Borkholder Furniture To Show Two New Solid Wood collections At High Point
Furniture World News Desk on
10/20/2016
Borkholder Furniture reports that it is headed to High Point Market with two heirloom quality solid wood collections and a new idea in merchandising: The new collections are designed to intermingle beautifully with each other and with pieces consumers already own.
Created by world-class furniture designer Catina Roscoe, Madera epitomizes rustic contemporary style for bedroom and dining room with clean lines, bold scale and simple forms. Rendered in red oak with a dry mid- to mid-light grey/beige finish, Roscoe describes the look as interpretive.
“This means that whether you live in the country, on the coast, or in an upscale urban setting, Madera’s fresh finish looks right at home,” says Tom Halvorsen, vice president.
According to Roscoe, the collection’s piece structure is designed to be interpretative as well. In the bedroom, for example, thanks to the strong horizontal lines of the case drawers, consumers can choose between a traditional rustic configuration with to-the-floor silhouettes or a more sophisticated transitional expression with tapered legs that impart an airy, off-the-floor look.
Aero is Roscoe’s curated collection of casual dining and occasional furniture silhouettes rendered in sophisticated walnut with a soft contemporary feel and clean geometry. Inspired by mid-century modern architecture, the multifunctional pieces visually stimulate with an interesting play of angles.
“Mixed with Madera, the Aero pieces blend in and stand out at the same time,” Roscoe says. “The pieces are relatable and easy for consumers to mix and accessorize to create their own look. Few shoppers today walk into a furniture store and buy an entire suite of matching furniture, but as an industry, too often, that’s what we’re still presenting. It’s an approach that makes what can be an intimidating shopping process even more confusing, especially since the layouts she sees in the shelter magazines and on the pages of the specialty catalogs filling her mailbox tell an altogether different story. I believe we need to figure out how to help consumers master the art of the mix, because we’re expecting people without a lot of decorating experience to make some extraordinary leaps.”
“The Borkholder Furniture team has spent quite a bit of time researching what’s current on retail floors,” Halvorsen says. “We already know that consumers are yearning for quality products and that made in America means something to them. Now, we need to help consumers get comfortable with purchasing an eclectic mix of product and we’re working hard to make it easy for our dealers to make the connection, from product design to merchandising and marketing ideas to our own showroom presentation.”
Mad for Madera
Key bedroom pieces on view this week in the Borkholder showroom (IHFC 1103) include the Madera Collection’s signature poster bed in red oak with tall, slender posts and a floating headboard upholstered in a natural, Sunbrella linen accented with nail head trim.
“We’ve heard a lot about New Traditional style in the past few years; we see this bed, and indeed, the entire Madera Collection, as quintessential New American Style,” Halvorsen describes. The bed pairs with either a two-drawer nightstand with shelf, or a three-drawer nightstand, and a coordinating upholstered bench moves from the bedroom to living room (try it as a cocktail table!) or dining table seating with ease. A second bed with a chevron-patterned panel headboard makes the most of Borkholder’s expertise in finishes that allow grain patterns to make natural design statements.
“Speaking of New American Style, while the Madera dining table and chairs epitomize rustic contemporary style, and Aero is inspired by mid-century modern architecture, look closely at the dining chairs in both collections,” Roscoe says. “We’ve reinterpreted classic American ladder-back chairs for a new generation of shoppers.”
Playing on the rusticity of Madera, and the idea of bringing natural and organic forms indoors, dining table bases are inspired by carpenter’s saw-bucks. And, on the heels of its Arts & Crafts-inspired Morris Chair introduced at the Summer Markets, Borkholder moves further into the upholstered seating category this season with the Madera accent chair upholstered in Sunbrella’s Heritage Papyrus. “Again, we’re creating furniture for how people really live now, and the accent chair, with an architecturally interesting, open-slat back, looks quite at home in covered outdoor spaces, inspired as it is by outdoor designs with thick, lounge-y cushions,” the designer says.
Yet, the piece that serves as a clue to where Borkholder Furniture may be headed is a mobile kitchen work station with coordinating stools ideal as a stand-alone bar or kitchen island. “Borkholder’s parent company Kountry Wood Products is a leader in kitchen and bath cabinetry,” Halvorsen points out. “Until now, the synergy between the two companies has been apparent in the equipment, logistics and marketing tools that would otherwise be unavailable to a furniture company of our size. This Market, for the first time, we’re demonstrating the potential synergies between the two divisions on a product level, and we’re very excited about the potential.”
Aero Dynamics
AERO is all about decorating for the way we live today, and that means multifunction and mobility, with stand-out pieces like the mobile serving cart and cocktail table on casters. “This is a shout-out to what’s happening in urban settings,” Roscoe says, “where smaller footprints demand flexibility so that consumers can change the configuration of their space to suit their mood or entertaining needs. Keep an eye out for the casual dining setting with classic, mid-century geometry and a table with a to-the-floor, X-stretcher base that creates a very sculptural form. The serving credenza features a flip-top center section that opens to reveal full-depth vertical bottle storage, and slender, bunching cabinets include both closed-door options and open, lit glass shelves for drama.
More about Borkholder Furniture: For more than three decades, Borkholder Furniture, based in Nappanee, IN, has been producing heirloom quality, solid wood furniture handcrafted in America by Amish artisans, using time-honored techniques passed down through generations. Here, the ideals of the Arts and Crafts movement are being reinterpreted into fresh, clean-lined silhouettes, by high-caliber furniture designers adept at creating stylish furnishings that stand the test of time. As specialists in bedroom, dining room and occasional furniture sold via better-end retailers across the country, every piece is built to exacting specifications in family-owned and operated workshops located throughout the heartland. The company maintains a to-the-trade showroom in High Point, NC.
More about Catina Suarez Roscoe, AFSD: Born in Cuba, Catina came to the US at an early age. Sensitive to consumer lifestyles, her love of Latin music, food and art are prominent in her life and work, and she finds inspiration in color, form, pattern and composition in the world around her. Founder of Catina Unlimited Design, Catina has developed an affinity for designing solid wood products that express just the right mood or emotion for an environment. With numerous successful collections for leading manufacturers throughout her three-decade career, she intuitively balances traditional with contemporary, and the familiar with the unexpected. She is an executive board member of the American Society of Furniture Designers (ASFD) and her studio is a repeat finalist and winner of the Pinnacle Award.