INSPIRING
A home furnishings magazine that explores aspirational spaces, focused on designer insights and leading quality brands for the home.
Designer Insights
Looking through the lens of designer Thomas O’Brien
FabricTrends
A conversation with Tara Rogers from Taylor King Furniture.
INSPIRING
1
Hickory White 2
Lillian August
Join us as we influence your senses. “INSPIRING by Good’s Home Furnishings is our effort to bring you design inspiration for your home through alluring home fashion photography from the finest names in home furnishings, along with features that showcase design expertise from some of the industry’s most skilled professionals.” - Kevin Bowman CEO
3-5
Sherrill Brands 6-7
Baker 8-9
Designer Insights 10-13
Lexington 14-17
Stickley 18-19
Woven 20-23
Bernhardt 24
Back Page Tommy Bahama Outdoor Living
Inspiring Design. Great design begins with great inspiration. The talented designers, whose work graces the pages of our magazine, understand the meaning of “Inspiring”, our magazine’s title, which is, “giving someone positive or creative feelings”. Whether the flow of a fabric on a dress for a fashion designer, or the flow through the room for an interior designer, the creativity begins at a point in the mind, or on a canvas, or today, even on a computer screen. Regardless of its origin, the inspiration for creation of room design is one that begins a process of collaboration; the collaboration of color, texture, tone, dimension, scale, mood, lighting, layering, and ultimately the love for what all of these things can produce for a client. Please join us on this journey in our latest edition of Inspiring. Our journey will introduce or reacquaint you to some of the very best furniture manufacturers in the world with alluring images, thought-provoking product designs, and carefully curated interiors that offer aspiration to our readers. Like prior editions, we return with a look into the word of textiles with our Woven feature, which includes an interview with the talented Tara Rogers, VP of Merchandising from luxury upholstery maker Taylor King. This feature will delight your eyes as we delve into the world of textile fashion, providing insight into both the design and development of furniture textiles, along with an advanced look into the colors, textures and tones we will see in 2024 and beyond. Our Designer Insights feature will provide a view into the mind of one the industry’s most exciting and successful interior designers, the talented Thomas O’Brien. Here you can read about how Thomas embraces a project; where he begins; and where he draws his inspiration. This feature is a must-read for anyone that appreciates fine interior design. We want our magazine to be more than just pretty pictures and affirmations from the brightest minds of the home industry. We also want to educate the luxury consumer on the value of luxury home furnishings. In our last edition, we guided our readers through the intricacies of buying luxury upholstered products with detailed information on the 5 tenets of quality upholstery. Throughout this edition, we will share the quality queues of buying luxury wood furnishings (or “case goods”). This educational series will dive into Material, Construction, Finish, and Hardware. At Good’s, we work very closely with our furniture suppliers right here in Hickory, NC. Our proximity to our suppliers allows us to have the most experienced and best trained sales organizations in the home furnishings industry, and we want to share that knowledge with you to help you in selecting fine furnishings for your home. Our designers in Hickory and Charlotte/Pineville, NC look forward to helping you create the rooms of your dreams that your family and friends can enjoy for many years.
See our
Buyer Insights throughout the magazine.
goodshomefurnishings.com
2.
Vibrant Spring. Vibrant Colors. Soft Textures. Stylish Living.
Lillian August, Sherrill and Hickory White Furniture featured on the cover and pages 2-5 SHOP SHERRILL FURNITURE COMPANIES
3.
Proudly Made In America. Sherrill Furniture’s family of brands represents some of the finest and most respected brands in the furniture industry. Built from the best materials and by many of the most skilled craftsmen and women in the industry right here in the USA in Catawba County, NC.
Mr. and Mrs. Howard Dunand dining table with straight grain oak veneer, straight grain khaya veneer banding and solid oak molding.
4.
The Art Of Finely Made Furniture From Sherrill Furniture Brands.
Finely tailored Sherrill sofa with traditional rolled armrests and classic kick-pleated skirt. Your Choice of fabrics and pillows. Shop Sherrill Furniture now.
Made In North Carolina For Over 143 Years.
5.
Timeless Elegance... Baker, McGuire and Milling Road furniture continue the legacy and timelessness of fine furniture making. Luxurious finely appointed bedrooms, dining rooms and custom upholstery from one of the industries most respected names.
Baker Essentials, a seating collection offering clean-lined, approachable sofas, sectionals, loveseats, chairs and ottomans for a broad range of customers. Shop Baker Furniture at goodshomefurnishings.com
6.
The Solid Truth Most wood furniture sold today, and especially at the luxury end of the scale, is constructed using veneers, which are thin layers of wood that are cut from a log and applied to a core substate called medium density fiberboard (MDF). Solid wood is used for certain areas of a case piece, such as a carved post or foot, or in some cases, on drawer fronts or decorative moldings. Unlike solid wood, where the woodworker is restricted to using small pieces that are glued together, veneering allows for larger sheets to be used across a large surface with little to no seams.
.
Many consumers often associate solid wood construction with better quality. And solid wood furniture is of exceptional quality, but in the luxury end, high-quality veneering is the tried-and-true way of making luxury wood products, and has been for centuries. The way that the veneers are extracted from the log provide a beautiful pattern that can be applied to a table, dresser, door panel or drawer in a way that allows the artist to match the grain patterns and attract and refract light and accept stain in a uniform fashion. It also allows for different species to be used and inlaid to provide a very rich look. Today, there are even more choices in materials than ever before with cast metals and other polymer materials that are being used for decorative doors, drawer fronts and table bases. This is an exciting time in the furniture industry, where innovation and design are coming together in ways never before realized.
7.
Designer Insights
Design conversation with Century Furniture designer Thomas O’Brien Thomas O’Brien is an interior and home furnishings designer based in New York City. He is the founder and President of Aero Studios, one of America’s leading design firms. O’Brien has been celebrated for translating modernism into a warm and livable style. From private residences to commercial properties, product design to brand and fine art consulting, his work is known for its collected, vintage elegance, even as it is sympathetic to the most practical ideas of home. His sense of the modern comes from filtering together elements from different historical origins, in combinations that can seem at once familiar and revealing: the shared simplicity between 20th century and classical forms; the balance of rustic and refined, comfort and rarity.
Thomas, you are a legend in both residential and commercial interior design and home furnishings and accessory product design with your stunning collections with Century Furniture, along with lighting, tableware, textiles and rugs. Your design and retail firms in NY, Aero Studios, and Aero Ltd., are extraordinary examples of the realization of a modern aesthetic and lifestyle. Can you give our readers some insight on how you view modern interiors and the lifestyle of today’s luxury consumer?
For our clients we are always looking for what is beautiful and well made. This is about the millwork and construction as much as the furnishings. We balance what feels modern and fresh with refined details and well-crafted things. Simple things too, like easy, but beautiful materials and fabrics combined with very special and richer textiles. I like modern and classic things to be combined. It’s getting that balance of what is refined with what is simple.
“What we remember we liked is always the best inspiration.” When you approach a whole-home residential interior design project, is there a particular area you like to begin with, and why? We do always look to fabrics and materials like wood and marble to start the thinking about what the character of a place will be. The floors are a very good place to start.. I think it is so good to pull together many things you love and wish you could use and then it’s about sorting out how they work together or also what becomes the most singular.
We know you are based in New York City, and there is plenty of fashion inspiration there for sure, but is there anywhere else that you absolutely love to gain inspiration from?
8.
Inspirations can come from so many places and also just small details. I find inspiration in movies, books and things I collect of many kinds. We also look back to our work and reinvent things time and again. It is important to bring forward things you have liked before or always wanted to do and find new ways to invent fresh interiors. What we remember we liked is always the best inspiration.
“I find inspiration in movies, books and things I collect of many kinds.”
Our Inspiring magazine takes a keen interest in textiles and the art of upholstered furnishings. Can you give us some of your thoughts on the trends that you see in color and texture in your own projects, both for interior design and your own product development?
We have been looking lately at a lot of wonderful textured wool fabrics in natural colorations. Very vintage feeling, but modern too. At the same time some of the most luxe things like Fortuny Fabrics and hand painted wall papers are so appealing to clients. Always a very few special textiles are important and are often what provides the color or richness.
“Always a very few special textiles are important.” The retail marketplace has certainly adjusted from the highs of the unprecedented COVID-era demand level, yet the luxury consumer has been far more resilient than those further down the price-point scale. Can you share some insight on the types of design projects that you spend most of your time on recently?
I am always working on product design and my two stores Aero and Copper Beech. I love having the stores and finding things new and old for them is always connected to projects we have going on. We have been working the last few years on all of the architectural aspects of several projects and now have really begun all of the interiors all at once. We are working on second homes in Charleston, Miami and upstate New York. Miami is the most modern and also very collected. The other homes are quite classic and we are working on finding the way that they are modern in feel with wonderful classic details.
“Collect and live with things that you are truly interested in.” What would be one tip that you could give to our readers when it comes to accessorizing a room?
I always think real and personal things make the best rooms. That could also all be new but about something you are learning about and really love. Collect and live with things that you are truly interested in.
9.
Lexington Home Brands continues to reshape the look of today’s
most fashionable interiors through innovative design, recognized consumer brands, exceptional value, and outstanding
craftsmanship across a broad range of styling. Shop now goodshomefurnishings.com
The iconic Tommy Bahama brand is renowned for its relaxed interpretation of casual elegant style. With both indoor and
outdoor collections, the portfolio offers remarkably diverse looks, from classic to contemporary. Signature elements include
exotic natural materials, rich custom finishes, unique upholstery designs, and a captivating palette of fabrics.
Material Fact When it comes to wood furniture, so much depends on the material selection. We noted earlier about the difference between solid wood and veneer construction, but there are a number of other material selections, both within the chassis of a case product, and atop it, that add to the quality of the piece. Whether in solid or veneer form, the species of the wood can drive cost and provide enhanced beauty. Materials such as American Cherry, Walnut, Ash, Elm, South American Mahogany, and Rosewood are all prized for their tone and depth under finish. But, as important as the material is, equally important is how it is cut from the log to create intricate grain patterns, or to minimize them entirely.
Within the chassis of a case piece is a series of support structures that serve as the frame of the case. These parts can be made of solid wood or engineered wood (MDF) and form the support mechanism for the sides, top and drawers of a case piece. Along the front of the case, and creating the space for the drawers, are a series of parting rails that separate and define the drawer space. Very often you will find drawer sizes that graduate in size as you move down the case. This is for visual design effect as much as it is to provide larger drawers at the bottom for larger items like blankets and sweaters.
10.
Lexington, Tommy Bahama Home and Outdoor Living
Creative Spaces For Your Home. Shop All The Newest Looks From Lexington.
11.
An editor from Traditional Home magazine once described Barclay Butera’s signature style as “unbuttoned elegance.” His ability to put a modern take on classic styling has made him one of the most soughtafter design talents in the country.
12.
The Barclay Butera portfolio with Lexington Home Brands includes six lifestyle collections, with styling that ranges from sophisticated coastal, to mountain modern. Each collection features designs for the entire home, including custom upholstery with exquisite tailoring and unrivaled comfort. Barclay is renowned for his ability to layer color, pattern and texture to create interiors that are both inviting and understatedly elegant.
Everyone will want to set the table A delectable menu of dining solutions by Lexington Furniture at Good’s Home Furnishings.
13.
L. & J.G. Stickley, Inc. is a genuine American icon that has set the standard for furniture craft for more than 120 years. Through enduring tradition, superior craftsmanship, and an unshakable philosophy of excellence, Stickley continues to produce America’s finest hardwood furniture, including classic Mission, while also responding to the needs and trends of today’s homes with updated styles and modern collections. Exceptional craft goes into making every piece of Stickley fine furniture.
14.
What is in your Drawers? The drawer of a case piece is often a window into the quality of the item, and drawers can and should be removed and inspected for quality queues. The body of the drawer itself is often three or four-sided, not counting the drawer front itself, which can be the fourth side of the drawer, or applied to the fourth side of the drawer. The drawer box can be made of solid wood (often oak or other hard wood) or in some cases, out of a high-quality plywood. The drawer box base will be made of a thinner material than the sides, but will have support structures underneath to provide rigidity. Each of the drawer sides in a quality case piece will utilize an English dovetail joint to connect it to the other pieces, and to the front of the drawer. This inter-locking joint is the best way to join two pieces of wood together for a long-lasting, non-moving fit. The drawer body on quality case pieces should be well-finished and very smooth to the touch to protect delicate items. The drawer mechanism itself will utilize one of a number of options. The highest-end case pieces still use a hand-fit wood-on-wood glide on . the bottom of the drawer, and often side guides as well for stability. These drawers are hand-fit into the drawer cavity and are designed to fit only that space, with each numbered accordingly. In more recent years, metal self-closing ball-bearing glides have become more prevalent, due to their use in high-end kitchen cabinetry. These drawer mechanisms are very strong, smooth and convenient, but the mechanism should be out of site and underneath the drawer whenever possible.
15.
For more than 120 years, Stickley has stood for unparalleled American craft. And our story began with three words: “Als Ik Kan”—to the best of my ability. Over 90% of our products are handcrafted in Upstate New York or Archdale, North Carolina, by teams of talented local artisans and skilled workers. Well-made furniture sets the scene for a lifetime of memories. Thoughtful and time-honored construction features are the Stickley difference.
The Finish Line Great finish starts with a great substrate. Once a quality substrate is selected, the preparation of the material through a series of sanding processes to prepare the material for finish is often what separates a great finish from a good one. Time to “D-Stress”. One of the actions taken during the finishing process is to take a beautifully clean piece of wood and to create the look of wear through a process called distressing. Here the artist will purposely dent and ding the wood to create places for the finish to “hang-up”, which creates depth and layers in the finish. The artist does this with metal tools and distressing equipment to emulate what occurs in natural wood and in some cases, to simulate time-worn use. Technique terms such as “worm-holing” and “fly-specking” are utilized, and provide a beautiful result when done properly. Finishes, whether stains or paints, are applied using a spray gun and then the piece is hand-wiped by a group of artisans, and the finish is built-up through a series of sanding and further stain applications until the desired color and clarity is achieved; eventually a urethane coating is applied for protection.
16.
17.
Woven
Voices In Textile Trends A conversation with textile expert Tara Rogers from Taylor King Furniture.
With a B.S. in Interior Design from Western MI, Tara began her career as an interior designer with Welling, Ripley and Labs in MI, and later with Klingman’s Furniture as an upholstery buyer. As a sales representative, she represented venerable high-end lines such as Taylor King, Councill, and Hancock and Moore, and has been serving as VP of Merchandising for Taylor King since 2014.
Tara, you have such an interesting background with a perspective as an interior designer, former retail sales person, retail upholstery buyer, high-end upholstery manufacturer sales representative and now a merchandising executive for the venerable luxury upholstery manufacturer Taylor King. How has this multi-faceted background prepared you for your current role? We’re not a big company, and our management team is involved in all aspects of our business together. My previous roles have been invaluable to my participation in problem solving and business growth. Having a first-hand experience creates a dialog that I otherwise could only conjecture.
“I’m an Instagram junkie primarily following nature, fashion, art and interior design (and cute animal stories too).” Taylor King is an industry leader in luxury upholstery manufacturing, and your fabric-to-frame selections always keep your showroom spot-on with color and textile trends. What process do you use to keep your fabric selections so current and on trend? It isn’t as much as a process as it is just the way my brain is wired. EVERY waking moment is filled with opportunity to mentally absorb and analyze colors, shapes, moods, textures and their relationship with one another. I’m an Instagram junkie primarily following nature, fashion, art and interior design (and cute animal stories too). I’m constantly observing, voting and cataloging everything that I see. When we’re selecting the new fabric introductions, we always start with the feature fabrics that we LOVE, and everything builds from there! We’re a fashion business, and our customers want to be inspired and wowed! The key is to support those “jewelry” fabrics with beautiful “plains” and correlates all the while paying attention to costs and saleability.
“When we’re selecting the new fabric introductions, we always start with the feature fabrics that we LOVE, and everything builds from there!” You recently attended the November 2023 Interwoven show (formerly Showtime) put on by the International Textile Alliance in High Point, NC, which is where many of the textile selections are made for the upcoming High Point Furniture Market in April 2024. Can you give our readers some insight on what you saw at the show and what we can expect to see at Market in the spring and on showroom floors in late 2024? Color continues!! Warm and rich shades of turmeric, boysenberry, ginger, baked clay, and Aegean blue were very prevalent. These colors were primarily mixed with warm neutrals that are acting as a bridge from the world of neutral we’ve been living in for so long.
18.
“Color continues!! Warm and rich shades of turmeric, boysenberry, ginger, baked clay, and Aegean blue were very prevalent.” What is your favorite part of the textile industry? The endless possibilities that you can create with colors, patterns, yarns and fabric constructions. We have seen a resurgence in bold color and prints on body cloths for sofas and chairs in recent Markets. Is this a trend or a true shift away from the neutral body cloths we have seen for well over a decade? A true shift is definitely happening! Of course, the traditional aesthetics were the first to jump on board. I don’t think the transitional/modern aesthetics will ever fully leave neutral body cloths. That being said, we did show a transitional metal-leg sofa in a landscape printed mohair this past market that was stunning!
“I don’t think the transitional/modern aesthetics will ever fully leave neutral body cloths.” Any new technologies in textiles that we should look forward to? The contract world has been focused on eco-friendly textiles for a long time. We’re now seeing that more and more in the residential world. Last year we added 33 fabrics from a collaboration of InsideOut Performance Fabrics and the SEAQUAL INITIATIVE. These fabrics ®
are woven with yarns created with plastics recovered from the ocean. They have a great hand, great color range, clean easily, are affordable, woven in Valdese, North Carolina and making a difference too! https://www.seaqual.org/
“These fabrics are woven with yarns created with plastics recovered from the ocean. They have a great hand, great color range, clean easily, are affordable, woven in Valdese, North Carolina and making a difference too!” What are your personal favorites in colors, patterns, or textures? Ooh…I’m a preppy at heart! I always gravitate toward bold florals mixed with plaids & stripes in pinks, greens & navy!
“Ooh...I am a preppy at heart!”
19.
20.
Unique Seating For Any Room In Your Home.
Carlie Fabric Sofa. Sleekly modern styling complements a deep bench cushion for the ultimate in comfort.
21.
“Great design is our guiding principle.” Alex Bernhardt Jr.
22.
A passion for inspired design. Uniquely beautiful materials. An elevated aesthetic. Crafted with the idea that great design tells a story. “Creating eclectic pieces that can be curated together. Layering textures and contrasting elements. Subverting traditional forms through the use of interesting materials.”
The Solaria dining table eloquently displays the symmetry and simplicity that are hallmarks of the collection. Softly rounded shaping in cast resin creates the look of smooth stone for the pedestal.
The softer side of hardware One of the most prominent items on a case piece is the hardware. Hardware can include decorative drawer pulls, knobs, hinges, handles, etc…, and can range from the ornate to the almost hidden. Hardware is made from a variety of materials (mostly metals) and can completely change the look of a piece of furniture. First and foremost, hardware is functional and typically serves to assist in opening a drawer or door, but the hardware also has a character and story of its own. Designing and manufacturing great hardware is part art and part science. In the time-honored way of “lost wax” hardware design, it starts with the carving of a design from a block of wax (formerly done by hand, and now often done from a CAD design and machine carver), and then taking that carving and making a sand cast, then heating the cast to melt the wax, and then pouring molten metal (often brass) into the void to create the form. The hardware form is then filed and finished and polished. Very ornate forms (often called filigree) can be created using this process, as can more simple forms like knobs and bar pulls. The finishing process can involve heat, finish material, distressing, gold and silver leafing. Quality hardware can really separate a case piece, and add to the quality of the item.
“Shop Our Newest Bernhardt Furniture Trends.”
23.
Your Private Outdoor Oasis Tommy Bahama Outdoor Living. Create your own private oasis for entertaining or just relaxing. Tons of choices in outdoor dining and seating. The Seabrook collection offers an entirely new take on casual outdoor living, with breezy transitional designs in a captivating oyster white finish. Durable aluminum frames are paired with a unique herringbone pattern of all-weather wicker in rich tones of ivory, taupe and gray. Blending these shades in the wicker creates the opportunity to use both cool and warm color palettes in the application of performance fabrics.
IN-STORE DESIGN SERVICES
12 MONTHS SPECIAL FINANCING
NATIONWIDE DELIVERY
goodshomefurnishings.com
SHOP ONLINE 24/7
VOTED SOUTH CHARLOTTE’S #1 FURNITURE STORE
Pineville - Charlotte NC Showroom 11735 Carolina Place Parkway 704.910.4045
Hickory NC Showroom The Hickory Furniture Mart 828.322.3471
Mon - Thur 10 am - 6 pm Fri - Sat 10 am - 7 pm Sun noon - 5 pm
Mon - Sat 9 am - 6 pm Closed Sunday