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Dallas Holiday & Home Expo

Dallas Market Center
January 16–22, 2008

The Dallas Holiday & Home Expo is the nation’s largest Christmas show and the only trade show devoted exclusively to permanent floral, seasonal décor and related decorative accessories. The show features thousands of new products, plus trend and design seminars, across more than 500,000 square feet of exhibit space.

Seattle-based designer Alec Puskas of Visionart (206-328-4537) attends the expo every January to uncover trends for the year ahead. “In terms of colors, silver and white were big—and black has taken on a life of its own,” says Puskas, who mentions artificial black trees with black ornaments as an elegant and beautiful holiday décor option. The designer reports that copper and chocolate with dark red accents are also popular. To incorporate these themes into your holiday decorating, Puskas suggests a visit to local retailer Display & Costume (206-362-4810). “Their buyers go to the Dallas show too,” he says. Puskas loves the current vignette of white and silver ornaments at Display & Costume, as well as another display area filled with gorgeous browns. His eye also fell on wonderful white lacquer reindeer that are “sort of art deco and very different and fun.”

Design Trends Seattle

Washington State Convention & Trade Center
October 1–2, 2008

October 2008 marked the sixth annual Design Trends Seattle. Held in conjunction with Buildex Seattle and Construct Seattle, this year’s annual exposition and conference featured more than 125 products, services and new technologies for the design and build communities. The two-day event also included 40 speakers and more than 30 seminars. Show manager Dave Tyldesley says the show’s trade-oriented focus and educational component make it unique in the Pacific Northwest. “The show started as quite a small event, but now we are really building it. I think it has a going reputation in the design community,” Tyldesley observes. With more than 2,100 registered industry professionals, attendance was up 10 percent over last year and 60 percent from 2006, he reports. We spoke with a few of this year’s exhibitors to see what was new:

Mark Olson, principal of Unique Art Glass (425-467-5599), an all-custom designer and fabricator of art glass for businesses and homes, says connecting with interior designers was his primary focus at the show. Olson exhibited some of his most popular work, such as art-glass shower doors and glass counter tops. “I was showing more of a contemporary feel. We’ve really phased out the arts and crafts. It’s contemporary glass that’s more popular now,” he says. “What was also interesting about Design Trends is that people were so positive—even in this depressed market,” Olson recalls. “People just put the current problems out of their mind. They were there to see what was new and happening and exciting for the future. I came out of the show feeling very upbeat. It was a breath of fresh air,” he says.

Hillary Rielly, a design consultant at Inform Interiors (206-622-1608), appreciates the opportunity for the Northwest design community to have its own show and was enthusiastic about keynote speaker Brent Comber, a Vancouver-based furniture maker whose designs are available at Inform Interiors. “People here are pretty familiar with Comber’s work, so it’s great for people to be able to put a face with a name,” Rielly explains. Comber spoke about his love of indigenous materials, shared elements of his design philosophy and inspiration, and previewed new collections.

Jason Benford, sales representative for Kirei USA (619-236-9924), a manufacturer of sustainable tile, wall coverings and other building materials, says it was the first time Kirei USA exhibited in the Northwest. “We recently picked up a larger distributor [Lumber Products] in the area, so we thought Design Trends would be a good way for us to build continued awareness in the region,” Benford explains. In addition to showcasing the company’s most popular products, such as sorghum-based Kirei board and Kirei bamboo panel material, the company also introduced Kirei Coco tiles, made of reclaimed coconut shells and designed primarily for walls or backsplashes. Benford says Kirei USA typically exhibits at shows with a bigger green focus but that good contacts were made at Design Trends. “It was great to exhibit to a broader audience because, first and foremost, our product is beautiful. It just also happens to be green,” he says.