Formal Furniture
Goes Back to Nature

HIGH POINT, N.C. -- Take that ostentatious gold-trimmed stuff out of the living room. It's time to bring in the wicker, the dark woods -- even the weeds.

Last week, at the International Home Furnishings Market, the industry's largest trade show, companies rolled out the new lines you'll see next year. The over-the-top gilt of the '90s was pushed aside by simpler, outdoorsy looks, even in formal furniture: flowery rugs, lampshades covered with green silk leaves, artificial-moss covered topiaries in the shape of teapots. Objets d'art, particularly those with an African or Asian flavor, are also the rage -- expect to see lots of giant giraffes, monkeys and elephants peeking out from among the living-room palms next spring.

Why bring the outside in? Part of the pitch is that this stuff is calming; the trend toward more "natural" furnishings is a continuation of all the Zen fountains and Asian-inspired looks that were hot in last spring's shows. This season's "in" colors -- seafoam green, pale blue, sandy beige and shell pink -- are meant to remind you of an afternoon at the beach. Says Leatrice Eiseman, a color-trend forecaster for Pantone Inc.: "These days, everyone needs to de-stress."

The result: Natural materials usually associated with the porch, like wicker, bamboo and rattan, are being found in parlor pieces, even in a formal line based on styles from the grand mansions of Newport, R.I., by Ficks Reed, a Cincinnati furniture maker. Miami designer Peter Casablanca makes his $750 to $1,000 living-room chairs out of weeds -- water hyacinths, to be exact, a sea grass that chokes rivers.

There was another thing on display at High Point that hasn't been seen much in recent years: a bit of caution. Compared with previous seasons, the pickings at this show were slim. Although furniture shipments are expected to increase 5.6% to $26.4 billion this year, many manufacturers worry about the effects of a volatile stock market and rising oil prices on consumer spending, according to several industry surveys. That caused several makers to cut back on the number of product introductions, frustrating some buyers. "I've yet to see anything that's new, new, new," says Linda Fike, a Flint, Mich., interior designer.

Indeed, after years of promoting one trend after another, manufacturers are realizing most people can't afford to throw out the stuff they bought just last year. So now a mix 'n' match look isn't only acceptable, it's the order of the day.

Everywhere at the show there was a bohemian, almost schizophrenic tendency to mix it up -- white or light woods were paired with dark; rough surfaces with soft ones; and faux fabrics with natural ones. One example: a maple-frame chair by Parker Southern, Maiden, N.C., that mixes a polyester "fox" fur back with a cowhide seat, and retails for $1,500. "I'm tacking right on to what the fashion houses are doing, and that's mixed media," says the chair's designer, Adrian Parker.

Here are some other looks seen at High Point:

He Says, She Says

Forget genderless decor. Now it's macho rooms or romantic rooms. The outdoor look was strong in the safari-themed Ernest Hemingway Collection rugs, art and accessories produced by several licensees and the leather-heavy cowboy chic designs of Stetson World Licensing, New York. For women, things were softer: cottage-style furniture from such icons of femininity as supermodel Kathy Ireland, eveningwear designer Jessica McClintock, and the company of the late designer Laura Ashley.

Such stereotypical decorating could, of course, be off-putting. After all, how many women can really love a knick-knack in the shape of a fishing boat, or a planter with trumpeting elephants in a rusty-bronze finish? And how many men will be comfortable sleeping under a white taffeta bedspread beaded like a wedding gown, or on fluffy pillows trimmed with feathers? Yet such accessories were stars of the show. "I can't keep them in stock," says Dian Austin, a Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., designer, whose new maribou-accented pillows are covered in hot pink and purple sequins.

Motion Slickness

Not long ago, the massage and heat functions in most recliners were so crude, even their makers called them "shake and bake" chairs. But motion has now become so popular, manufacturers are racing to see who can produce the slickest gimmick in the sleekest chair.

Some examples: Action Lane's "human touch" $1,300 recliner in leather, with an internal mechanism meant to simulate the hands of a masseuse; Relax-R's $1,800 "zero gravity" shiatsu recliner; and La-Z-Boy's $1,000 Airflex recliner, which touts alternating air chambers to fit the chair to your body, plus a 10-motor massage. These are line extensions of previous models, which feature phone jacks, data ports and refrigerated compartments that hold a six-pack. With all the built-in features, the most surprising news is that manufacturers are taking some of the stuffing out of their recliners to better fit urban living rooms and petite people. "There's still a demand for those 'big blues,' but overall, we're paring down," says Cynthia Rohde, a vice president at La-Z-Boy, Monroe, Mich.

Tall and Thin

Furniture got so big in the late '90s that some folks felt a bit like little kids, with their legs dangling from the seat of a massive chair. Customers complained, so manufacturers scaled down the arms and seats, so that average-size people could sit comfortably without throw pillows behind their backs.

But many people still have to furnish the cavernous suburban mansions of the '80s and '90s. Enter the towering, narrow chair, a staple in most showrooms this season. An example: Parker Southern's $3,500 mock crocodile wingback chair that stands four-and-a-half feet tall but only 38 inches wide. "It's no deeper than a normal chair, but it won't get lost in a room with vaulted ceilings," says Mr. Parker.

Hidden Treasures

In the '90s, it was cool to acquire a lot of stuff; now, it's fashionable to pretend you didn't. So furniture that hides things is hot. A big seller at the show was an $800 ottoman, introduced by Natuzzi, an Italian company, which conceals a storage compartment, a writing table -- and a twin bed.

In the upper end, the most talked-about piece was the long-overlooked secretary desk. The new secretaries are packed with drawers and cubbies, so they can hold both the good silverware and home-office supplies. One example licensed by Royal Doulton, Staffordshire, England, a new entrant into the furniture-design business, is hand-painted with a motif from one of the company's china patterns. It has 19 drawers, three shelves and nine cubbies. Price: $8,000. Another by Hurtado, of Valencia, Spain, is covered with walnut and boxwood marquetry in an intricate floral pattern, and has 38 drawers, 28 letter slots, and a leather-topped writing surface. It retails for a whopping $16,500, a hefty price for mass-market furniture. National sales manager Jim Dumbroski quips: "You still can make that in a good day in the stock market."

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