High Point — Day 2

WHAT a day. I have to reiterate from yesterday how heartening it is to see DC designers around every corner — it’s like we’ve taken over! Victoria Sanchez, Brad Weesner, Justine Sancho, Skip Sroka, David Mitchell (more on him in a sec), Patrick Sutton and Barry Dixon (again!), Ashley Spencer from Casart Coverings in Alexandria, my wonderful friend Michele Ginnerty, author of the AWESOME My Notting Hill blog and also my neighbor in Arlington, Barbara Franceski, Jennifer Parker, Nancy Colbert, Lauren Liess of Pure Style Home and Mary Drysdale (again!). I don’t think I’ve every come here when I’ve seen so many people from home. I hope this means that Washington is coming to earn its due in the design arena, as it should!

And as always, it’s really cool to see the celebrities. I had a “Million Dollar Decorators” day today, shaking hands with Martyn Lawrence Bullard, and passing by Mary MacDonald at the Architectural Digest party. Although I didn’t get a chance to talk to Mary, Martyn is a dream — what a delight! I think I will always hear his voice inside my head when he called me “daahling…” Awesome.

Ok, on to the pictures. I’ll start with the local connection: DC Designer David Mitchell (and author of the wonderfully irreverent blog, Uncensored, has a licensed collection with another local, Barry Remley of Salvations Architectural Furnishings, to create a gorgeous collection of metal-framed tables and a drop-dead metal-and-wood etagere. The first prototypes were on display at Lee Industries, and they will be coming soon to the AmericanEye showroom at the Washington Design Center.

David Mitchell and Barry Remley

David already has the etagere in his new home, which he posted recently on his blog. (You should look at his full post, with before and after shots of his recent renovation. Amazing.)

This small dining table is also gorgeous. And of course, it can be customized to any size:

His accent tables are also lovely:

Moving on, I am always excited to see the new offerings at Hickory Chair, where Creative Director Ron Fiore is an absolute GENIOUS at merchandising. At each High Point market, he outdoes himself from the previous one. Keep in mind that his tableau is wiped clean after each market, and he has to create a new showroom from scratch twice a year.

(of course, with collections from designers Suzanne Kasler, Thomas O’Brien, Alexa Hampton, and Mariette Himes Gomez, he’s got great tools to work with!)

Here are some of his vignettes, which I was able to capture before the masses descended on the showroom to celebrate Hickory Chair’s 100th anniversary tonight:

More is more: he tufted the WALL to echo the headboard!

Upholstered screens were everywhere this time.

The hand-painted detail on the table is an illustration of a new program in which Hickory Chair employs artisans to paint pieces to match any fabric or paint color submitted by the design client. They can either repeat the pattern on the fabric, or create a design that is complementary. HOW cool is that? Here’s another example:

More great vignettes:

Oh, I would sleep SO WELL in this bed.

Ok, this was hard waiting, but I saved the best for last. Hickory Chair now has a line of fabric from Hable Construction, and I got to have a long, pleasant chat with sisters Katharine and Susan Hable themselves.

Susan and Katharine Hable

I adore how they set up their display, complete with an inspiration board that includes artwork from one of their children:

Hable's great range of fabrics

On other stops today (and I’m so glad that I’ve being coming here long enough to know to wear comfortable shoes!), I saw some more super-colorful themes in the collections. Maybe through these vibrant colors, we are collectively trying to cheer ourselves up in this gloomy economy. Here are a couple examples:

Lillian August:

Here’s a new line I had not been familiar with before: Massoud, a Texas company.

The mood boards at the front of the showroom are comprised of magazine photos and other cutouts, the colors and styles of which led to this market's new introductions.

What an unexpected look: turquoise tooled leather on black. It's like a great weekend outfit.

Alas, my eyes are so tired at this point that they sting, so I’ll stop here. More to come tomorrow!