Ready or not, here comes color.
Neutrals, which have long reigned as the uncolor of choice in furnishings, were colorized at the recent International Home Furnishings Market design show, where new furniture lines are unveiled.
Beige, cream and gray shades that had started to show undertones of color last spring surrendered this fall to true blues, reds. greens, golds and purples.
The richer colors meant that buyers, retailers and designers from the United States and 80 other countries weren’t left guessing whether the sofa they had seen was peach or maybe terra cotta, perhaps gray or kind of blue. This fall’s can’t-miss shades ranged from pomegranate to lipstick reds, sky to cobalt blues, sage to lime greens, gold-filled to Monet yellows, and purples the likes of plums.
“The colors were very definite,” said Sharon Moore, owner of The Mart Store, which has locations in River North and Westmont.
“There was more clarity in them then before Blue was really blue, and red was red,” she said while shopping the twice-a-year show. This season’s market ended Oct. 26.
The shock of color gave a one-two punch to familiar furniture designs, providing last season’s looks with an updated style. Traditional skirted sofas seen in previous shows were seen in mustard silk damask fabrics, earth-tone leathers plum textural chenilles.
There were no new standout designs at Directional, but color and texture proved to be the theme at this showroom too. Designer Larry Laslo made his statement in red in the Latina chair ($1,250) and designed an upholstered bed in cocoa camel mohair with a shape much like a large open clam ($4,700, in velvet; $7,100, in mohair).
Designers and retailers are hoping that the new colorful outfits, coming to stores early next year, also will mean a change of attitude among consumers.
“This year has not been a very good year for the furniture industry,” says Britt Beemer, founder and chairman of America’s Research Group, a market research firm in Charleston, S.C., which surveys consumers for companies such as Broyhill, La-Z-Boy and Sealy.
The American Furniture Manufacturers Association projects 1995 furniture sales at $19.7 billion, a 3.4 percent increase over 1994. That compares with a 10.8 percent increase in sales in 1994 from 1993.
Beemer says people are postponing furniture purchases and just aren’t buying new pieces.
There are three reasons why consumers are taking “a pass” on furniture purchases, he says.
“First, there’s virtually nothing new out there,” says Beemer. “We’re asking consumers to pay a lot of money for a big-ticket item, and there’s nothing that different about it. Stores may be carrying more leather, different colors and fabrics, but the `nothing new’ factor has a huge impact on whether a consumer chooses to buy.”
Second, he said, “they are saving for retirement, concerned about taking care of their parents, their children’s education.”
And third, concerns about job security are forcing furniture purchases to the back burner. “Furniture is an easily postponed purchase, especially when the consumer has fears about the future,” said Beemer.
To counter this trend, Beemer said manufacturers and designers are trying to win consumers back by holding or reducing prices and changing the furniture landscape in color and texture.
The designs that were unveiled last month will be in many furniture stores in January. Consumers then will have the last word on these color-updated designs, whose see-me shades also were on feel-me fabrics. Chenille, not like the robes and bedspreads from the 1950s and ’60s, provided the texture and smooth, velvet-like feel to the furniture. Leather remained popular but it was paired with chenille on the same design.
“Last market, we were seeing some chenille . . . now chenille is everywhere in everyone’s showroom,” said Tom Petersen, buyer and designer at Petersen Interiors in Buffalo Grove.
The color and texture statement also was made at Stanley Furniture Co., where jewel-tone and earth-tone chenilles covered sofas and chairs.
Even conventional furniture manufacturers, like Baker Furniture Co., showed more color, more chenille and more leather than usual.
Thayer Coggin’s Tribeca Collection was among the standouts in the contemporary theme at the design show.
The collection, which consists of sofas, love seats, chairs, swivel gliders and chaises, was designed by Ransom Culler. A favorite piece in this collection is the Tribeca sofa ($5,225), whose curvaceous form was shown in a sable and carmel chenille.
“The jewel tones were more popular this time, but there were also more earth tones, warmer tones pushing out the cool beige and cream shades,” says Petersen.
Remaining in neutral
But Marge Carson Inc.–a furniture manufacturer that has made a name for itself because of its unique fabric selection and big-name following, which includes Donald and Marla Trump–continued to offer a neutral palette.
“True, colors are getting richer and there’s more feeling in texture, but Marge Carson tends to use a lot of neutral in planning the light, airy kinds of groups that we do,” says Mike Gohman, design director at Marge Carson. “Color is a good fill-in for that neutral scheme. It provides the right accent.”
Even in the neutral scheme seen at Marge Carson, the palette does not lean toward whites or soft pastels. The creams are richer with bronze undertones. And the fabric of choice is frequently silk or chenille.
“Chenille is still a very comfortable, casual or elegant look,” says Gohman. “People are still drawn to looks that make them feel warm and cuddly. Color and fabric choice play a very important role.”
Not completely sold
Hugh Plunkett was not thoroughly convinced.
“Color is an `ooh’ and `aah’ kind of thing,” said the president of Plunkett Gallery stores. “It certainly gets the customers’ attention and customers may be willing to go that route at less expensive prices, but in $2,000-plus sofas they are going to go back to the safe beige and off-white basics. They may add more texture in the fabric, but that’s about it. You’ll see the vivid colors on the walls and in accessories.”
Pat Champagne, owner of Champagne Furniture Gallery in Chicago’s River North neighborhood, agreed.
“My client base may still want neutrals but not white or cream. But they aren’t going to want the jewel tones either,” said Champagne, who was drawn to the elegance and sophistication found in Marge Carson’s showroom. “People are going to look for something that is more lasting.”
Michelle Lamb, editor of the Trend Curve, a quarterly market research newsletter published by Lamb’s Marketing Directions Inc., said “lasting” is the operative word for the Baby Boomer customer base that now is ready to buy furniture to replace the economical finds they purchased before.
The move toward casual elegance is part of that, she said. “Furniture in this category is seen as furniture that is going to last in their homes. The neutrals are still an important part of the color story, but color is moving more into focus.”
Manufacturers are banking on this fall’s cost-saving alterations of last season’s collections to entice consumers to buy.
“It’s the look that is really the frosting on the cake,” said Marge Carson’s Gohman. “It’s the first thing that appeals to a consumer and the thing that adds character and feeling to a room.”
