Home entertainment furniture can be used in multiple rooms

For all their variety, casegoods such as dining sets and bedroom furniture tend to end up in dedicated rooms. Not so with home entertainment furniture, which can grace living rooms, kitchens, bedrooms, home offices—even the occasional unfinished basement. Buyers who know where to look can find entertainment furniture for any room and every occasion.

	E50 tall entertainment console provides numerous storage solutions with its three drawers and six compartments. Part of Eagle Industries’ Metropolitan Collection, the unit is made from poplar face frames and birch plywood with veneers, and it is available with three painted and three stained finish options (Antique Black is shown). The Metropolitan Collection offers frosted glass for a contemporary kick.
	Kathy Ireland Home by Martin’s Hudson Street TV consoles offer hardwood solid construction with a black matte finish accented by satin nickel colored hardware. The 60-inch-wide stand is shown, which includes one adjustable component shelf behind each seeded glass door and a center compartment. It is also available in 40- and 50-inch-wide units.
	Ezzo entertainment wall unit from CF Oakton has a number of convenient features, including heavy-duty casters for easy mobility, sliding back panels for wire access, adjustable shelves and a built-in power strip. The piece is made from kiln-dried hardwoods and quarter-sawn cherry veneers with a red walnut stain and multi-step lacquer and sealer finishing.
	Part of Buhler’s International Series Collection, 486 Series Markham is perfect for the consumer who wants a lot of storage capacity in as small of a footprint as possible. The piece features solid oak construction and 10 oak and maple finishes, including the Western Oak finish shown here. The company will be showing many home entertainment consoles with electric fireplaces at fall markets, too.
	Fairmont Designs’ Concorde Suites Collection bedroom home entertainment dresser is made from Asian hardwood solids and Anegre veneers with a warm cognac finish, and it has flared, brushed steel legs. The collection was inspired by furnishings found in high-end international hotels and resorts.
	Part of the Carrington Hall Collection, Kincaid Furniture’s Double Vision media mirror and bureau features a very innovative mirror. The two-way mirror holds a flat screen TV, and becomes transparent when the TV is on. The bureau’s top drawer folds down to accommodate a DVD player. The piece also includes a jewelry tray.
	While mounted TVs have traditionally been spare in their aesthetic, Legends Furniture is experimenting with a large, wood frame that ships as a 58-inch-wide framed mirror. The mirror itself can be removed and placed elsewhere in the home, while a 37-inch to 42-inch flat-panel TV can be put in its place. The piece is constructed from ash solids and veneers, and it wears an oak finish.
	Sligh's modular Smart TV console offers the ultimate in versatility for consumers. Customers can “build” a unit from nine interchangeable components: three cabinet styles, two stackable open deck units, three tops and a pair of side panels. The collection includes burnished and distressed cherry veneers, a Candlewood finish, and aged, soft brass hardware. A minimalist configuration—single unit with double open deck and drawers—is shown.

Desks get more compact and versatile to adapt to laptops

Sales of laptops are poised to exceed desktop computer sales in 2008, according to industry analysts. As consumers' computer usage changes, so does their home office furniture needs. The perfect fit? Desks that are as compact, versatile and feature-laden as the technology they’re designed to accommodate.

The top of Kathy Ireland Home by Martin’s Tribeca Loft convertible laptop workstation folds up, while its front folds down, to reveal an efficient work area with a built-in power center and storage for a laptop and small printer. Finished on all sides, Tribeca Loft also can be used as an console table anywhere in a room.




The right drawer of Riverside Furniture’s Summit laptop computer desk offers a power control bar, while the left drawer features a felt-lined bottom and a pencil tray. Constructed from poplar hardwood solids and birch veneers, Summit also is available with a deck (shown) that has a power supply outlet and a wiring access hole in the back panel.


Glenhill mini-computer chest from Hooker Furniture provides a small-office solution with plenty of functional features, such as slide-out laptop and printer trays, a file drawer and shelves for storing odds and ends.







Part of Lexington’s Zacara Collection, Savoy writing desk features a removable “box of drawers” on top, a drop-down drawer for hidden keyboard storage and a reinforced file drawer. Constructed from zebrano and walnut veneers and treated to a warm Sable finish, Savoy is detailed with Champagne-finished hardware that mimics rose gold jewelry.


For those with no space for a dedicated home office, Emerson roll top desk from Stanley Furniture offers plenty of work and storage space in a small footprint (34 inches wide by 28 inches deep). Part of the American Perspective™ Collection, Emerson sports a Shaker-inspired design and an All-American Cherry finish.

Wealthy furniture consumers still want traditional furniture style

When the economic going gets tough, the wealthy remain relatively unaffected, say home furnishings retailers and interior designers who cater to affluent clients. The style of choice for these consumers: traditional with European influences.

Here are some examples of furniture with a luxurious style for various rooms in a home.

Anywhere: Romantic and graceful, Marguerite French lounge chair from Marge Carson has a distinctive Louis XV silhouette. An intricate, handcarved floral design adorns the exposed wood grame, which is treated to a deep, distressed Old World Sumatra finish and accented with aged Medici metal leafing and antique brass nailhead trim. Marguerite is shown covered in Tigon Brass velvet and Ole Cappucino silk.

Master Bedroom: Luberon bed from French Heritage exudes French Country elegance, with its tall, inward-curving headboard; gently sloping, carved footboard; and rich, distressed wax finish. Part of the company's Maison Provence Luberon Collection, the bed measures 64 inches wide by 65 inches tall by 86 inches long.

Living room: Part of C.R. Laine Furniture's Jessica McClintock Home Collection, JM4150 sofa has a curved, rounded back and lots of McClintock’s signature dressmaker details, including plump, down-filled pillows with tassels and fringe, and gimp tape on the hem of the box-pleat skirt. The piece is shown covered in a soft chenille jacquard called Paulina Raisin with Raisin gimp.

Home Office: Habersham’s sturdy Governor’s desk offers consumers a masculine look and functionality. An ornate, intricately detailed border around the base softens the desk’s hard lines and blunt edges, while hidden storage space keeps personal items safely out of sight. The piece is shown here in the company’s Empire Studio finish.

Anywhere: Belle Meade Signature’s Richelieu demi-lune takes a unique approach to the apothecary chest. The generously scaled piece has faux drawer fronts on doors that open to reveal ample storage space and adjustable shelves. The drawer fronts are made with ovankol veneer treated to a matte, transparent Madeira finish. A starburst inlay top adds further interest to the piece.

Living room/media room: Architectural carvings; seeded, historic glass pier doors; and a medium clear finish with an antique glaze give Hooker Furniture’s three-piece Castellane home theater a rich Country French feel. Combined, the center console and hutch stand 101 inches tall and accommodate up to a 55-inch flat-screen TV. Used alone, the console accommodates up to a 60-inch, flat-screen TV.

Bedroom/Living Room: Barclay Butera looked to the large-scale, classic chairs found in Paris in the early 1900s when designing Marseilles chaise, part of the Barvlay Butera Home Regency Collection. A rounded back, petite curved arm, turned legs and casters give Marseilles a decidedly feminine look. It measures 31 incehs wide by 64 inches deep by 35 inches tall, and is shown in a fabric called Chenonceau Jewel.

Dining Room: For those who like to entertain, Continental dining table offers ample space at 72 inches wide, for stately gatherings. Two fancy-face, 20-inch leaves expand the table to 112 inches wide, perfect for holiday gatherings. Inspired by a Smithsonian Castle Collection library table acquired in the late 1800s, the piece has a smooth top surface that shows off handcrafts, hand-finished, fancy-face primavera veneers and a border made from quartered walnut with black in-lines alongside white ash burl. Statesman arm chair – with its double curved arm, carved backsplat and upholstered slip seat – is the perfect seating companion. Both pieces are part of Chesapeake, a new furniture series in the Smithsonian Collection by Bernhart.

An 18^th Century English table, Elizabeth from Design Solutions Inc. features delicate, turned legs; a scalloped, beaded apron; classic molding; and a frame shelf. The table shown here measures 50 inches wide by 21 incehs deep by 34.5 inches tall, perfect for accommodating a sink. Custom sizes are available.

Contemporary Home Office Furniture | Furniture Style

Contemporary office furniture from Davis Furniture Industries

While the number of home-based businesses in the United States vary by the organization doing the counting – from 16.5 million, according to a recent study by research from Access Markets Intl. Partners Inc., to half of all U.S. businesses, according to the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy’s report – they generate an estimated $102 billion in annual revenue, according to the Office of Advocacy.

Home-based businesses may account for even more revenue in the coming year, due to U.S. employers’ hiring plans in 2008. Manpower Inc.’s Manpower Employment Outlook Survey for the 2008 first quarter reveals that, of the 14,000 U.S. employers surveyed, only 22 percent said they expect to add to their payrolls during the first quarter of 2008. Twelve percent said they expect to reduce staff levels, 60 percent said they expect no change in hiring and 6 percent were undecided about their January to March hiring plans.

The Trickle-Down Theory

Each June, thousands of architects, interior designers, office managers and other industry professionals attend NeoCon World’s Trade Fair in Chicago to see the latest trends, products and concepts in office, hospitality, health care, institutional and government environments. Also among the attendees, each year, are several Furniture Style editors.

For in the same way trends in high-end designer fashion find their way into mainstream fashion, so do trends in contract office furniture eventually turn up in home office furniture. After all, people who work exclusively from their homes have many of the same needs as office workers: ample storage space, a large work surface, plenty of outlets for electronics and comfortable seating. Already, many furniture manufacturers are taking these needs into consideration when designing home office collections.

TIX Office from Davis Furniture Industries raises the bar again. Designed by Dante Bonucceli and licensed from Mobinex, the collection features contemporary office furniture and conference furniture that can be configured to create an executive’s ideal work environment. The pieces have solid wood tops (elm, sycamore or walnut) and metal legs (aluminum or steel). Buyers can choose from a variety of desks, storage units and conference tables.

By Thomas A. Prais [at] FurnitureStyle.com