The recent Winter Las Vegas Market 2011 kicked off with “First Look,” a signature market event highlighting trends and top product picks for the first major total home furnishings market of the year. Celebrity designer Monica Pedersen of HGTV and home products/trends editor Julie Smith Vincenti guided a colorful virtual tour of new introductions at Market, including products from VegasKids and Gift+Home. Highlights from the show are on display all week at the “First Look” exhibit in the lobby of Building B.
Pedersen said one of the distinguishing factors of this Market is the amount of color dancing throughout the home furnishings complex. Designers are getting more adventurous using splashes of color in decorative accessories. Smith Vincenti added that color is a quick and simple way to communicate. “Color is a way a way to add an accent and make a statement in your home,” Smith Vincenti said.
Purple will register high on the popularity scale this year, as will denim-like blues. Neutrals will also figure prominently in 2011. Pedersen said Pantone’s color pick for 2011 is honeysuckle, an energetic reddish pink that can be seen all across the Market floor in textiles, pillows, bedding and rugs. Pedersen said she’s used that color on a sofa and chaise. She admitted that she was skeptical at first, but in the end, it was a huge success. She added black accents and animal prints to the design. “It was a color I was afraid of, but it ended up being inviting,” she says. “I’ve done it and it works.”
Something as small as a bright ceramic vase or an exotic candleholder has the power to change the entire narrative of a room. The Phillips Collection’s Spiral bowls, which come in a contemporary palette of green, orange and white, were one colorful example. The design professionals also shared a show-stopping spherical fixture from Crystorama, featuring a series of white blossoming roses. Another pick from the experts was Catalina/Belita, a new collection by Amity Home consisting of 100 percent linen, machine washable textiles. Available in khaki and blue, the bedding delivers both comfort and practicality.
Throughout the presentation, both women shared tips. Pedersen said that she always tries to introduce eco-friendly accessories to her clients, while Smith Vincenti encourages designers to involve clients, and often suggests that they create handmade items that make a statement on a bare wall. “Any time you are engaging the consumer to be part of design process, you will be rewarded handsomely,” she said.
When it comes to home furnishings, both style and scale will lead the way in the 2011 Winter Las Vegas Market. Pedersen pointed out that vintage and French industrial looks are in, as are exotic and white-washed woods. Smith Vincenti said to expect a “warming” of finishes. Gone are the deep mahoganies of the past. “It is a causal comfort story, whether you choose to do it in a collection like Tommy Bahama or with distressed finishes,” said Smith Vincenti. In addition, intricate detailing, refined finishes, classic upholstery silhouettes and causal dining solutions will set the stage this year.
The “First Look” presentation highlighted R&R by Pennsylvania House, a collection crafted of solid poplar with a lightly distressed finish and notable accents such as serpentine shapes, louver and head board details and round wooden knobs. Another notable item was Sligh’s Asian Fusion sliding door bookcase, which is crafted from alder wood solids, figured cherry veneers and antiqued glass.
Pedersen also pointed out the value of area rugs. “Rugs are one of the most exciting areas in design right now,” she said. Even a small investment can result in adding a depth of luxury and elegance to a room.
Walls are another opportunity to add elegance. Look for one-of-a-kind oil paintings, like “Amber Forest,” a 40-inch-square, gallery-wrapped oil painting from Grander Images that was created using the pallet-knife technique. Smith Vincenti and Pedersen also singled out Uttermost’s Baiano wall décor, made of hand-forged metal with a heavily burnished silver-leaf finish. Photographic prints mounted on clear acrylic and inspired mirrors will also make a splash this year.
Nothing changes the mood of a room like illumination, and the experts were particularly impressed with the details that accompanied trendy fixtures. One example given was Trevor, part of Candice Olson’s Simple Collection for AF Lighting, which is made up of square rods welded together to create a fixture. Because the chandelier is handcrafted, no two are alike. Another artistic endeavor is Nova Lighting’s Bird’s Nest Collection, which celebrates the 2008 Olympic venue Beijing National Stadium, a.k.a. the “Bird’s Nest.”
Pedersen, who’s done quite a bit of work with children’s bedrooms, emphasized that little girls’ rooms can have an elegant feel to them. She added that young girls get excited about lighting, chandeliers and other details in their rooms, and said that Crystorama has products that girls love. Smith Vincenti added that she’d recently had a baby and made a point of investing in key pieces so that she wouldn’t have to completely change the room every three months.
Pedersen and Smith Vincenti also gave a snapshot of the VegasKids destination at Las Vegas Market and the ever-growing juvenile market, which is brimming with grown-up accessories and furniture for today’s toddlers and tweens. From Manual Woodworkers & Weavers playful youth aprons and chefs hats for the young foodie to Legare Furniture’s new tool-free-assembly storage bins in bright colors, Las Vegas Market offers a wide range of fresh ideas for the profitable youth market.
Smith Vincenti encouraged attendees to visit the many Gift + Home spaces in floors five through nine in Building C, and she referenced the great products that “bridge the space between gifts and accessories.”
Gift + Home also features an array of new product lines, and spring fever is a consistent theme. Look for birds, bunnies, buds and tempting fragrances from both permanent and temporary exhibitors. Honey House Naturals, for example, will introduce Room and Linen mist, a room deodorizer made from natural ingredients in vanilla, Hawaiian and lavender. Melrose International will unveil its 2011 Christmas collection, in addition to its 2011 Home & Garden Collection, featuring farm animal figurines, wall plaques, wreaths, votive and pillar candleholders and more.
Smith Vincenti urged attendees to plan their time wisely at Market. “As you make the journey through the three buildings, it makes you aware of some of the ways you can segment your buying and maximize efficiency,” she said.
The Winter 2011 Las Vegas Market takes place January 24-28, 2011. For more information on the latest trends and new products from Las Vegas Market, contact pressroom@wmclv.com.
About World Market Center Las Vegas: World Market Center Las Vegas is an integrated home and hospitality contract furnishings showroom and trade complex. The campus showcases furniture, decorative accessories, gift, lighting, area rugs, home textiles and related segments, as well as the Las Vegas Design Center open daily to consumers and designers. World Market Center currently hosts the biannual Las Vegas MarketTM, the preeminent total home market along with Gift + HomeTM and Vegas KidsTM. For more information on World Market Center Las Vegas and its shows, visit www.wmclv.com. Find us on Facebook and Twitter.