Adventures at the Fall High Point Furniture Market

This year was my first time at the Fall High Point market, but definitely not my first time to market. You may remember that I’ve done 2 design Influencer tours in the past few years during spring and those are fun, but very fast paced. This year, I was in the market for a new sofa. The one we have is really getting uncomfortable and I’m ready to invest in a quality sofa that will hopefully last for years to come. So that was my main motivation to go, when I heard one of my local design friends, Betsy, was going to market. I asked her if I could tag along and she said sure. She rents a house in High Point and some of her design friends join her, but she had an extra room for me. We drove up to High Point and spent 4 days walking the market and let me tell you, it’s no joke. The whole town of High Point is furniture stores and the main buildings of the High Point market house hundreds of brands. Some brands have their own stores all around High Point as well. It’s the furniture mecca of the USA. It’s not open to the public, you have to be a buyer, designer, or media to go and get a badge. I’m so glad I could go as a media person and see all the sights this year.

{From Left to Right: Betsy’s friend, Colleen, Betsy, me, and Kelly. We all had a lot of fun together and even though these gals are mid-40’s, I managed to hang with them. Whew, it was busy, but I sure got to sit on a lot of sofas and furniture. It’s so rare to be able to sofa shop in person these days, since there are not very many brick and mortar furniture stores in my area. I was determined to sit on a sofa before I bought one.

I’m sharing a few of the brands we visited during the 4 days we were there. Betsy is a busy gal, with her own business, House Therapy, here in the Atlanta area. We both live in the town of Acworth. Betsy is not only a house renovator, but she also furnishes and designs the renovated spaces, as well as house flipping and real estate. She has clients she was shopping for and certain brands she wanted to visit, so I was tagging along with her during the time in High Point. She was also going to show me her favorite sofa brands.

Hinkley Lighting

A beautiful showroom with gorgeous modern lighting.

This lighting is not from Hinkley, but I didn’t save all the shops we wondered in along the way. Things caught my eye and I took pics.

Signature Pillows

All these beautiful pillows sure caught our eye.

I especially loved this one, but didn’t place any orders. If I do order anything, it has to go through Betsy since everything is wholesale.

Southern Home

This showroom was absolutely gorgeous, just my Southern style.

I can’t remember, but these black chaise lounges might have been another company.

Visual Comfort

Another feast for the eyes lighting company, Visual Comfort is all class.

I loved the Ralph Lauren collection.

Schumacher

Schumacher fabrics is a long time favorite of mine and their showroom was eye candy galore. All the patterns and textures were gorgeous. As you can see, jewel tones are all coming back around again.

In a fresh new way! Notice the large flamestitch on the drapery. Flashback to the 80’s and I had a flamestitch fabric with similar colors in my first 80’s home.

Always a great place to take a photo along the way.

Wesley Hall

Wesley Hall is one of Betsy’s favorite sofa brands and I actually found my sofa the very first day we were shopping.

This is their Signature Elements collection of customizable pieces, so I made the decision to get this one. I can choose the fabrics of course, as well as arm type, leg type, cushion type and also get an extra depth, which I think will be very comfortable for Mark and me. This is what I’m getting below, except I’ll get 3 cushions on the seat instead of one bench seat. Bench seats sure are popular, I notice, but I would be a little nervous about one side getting too flat with wear, since we are such different weights. At least we can turn and flip the regular 3 cushions regularly.

After much looking at fabrics, I’ve decided on this pretty blue for the sofa and the print for the pillows that come with it. It all looks great with my rug and will break up the all beige in here. The fabric is on back order until February, so I’ll be waiting awhile for this sofa, but I’m sure it will be worth the wait.

Lee Industries

Another great brand for upholstery I could have easily chosen a Lee sofa as well. I’ve always heard they are a quality sofa brand too. I’m sure if I had all the time in the world to browse, I could have changed my mind 10 times, but I feel good about the one I chose.

Lexington Home Brands

Another thing about market is there is food everywhere. Every single showroom has snacks, food and drinks and so we never got hungry, there was always something to grab. We had breakfast at some showrooms, lunch at others, and then dinner was plentiful as well at many places. There were tons of parties around town too, so we hit a few of those along the way. We really hit the jackpot at the Lexington Brands showroom, a freestanding facility out of town a little ways. They had this gorgeous atrium all set up for a buffet lunch that was fabulous. It was so relaxing and then we went a browsed the showrooms, which are huge.

Lexington houses the Tommy Bahama brant, which is the brand of my rattan guestroom bed that I love so much.

Cambria

At Cambria, we stopped by to meet Jean Stoffer of Stoffer Homes. She has a show on HGTV, The Established Home, which I’ve enjoyed watching and she works with her daughter, Grace, on the right. She was showcasing a new island with Cambria.

It was fun to chat with her a few minutes and I told her how much I enjoyed her show. She was so warm and personable.

More scenes around town.

This is part of the huge buildings that make up the market. The other main building is behind me as I’m shooting. We wrapped up the week with an evening party at the Four Hands showroom. You can see their balcony in this picture.

Made Goods

Another fabulous brand that I enjoyed browsing.

They have some gorgeous rattan, cane, and burlwood pieces. This look is very much trending this year and many showrooms have something similar. It certainly is a fave of mine.

This pedestal sink caught my eye for a powder room.

Bramble

Bramble was another fun showroom to browse. They are more of a mid-range brand, which stylish pieces.

Four Hands

Four Hands is a huge showroom and we had fun in there as well. I love a lot of Four Hands accessories.

Mirror at Four Hands.

I’m not sure where the below shots are taken, I didn’t document all my pictures.

Sherrill

Sherrill is an older established brand with a great reputation and more traditional style.

They  had some fun and colorful fabrics throughout.

Lots of colorful fabrics.

Woodbridge

Another beautiful showroom, this one is a favorite of Betsy and I can see why. I can’t share all the photos I took, because there were so many from market, but this gives you an idea of what it’s like.

This is designer, Lauren Liess’s collection with Woodbridge. I’ve watched her grow so much in the design world.

Villa and House

I visited this showroom on my last designer’s tour and loved it. They have some beautiful pieces in burlwood and grasscloth.

I really like the grasscloth wrapped pieces that are popular now.

Look how beautiful all of these chests are!

Worlds Away

Another mid-range brand, Worlds Away had a lot of rattan that was pretty.

Chelsea House

Chelsea House had really gorgeous things, definitely my style as well.

Lots of wallpapered spaces in blue and white.

Look at all the blue and white!

Universal Furniture

Universal is a huge brand with a big showroom as well. They have a separate outdoor coastal area too.

This is just a small bit of what I saw at market this year. It’s really overwhelming after you look for 4 days straight at all this beautiful furniture. I’m glad I settled on a sofa and stuck with it, because it would be easy to be wishy-washy. I’m spending a lot on this sofa, but I’ve heard good things about Wesley-Hall, so I think it will be worth it.

I hope you enjoyed this visit of the High Point Furniture market in the fall. It really was a blast!

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