Greening couch potatoes

Who knew soybeans could be so comfortable?
The furniture industry is introducing foam and cushioning made with BiOH’s soy-based ingredients to make your easy chair a little bit greener.
BiOH ingredients replace a portion of the petroleum typically used in foam production. For every 1 million pounds of BiOH Polyols that replace petroleum-based polyols in foam cushioning, approximately 2,200 barrels of crude petroleum is saved. BiOH Polyols produce 36 percent less global warming emissions, 61 percent less non-renewable energy use and 23 percent less total energy demand. Soy-based cushioning is also being used in bedding, carpeting and flooring products.
If you’re looking to lessen your carbon footprint, Crate and Barrel is one of the first retailers to offer soy cushioning in its Lockport sofa and chair collection. Klaussner Home Furnishing is now using BiOH Polyols across most of its product line. And many more furniture manufacturers are making the switch.

What’s your material IQ?

Your design is perfect, but a bad finish can ruin the whole experience.
Kenn Busch, a magazine editor with 20 years of experience in the furniture industry, has launched Material Intelligence — a resource featuring furniture and interior material options for architectural and interior design. According to Busch, the site uses designer-specific definitions and frequently asked questions about a range of materials, including HPL, TFM, 3-D laminates, engineered veneers and decorative metals. It’s also a vehicle for material suppliers to educate the ultimate end users on new products.
The site features an archive of real-life application stories on where specific materials have been used in various markets.
Unlike Wikipedia, this site isn’t updated by just anyone. Therefore, you won’t be bamboozled into believing Dustin Diamond is the brother of Beastie Boy Mike D. and embarrass yourself in front of all your friends. This site requires a login to add information and all suppliers must register.

Fairytale wishes, magical dreams

While most of us have caviar wishes and champagne dreams, sick children appreciate the simpler joys in life.
To help make their lives a little more magical, Samuelson Furniture donated 42 bedroom suites to Villas in the Fairy Tale Forest expansion project of Give Kids the World village. Give Kids The World (GKTW) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fulfilling the wishes of children with life-threatening illness and their families with free visits to central Florida theme park attractions. The village gives children and their families an opportunity to escape doctor visits and hospital stays for a week of laughter and hope.
Located on a 70-acre resort, the organization recently expanded its accommodations by adding 42 whimsical new villas featuring a castles and cottages theme. The village welcomes more than 90,000 families per year from around the world.

The economy will turn more positive in the latter half of 2009

This is not a fun time to be forecasting the economic outlook for 2009.
Not only are the prospects dim, but uncertainty is at an all-time high. One thing is certainly clear: the U.S. economy slowed in 2008. Economic activity in the third quarter declined 0.3 percent, the worst performance since a 1.4 percent decline in the third quarter of 2001 (thanks to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks).
Add the turmoil in the financial markets and the current freeze in credit to this weak economic scenario and the outlook is clearly grim.
In fact, economists generally expect economic activity to slow even further into early 2009. For 2008 as a whole, economic growth is likely to average just 1.6 percent, followed by a very sluggish 1.0 percent expansion in 2009.
But the economy will turn more positive in the latter half of 2009. The Congress and the Federal Reserve have initiated a number of stimulus measures that, while taking time, will begin to be felt by the middle of 2009.
The Federal Reserve has lowered interest rates to just 1.0 percent (like they did following Sept. 11), which should stimulate economic activity once the credit markets thaw. That thaw should occur in early 2009 thanks to the Congress’ and the Fed’s efforts to shore up bank liquidity and build confidence in the banking system.
So, by the second half of 2009, GDP growth could reach 2 to 3 percent — almost back to the economy’s long-term growth potential. Although it will be a long, hard ride in getting there, the path should be much smoother by this time next year.

How green is green?

While many furniture companies tout their “green” products (sustainable wood, green finishes, eco-friendly fabrics) they fail to mention how much waste they are producing to make these green products. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a start and I applaud their efforts.
However, Argren is my kind of green. This furniture manufacturer's products are made from 95 percent recycled content. The photo of the home office features 100-percent recycled materials. The office is made from 100-year-old windows reworked into upper cabinet doors, drawer fronts and lower doors are reused five-panel door inner panels. Hardware is 120-year-old silver tableware fashioned into pulls. The desktop and shelving is from 100-year-old Douglas fir flooring and the wood framing is from a 90-year-old barn.
The company also uses low- or no-VOC finishes, operates a community recycling center and employs green practices in its production processes.
To reduce the amount of usable construction waste that ends up the landfill, the manufacturer accepts any wood and building materials, such as windows, doors, old decks, fencing or cabinets. Argren’s artisans incorporate some of the lumber and architectural elements into furniture pieces. Wood materials deemed unusable is chipped and used as animal bedding and garden compost.
Each furniture piece comes with a certificate of authenticity, which includes significant historical information on materials used.
While vintage/reclaimed doesn’t appeal to everyone, I think all decors should have one conversation piece.
One more thing, while salvaging wood from a teardown project, workers found a stray cat they named Tommy who is now Argren’s official shop cat. What’s not to love??!!

Exile from Officeville

The closed spaces and depersonalization of desks are figments of the past. In their place will be customizable work spaces, collaboration-friendly cubicles, and chairs with character, according to an Orgatec report on the working worlds of tomorrow. The report highlights several significant findings on the workplaces of tomorrow, each with one underlining theme: Communication is the magic word.
The line between standard office arrangements and what is considered contemporary, thoughtful interior designing will blur. Office spaces will be designed with surface options, finishing and model variations in mind.
But, the look of the office spaces is related to the study’s next finding that the walls will break down – literally – between closed spaces and combined or open spaces. The study makes sure to differentiate between the unpopular open-plan offices of the 1980s with the future’s open space trend. Office furniture characteristics that will embody this trend are noise-absorbing panels, adjustable swivel chairs, and silent pull-out unit technology.
Look for workspaces that work with the office’s evolving technology needs. One high-definition widescreen monitor isn’t enough, some employees need two. This means increased desk space.
The office of tomorrow will see a lot of change in this respect, the study states. The days of high-tech, ergonomically pretentious executive chairs and material-heavy desks are out, and less-is-more executive offices are in. These offices will still use the finest materials and will be increasingly focused on having the best technology available, but the mindset having the fanciest appearance to establish a subconscious hierarchy is on the way out.
Office spaces that feel like a million bucks, knocking down the cubicle wall, changing workspaces to match up with changing technology, and taking the Man out of manager are all ways how communication will shape the workplace in the future.
But another underlying theme is that these design changes are focused on the people. Workplaces will not longer be dictated by the impersonal workings of space utilization and maximized workflow, but by how an office space can help an employee better communicate and do his or her job more efficiently. It’s the secret that has somehow eluded companies until now: the happier the employee, the more productive the employee.

Dangerous curves

Queue the porn music: bam chicka wah wah
Thos. Moser has taken a Best of Year (BoY) award in Interior Design’s annual design competition for its Pasadena side and arm chairs.
Finalists were selected by interior designers and architects with an online vote in October, and winners were determined by a jury of architects and designers.
A modern, geometric hourglass defines both the Pasadena chairs, with only one straight angle on the chair, where the back and seat joint are reinforced.
Made in the USA has never been sexier! Bam chicka wah wah

Surprise: Furniture orders are down

OK, so we all know that 2009 will be a challenging year, and I don’t think our new president will be able to offer a quick fix. Car manufacturers to furniture makers are feeling the crunch as wary consumers pull back. Until consumer confidence is restored luxury good makers and big ticket items will continue to experience decreased to flat sales.
Orders for new residential furniture fell by 28 percent in October 2008 compared to a year earlier, according to a manufacturer survey from High Point accounting and consulting firm Smith Leonard. New orders in October were down by 13 percent from September and year to date though October 2008 orders were off by 12 percent. Shipments of completed orders were 20 percent lower in October 2008 compared to October 2007 and year-to-date shipments were 11 percent less than the year prior.
As a result furniture companies are shedding jobs. I just read that Michigan-based Kindel Furniture Co. laid off 24 employees and is adding a four-day work week. Even though sales were slightly up for 2008, a waning backlog and fewer orders from High Point Market made the cuts necessary.

Furniture firms create export consortium

U.S. furniture companies may have found the antidote for low-cost, imported wares.
Six U.S. furniture manufacturers are creating a program for export sales, introduced at the High Point Furniture Market, which opened Oct. 20 in High Point, N.C, with the goal of building relationships with international clients.
The consortium, American Furniture Exporters, currently is comprised of Leathercraft Inc., C.R. Laine, Designmaster Furniture Inc., McKinley Leather of Hickory Inc., Paladin Industries Inc. and Wright Table Co. All companies are located in the Hickory, N.C. area.
The campaign will target approximately 2,000 international buyers. The AFE companies offer high-end residential and commercial furniture. Each manufacturer will introduce international buyers to AFE, referring them to other manufacturers in the consortium.