Your luxury guide

Demand for luxury products

Nine of the major furniture manufacturers of today.

1. Ashley Furniture

2. Bassett Furniture

3. Broyhill Furniture

4. Ethan Allen Furniture

5. Ikea Furniture

6. Lane Furniture

7. Stanley Furniture

8. Thomasville Furniture

9. Wickes Furniture

20th Century Prestige Furniture Designs

20th Century styles – are often produced out of formed wood, metal and plastics. We see these styles all around us. Four major styles were and are:

Art Nouveau – attempted to reject the machine age with carved wood and lines imitating nature with convoluted curves and shapes. An example of this is Tiffany lamps.

Art Deco – glorified ornamentation. Heavily influenced by the cubist movement of the day. It had geometric forms and shapes.

Bauhaus – embraced the machine age. It rejected all ornamentation and elevated function as it’s ideal. A very minimalist style.

Post Modernism – is more of an architectural style really but makes it’s presence felt in prestige furniture design as well. Basically this is what is being produced today and it takes many different forms being explored by many different designers.

Bright, intense colors and bold patterns increase visual “weight”. Muted, neutral tones and solid colors reduce visual “weight”.

When it comes to arranging prestige furniture follow these guidelines:

The shape of the sides of the piece of furniture should match the shape of the wall.

Don’t put round tables in the corner of rooms.

Avoid placing rectangular furniture at an angle to straight walls.

If the space on the wall is horizontal, a horizontally shaped piece of prestige furniture will look best there.

If the space on the wall is square, a square shaped piece of furniture will look best there.

Vary the heights of the major pieces in the room.

Spread your colors throughout the room.

When it comes to choosing prestige furniture there are a few points to consider.

Is the piece suitable in function and cost?

Is it suitable in mood and style?

Does it have the right look?

Is it suitable in quality?

Is it similar quality to the other furniture pieces?

Does the piece have suitable proportions?

Are the different parts in pleasing harmony with each other?

Is the piece the right scale?

Is it harmonious with the size of the objects and space around it?

Are the fabrics appropriate?

The balance lines are easy to determine. Draw 2 faint lines accross your floorplan dividing the room in half length wise and breadth wise. This will divide your room into 4 quadrants. This is important because you need to have an equal “weight” of furniture in each quadrant in order for the room to be balanced.

Traffic patterns are also easy. Leave 36 inches clear in front of each door opening to allow space for the swing of the door. Also keep 12 inches clear in front of the windows for access. Traffic patterns tell you where not to put prestige furniture, mark these on your floor plan.

Now, what about the focus of the room? Is it a fireplace? Bay window? Blank wall where the home theater screen or an artwork will go? Plan your furniture layout to take advantage of this focus.

Establish an axis for the room. You now want to draw an imaginery line up the middle of the wall from floor to ceiling through your focus. Continue this line across the ceiling and down the opposite wall to the floor. The idea is this, you want the focus balanced from floor to ceiling. If your focus is a fireplace this would mean putting a picture or something above it to fill the space. You also need to balance both sides of the room. So you would have to put something on the other wall of equal visual “weight” along the axis line. Everything is about balance.

You are now ready to start planning where your prestige furniture will go in the room. You need to place the furniture in the room so it takes advantage of the focus and so it serves the function of the room. Arrange your prestige furniture so that all 4 quadrants have equal visual “weight”. This does not mean you need to have a mirror image of furniture in the quadrants, but it simply means you don’t want every piece of furniture in one quadrant or one half. Visually on your floor plan the room should look balanced. Draw representitives of your furniture on your floorplan to scale. Try various ideas. Decide which one you find most appealing.

Prestige furniture layout – There are 4 questions you need to ask yourself when deciding where to put your prestige furniture.

What are the balance lines of the room?

Where are the traffic patterns in the room?

What is the focus in the room?

How can I establish the axis of the room?

Using prestige furniture in luxury interior design to turn your humble house into a luxurious home.

The luxury lifestyle does not require a mansion. You don’t have to wait until you can afford a huge house on the beach to live in a beautiful home. Remember the luxury lifestyle is about quality things and people. Small cosy houses can be made luxurious for a small amount of money through clever interior design. Remember the self made wealthy don’t spend money when they don’t have to. Living a luxury lifestyle is not about throwing money away to look cool, it is simply about raising your standard of living. If you can do that inexpensively, so much the better.

Record your first impression and don’t think about it, just write what you feel.

Describe the artwork in detail, write a full description and be as thorough as you can.

Figure out the condition, are the wear and tear marks because it is old or because it has been made to look old.

Also have a look through a magnifying glass to see if any changes have been made to the work. Artists more often than not change and paint over things during the creative process. If there are no changes at all, it is probably a copy.

Ask yourself if the wear and tear marks you see correspond with what the artwork was used for. Was the artwork decoration or was it a religious icon that has been kissed in the same spot for centuries etc.

Determine the style. Is the artwork consistent with the style of the period of history this piece is from and also is it consistent with the artists style at that point in their career.

Examine all documents about the ownership of the piece from creation to now.

Get a second opinion from an expert.

Get scientific tests done by experts (although forgers are pretty good at fooling these).

Compare your first impressions with what you have learned. Does this piece have enduring appeal for you? Do you ache to possess it? In your opinion is this inspirational art? If you do and everything checks out, then buy it and don’t forget to insure it.

Collecting inspirational art for investment is a mine field best left to the experts. Collecting Old Masters, ancient Roman art and Renaissance art especially can be extremely expensive and challenging even for seasoned collectors. Most of the good originals have been snapped up by galleries and museums anyway. Collecting inspirational art for pleasure is more rewarding. If you like an art work and it fits the style and decor of your house then that’s all that matters really.

Many collectors are happy to buy prints, copies of paintings because they are cheaper and they look the same.  Originals are not just pretty pictures or sculptures, they are also pieces of history.

If you are going to get into original inspirational art collection, then you need a checklist to work from. Even the professionals who buys for museums and galleries use a checklist.