Showrooms puts sustainability front and center

With Earth Day happening just last week, designer Nancy Fire is pleased with what she’s seeing at this week’s High Point Market.

“What I’ve seen over the past day and a half is that every showroom I’ve gone into has some sort of sustainability story. Years ago, that never happened. So seeing different textures, weaves and finishes. It really makes me so happy,” Fire said during an interview with Home Accents Today editor-in-chief Allison Zisko.

Fire said that when you look at textures today there are so many beautiful weaves with different substrates including hemp, bamboo, raffia and rattan. She has also seen recycling in lamps and rugs and really is excited about 3D printing.

“It really takes the waste away,” she said.

Fire loves the mix of materials; she has seen a lot of wood with metal and wood with resin. Although resin isn’t a sustainable material, it does last.  “There are so many ways of creating a product with style and sensibility,” Fire added.

Fire said over at the Phillips Collection, they have acacia, and they burn it and then wire brush into a grade finish.  “It’s fabulous,” she said.

Gray is on its way out and brown is on its way in and Fire loves seeing the nice real earth tones come through with this use of these new techniques.

“I am seeing a lot of lighter finishes,” she said. “I was at a company called Villa and Home in InterHall and they have eight different finishes in burl wood. It’s imperfectly perfect and it’s wonderful to see the finishes and stains where you can see the grain.”

Fire said she’s seeing less of the heavy woods and more opened bases, things you can see through and wood chairs with more cushions and less frame.

When it comes to how companies can get the sustainability message out, Fire recommends having great signage and talking about where the wood is coming from, the type of wood they are using and the replanting of wood. She mentioned that Sherrill Furniture uses their wood scraps to heat the factories in the winter.

“I think it’s important today for companies to be transparent and truthful and I am seeing more and more of that which makes me really happy, especially since we just celebrated Earth Day.”