Point Market website. At the High Point Market you can find 188 buildings packed with furnishings and accessories, with over 12 million square feet of showroom space and more than 2000 exhibitors. Every six months approximately 85,000 people gather to see tens of thousands of new products unveiled. The Market says, "if you can't find it in High Point, it probably doesn't exist." With all that space, I hope they are right.

Attendance at the market is free but you must register and the catch is that you must have a resell license that shows you are in a furniture related business. (If you order Kimberly Causey's book, that I talk about here, you can be in the furniture related retail business if you follow her lead.)

Both the Forbes report and the High Point Market industry report state that sales of furnishings are expected to be slower than "normal" until at least the later half of 2009. I hope that if these reports are right that will bode well for the consumer in search of better than usual deals.

You know how I dislike paying retail prices for furniture and accessories and the not so rosy forecast may just be my lucky break.

Roche Bobois Puts the French in Furniture

One of my downfalls is that I really like stores like Roche Bobois. I count that in and of itself is a drawback because they have the best furniture styles but at the absolute (okay, yes, I have seen more expensive, don't ask) high end of the scale. In addition to that their showrooms are few and far between.

I am not really a modern person for my own home but I do like the Roche Bobois style. My favorite of their collections, though, has to be Les Provinciales collection. This collection has the traditional French lines and many choices of furniture pieces. I love to go into the showrooms and just browse. Call me crazy but it gives me many ideas, many which I cannot afford to implement, I might add. But that does not mean I cannot look.

Now, maybe, just maybe, when I receive the updated versions of my books from Kim Causey at Smart Decorating I can swing a designer's discount there, too. Have I mentioned that I cannot justify paying retail prices for furniture and accessories?

A Potential Furniture Source

Last week when I was groaning about finding good deals on quality furniture and accessories I came across this website, The Elysee Collection, that has many great finds that may not fit every style but, as the name suggests, many of their offerings fit my style just perfectly. I like the bookcase that I show, above.

Now that I have clicked around the site I see that they are wholesale only, well if I follow the process outlines in Kimberly Causey's book, The Insider's Guide to Buying Home Furnishings, I can buy wholesale but in the meantime I checked for a store near my home and there are none. However, I have the option of buying online at The French Mix which unfortunately went out of business as of June 8, 2008, which is unfortunate because their web site, at least, looks quite intriguing. The only other option is Layla Grayce that carries many home accessory items as well as furniture. While the offerings on the site are not the usual fare, the furniture prices seem to be a little pricey.

I think I'll wait...but at least there is some food for thought here.