World Market Center Previews Next Season's Home Furnishings Looks

HGTV Design Star Tym DeSanto Hosts 'Style File' Internet Video on Demand

LAS VEGAS, Feb. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- The recent Winter 2008 Las Vegas Market
showcased the very latest home furnishings styles and future trends. And
World Market Center Las Vegas today launched the Winter 2008 edition of Style
File on http://www.lasvegasmarket.com.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070808/WMCLOGO)
Style File, a video guide hosted by Tym DeSanto, the renaissance guy on
TV's popular reality series HGTV Design Star, is a preview of next season's
hottest styles and trends, as they were revealed at Las Vegas Market, held
January 28 - February 1, 2008.
For Style File, World Market Center teamed with Furniture Style magazine
to highlight trends for the year ahead.
"This Las Vegas Market offered an unprecedented variety," said Julie
Smith, publisher and editorial director of Furniture Style. "During the times
when the diversity of looks is great and no single style dominates, the trend-
tracker lens focuses on performance and, thanks to green initiatives, origin,
as much as it does color, pattern and finish."
Seven home furnishing trends dominated the recent Las Vegas Market:
Eco Home
Heightened environmental awareness and social responsibility is leading
homeowners to choose more eco-friendly furnishings. Several manufactures and
industry organizations champion green manufacturing and materials, and many of
them showcased products in the Market's popular Living Green Pavilion.
Product cues: Natural finishes that emphasize grain patterns as well as
wood's naturally occurring variations such as knots or burn marks; soy-based
cushions and recycled fabrics deliver a premium comfort story at the point of
sale; textures made of indigenous materials including coconut shells, vines,
rattan, leaves, water hyacinth bark and more add visual interest and intrigue.
Distressed Out Distressed In
Easily recognized design influences reassure consumers at the point of
sale ... it's why traditional motifs, from Greek key accents to fluted posts,
never completely disappear from product fare. But today's consumers' call for
causal comfort and laid-back luxury results in traditional silhouettes being
paired with distressed finishes. Such well-worn topcoats appeal most
especially to Gen-X-ers who want classic references in the furniture they buy,
yet served up in a way that's decidedly new.
Size Matters
The marketplace was filled with product solutions that satisfied all
homeowners' design needs, though it's the condo- or apartment-dwelling city
folk that are most often in furniture designers' sight lines. Purchase Cues:
Dining -- Smaller tables with decorative pedestal bases; smaller-scale dining
correlates with everyday storage and use in mind. Home Entertainment --
Consoles of varying heights, either with or without lift-screen storage.
Bedroom -- Platform beds with integrated storage areas; upholstered
headboards; end-of-bed benches with open storage compartments. Home Office --
Laptop desks and writing tables. Upholstery -- Silhouettes with clean lines,
raised legs and texture-rich, neutral fabrics -- pillows and area rugs provide
needed color for the room.
Blue Mood
Today, several palettes reign, simultaneously and complementarily. Still,
the impact of environmental awareness on consumers' color choices can't be
denied. Blues are earning top placements alongside nature-inspired greens. "An
important part of the environmental movement is associated with the
preservation of water," said author and color and trend consultant Leatrice
Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute. "Blue emits a
clean and clear message around the world."
Stow Your Devices
While TVs and the laptops are the primary design drivers in shaping the
look and performance of home entertainment and home office furniture, it is
portable entertainment and information devices that are getting new attention
from "plugged-in" designers. Purchase Cues: Integrated power supply, built-in
ventilation systems and easy-to-access wire management.
Homage to Antiquity
Decorative accessory styles are more diverse than ever, developing in
tandem with residential furniture trends. While glamour-era and Mid-Century
Modern influences remain, one significant set of style makers are influenced
by much earlier periods in history. Their wares appear as though they could
have been excavated from an archeological site.
Luxury Messages
Just as a brand insignia sends purchase cues to consumers, certain product
categories deliver an unmistakable luxury message. One pass of the hand across
a cashmere throw or silk comforter, and the consumer literally feels the value
of their purchase. Purchase cues: Ensembles in neutral palettes that mix
multiple textures; silk comforters and duvets; animal prints in unexpected
colorways; pillows in graphic, contemporary and over-scale prints; pillows
embellished; sequins or fur; textiles woven of natural fibers and fiber
blends; mattress ticking with health benefits, such as antimicrobial
properties, hypoallergenic and temperature regulation.
Summer 2008 Las Vegas Market is scheduled for July 28 through Aug. 1, 2008
at the World Market Center & Pavilions. Attendees can start booking discounted
rooms now at http://www.LasVegasMarket.com.
About World Market Center
World Market Center is an integrated home and hospitality contract
furnishings showroom and trade complex in Las Vegas. When fully built, at 12
million square feet in 8 buildings, World Market Center will be the largest
trade show complex in the world. The $3 billion, state-of-the-art campus will
showcase furniture, decorative accessories, lighting, area rugs, home textile
and related segments, as well as the Las Vegas Design Center (LVDC) open
year-round to the trade. World Market Center produces the semi-annual Las
Vegas Market, held every January and July, and is the fastest growing home
furnishings trade show in the world. World Market Center is now leasing the
third building to a broad cross-section of the home furnishings industry.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Dana Andrew
Vice President, Marketing & Public Relations
Dana.andrew@lasvegasmarket.com
(702)599-3060

Andrew Maiden
Public Relations Manager
andrew.maiden@lasvegasmarket.com
(702) 599-3062

SOURCE World Market Center

Dana Andrew, Vice President, Marketing & Public Relations, +1-702-599-3060,
Dana.andrew@lasvegasmarket.com, or Andrew Maiden, Public Relations Manager,
+1-702-599-3062, andrew.maiden@lasvegasmarket.com, both of World Market
Center