Style Experts to Share Insights on Top Furnishings Trends For 2024 at American Home Furnishings Hall Of Fame

Furniture World News Desk on 10/7/2023

The American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame is hosting a Trend 2024 seminar from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 16 at its new headquarters building at 311 S. Hamilton St. in High Point.

Sponsored by Sunpan, the free seminar will feature four expert panelists who will share their views on the key design influences that will be top of mind in the coming year in home furnishings. The seminar will include a discussion of the emerging Divine trend, which is being previewed for the first time this market in the Four Hands Trend Spotter exhibit in the new Hall of Fame building.

The Trend 2024 panel discussion will be led by Aurora Hinz, a Home and Lifestyle Strategist with Fashion Snoops (FS). For over 22 years, FS has been a leading global force in future forecasting. They offer clients advanced inspiration through a digitally wired Futures Pathway, combining human insight and cultural trend analysis with cutting-edge, AI-augmented tools. FS serves clients in 50 countries in the areas of fashion, accessories, home décor, and beauty and wellness.

“With this panel, we aim to explore how the consumer value system is shifting – to quality over quantity, and for items to have meaning/roots versus just looking beautiful,” Hinz says, adding that the emerging Divine trend exemplifies this new style direction.

“Divine centers around consumers finding deeper meaning with their products,” she says. “It has a modern monastic feel; however, it really speaks to creating a more purposeful connection with our home goods.”

The four featured speakers at the High Point Market seminar include:

• Dixon Bartlett, chief creative officer of Norwalk Furniture. Well recognized for his trend-forward aesthetic, Bartlett has led several successful companies in the sales, merchandising, visual merchandising, store construction, marketing and distribution functions. He started his home furnishings career in 1980 with This End Up, rising from delivery helper to vice president of merchandising as the company grew to become the 19th largest furniture retailer in the country. In 2000, Bartlett took over merchandising and marketing responsibilities for the contemporary lifestyle chain Storehouse. In 2007, along with long-time business associate, Caroline Hipple, Bartlett formed HB2 Resources. HB2 provides consulting services in the areas of strategic and tactical business planning, product and showroom design to a range of clients, including Norwalk Furniture.

• Elaine Markoutsas, global trend correspondent, syndicated design writer and editor, stylist and home design consultant. Based in the Chicago area, Markoutsas serves as editorial correspondent for The Trend Curve; design editor/writer for Universal Press Syndicate; and field editor for Meredith Home Design Group. Her writing has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Luxe Interiors + Design, The Toronto Star, Baltimore Sun, Miami Herald, Detroit News, Kansas City Star, Raleigh News & Observer, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Architect Magazine, the Robb Report and Yahoo Life. From 1985 to 1987, Markoutsas also served as director of home furnishings at the Chicago Merchandise Mart.

• Don Ricardo Massenburg, principal and founder of the interior design company DESiGN iNKREDiBLE. Based in Durham, North Carolina, Massenburg is recognized for creating strikingly bold and luxuriously soothing interiors through his deft use of lush, layered textiles, sumptuous upholstery and rich color. His passion for art and music also influences his point of view. His clientele includes celebrities, high-profile athletes and noted business owners. A leader in the design community, Massenburg is a member of the House Beautiful Advisory Council and holds board positions with the Alliance of Interior Designers and High Point by Design. He also is a member of the Black Interior Designers Network. His goal for clients is to celebrate their home or workspace, where beauty and function align, so that they live and feel better.

Franca Panetta, product manager with Sunpan, a Toronto-based, global furniture company specializing in the design and manufacturing of transitional and contemporary furnishings. Working with renowned international designers, Sunpan creates a thoughtfully designed, diverse selection of fashion-forward, high-end looks at affordable prices. The use of various mixed materials enables the company to create a unique and versatile line of products suitable for both residential and commercial settings. Sunpan’s whole-home product offering includes bedroom, dining and living furniture, outdoor furniture, office furniture, lighting, rugs, mirrors and art.

“We are excited to be hosting this highly anticipated look at the key design trends that will be shaping the home furnishings arena in the coming year,” says Karen McNeill, CEO and president of the Hall of Fame Board of Directors. “The seminar’s moderator — Aurora Hinz — is well versed in consumer lifestyle shifts and how these shifts can lead to actionable business opportunities within the design community. And our new Hall of Fame building is the perfect venue for this type of discussion.”

The American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame Foundation, Inc., is an industry-wide organization founded to preserve its history, to celebrate exceptional individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the U.S. home furnishings industry, to inspire the next generation of innovative leaders and to engage the community with the world of home furnishings. Our new home, which opened in April 2023, is a symbol of the Home Furnishings Capital of the World™ where the industry gathers, where we honor our leaders and tell our stories, and where we learn through exhibits, seminars and speakers. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, funds support our history and leadership programming. The organization is based in High Point, North Carolina, at 311 S. Hamilton St., and can be reached at 336.882.5900 or by visiting www.homefurnishingshalloffame.com.