While in High Point a couple of weeks ago Alex and I had a great conversation about how as a first time market attendee she was really surprised at how the quality of the furniture was not always in alignment with the quality and ease of use of the company's website.
Many of the brands you know by name do not make anything - they are in essence marketing firms. If all a company does is market and distribute products made by others, that's where their investment goes, and it is in their best interest to pay the least for product, photograph it well, and sell a lot of items.
As a 30 year old Alex has used the internet as a source of "truth" her whole life. Researching academic papers on the internet left her with a sense that you could find accurate information if you looked for it. While I - Gen X punk that I am - always ask who paid to put the information online in the first place? I think the algorithms feeds us images of what most people have liked and we have to look carefully to find the gems and avoid the common.
The culture of product reviews leads people to believe they can trust what others have written, but what happens when the people leaving reviews have only ever seen one level of quality? Are they a good judge of quality? Do you trust them?
Here are some examples of companies that delighted Alex and I with their quality and design - beyond what one might expect from their website.
North Carolina based Highland House at first glance is not the sort of brand you would think of for my Brume or Adorn - but when you really look you see the technique and attention to detail that lands them right in our pocket! Pattern matching like pros, added dimension to what could be a very basic shape, trim used in a fresh and modern way and gorgeous paint finishes land them in our top 10! All in all - Lee and Nathan lead their team to knock it out of the park each market. (we are your PNW trade home for Highland House.)
As they say - Keep it Pretty - and they do!
Moss Home
People are always so pleasantly impressed with the pieces they receive from Moss, As a small family owned company, their priority is their people, their facility and the quality of their product. Their website is also growing - but it will never rival a big box store website, because they are all busy designing and making the great furniture pieces we love.
We are BIG FANS and will continue to be.
We have one of the best Moss displays in the country at our Adorn location and we invite you to come in anytime.
Honorable mention goes to both ONE FOR VICTORY and CURREY AND COMPANY
Both of these companies are generational. One for Victory's owners are following a three generation family tradition of manufacturing leather furniture at a really accessible price point. We love their style!
Currey and Company is run by a second generation Currey, and while they are not manufacturers themselves, the scour the planet to find makers who are adept at their crafts. I love them not for their more mass produced items you can find online, but for their one of a kind and craft made items that are really special and impossible to represent on a website.
Their product has soul! The owner does bonsai demos and classes in their showroom during market and they serve food made with produce from their own garden. My kind of people!
To counter the uneven information online, we always recommend working with an interior designer or trusted resource like we try to be. If you want better than average - then you need someone with the skill, experience and talent to blaze their own trail above the fray. Interior designers are the nerds you are looking for, and we are the nerds' nerds.
I hope this shines a little light on why we do what we do. It's really impossible for anyone to know enough about everything to do it all well. We focus on furniture and other home furnishings. I hope we can be of help to you as you navigate furnishings projects for your design clients or yourself.
Fondly,
Renate