Congratulations to Lillian August, who just opened a new 16,000 square foot store in Los Angeles, and with a new store in NYC's Flatiron District to open soon. Based in Norwalk, Connecticut, Lillian August's collections feature furniture, area rugs, accessories, fabrics and antiques. The in-house collections range from traditional, English styles to simple American farmhouse furnishings, and from contemporary European styles to Southeast Asian pieces. Lillian August stores also feature designer collections such as Barkley Butera, Mariette Himes Gomez and Thomas O'Brian, plus many, many more.
Lillian August's design career started with textile and wall covering collections, and in 1987, she opened her first store in Westport, Connecticut. With two sons, Dan and John Weiss, she built the Lillian August brand into what it is today. Another son, Michael, created the Michael Weiss line of home furnishings. Ms. August and her staff now now support her collections and stores, as well as design residential projects throughout the U.S.
The Lillian August stores provide retail, in-house design services, as well as "to the trade" services for architects and interior designers. I had the pleasure of hearing Lillian August speak at a gathering of designers recently, and her presentation was vibrant, informal and highly informative. Her passion for furniture, furnishings, her collections and chosen career was very evident.
Lillian August Notting Hill Collection
Lillian August Cottage Home Collection
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Over 80 awards for top contract furnishing products were recently announced during NeoCon® 2010 in Chicago. It was the 21st year for the "Best of NeoCon" awards, co-sponsored this year by Contract magazine, Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc., the International Interior Design Association (IIDA), the International Facility Management Association (IFMA), and McMorrowReport.com.
Products were judged by a group of management executives from corporate, government and institutional facilities along with selected international designers and architects. The 45 jurors were split up into eight different teams, with each team visiting the product showrooms and market suites to view and judge the products in person. More than 325 products from a total of 39 different product categories were evaluated and judged.
This year's highly coveted Best of Competition award was given to Wilkhahn, a German company, for their office seating technology which they call ON ®.
Five years in the making, the ON series 170 office chairs utilize swivel points that precisely follow movements of the seated individual's knee and hip joint positions at any point in time, yielding what Wilkhahn describes as a "perfect and synchronous movement concept using innovative, synchro-supporting 3D kinematics".
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The FSC is a non-profit dedicated to promoting responsible management of our world’s forests by offering certification for landowners and companies that purchase or sell timber or forest products to ensure that forestry is practiced in an environmentally responsible, socially beneficial, and economically viable way.
Independent, FSC-accredited certification organizations carry out assessments of forestry practices to determine whether FSC standards have been met. These certifiers also verify that companies claiming to sell FSC-certified products have tracked their supply back to FSC-certified sources.
Architects, builders and designers who purchase or specify building materials, furnishings, or paper or other products with an FSC label such as the one shown above can be confident that the products were harvested or manufactured using environmentally sustainable practices.
According to a recent study by The Freedonia Group entitled Green Building Materials, U.S. demand for green building materials will exceed $80B by 2013 and FSC-certified lumber and wood panels are expected to be the fastest growing green products, with demand more than tripling between 2008 and 2013.
The Forest Stewardship Council maintains a list of retailers who sell FSC-certified product on this page where you can search for retailers or download an up-to-date PDF list of all retailers. Notable retailers on the list include Pottery Barn, Pier 1 Imports, Crate & Barrel, L.L. Bean, Williams Sonoma and Restoration Hardware. Buy Green! And remember, look for the FSC Seal!
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Roughly 75 awards were recently announced for contract furnishing products during NeoCon® 2009 at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. It was the 20th year for the "Best of NeoCon" awards, co-sponsored this year by Contract magazine, Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc., the International Interior Design Association (IIDA), the International Facility Management Association (IFMA), and McMorrowReport.com.
Products were judged by a group of management executives from corporate, government and institutional facilities along with selected international designers and architects. The 42 jurors were split up into seven teams, with each team visiting the product showrooms and market suites to view and judge the products in person. Over 1200 companies competed in 44 product categories for the awards.
Powermat won Best of Show and a gold medal in the Technology Support category for its ultra-thin wireless technology by showcasing its streamlined wireless charging devices for kitchen applications and wire-free charging and real-time powering capability which Powermat had embedded into Teknion Corporation's FX workplace accessories collection.
"Powermat was an 'unknown' to the contract furniture industry," said Eileen McMorrow, Director, Best of NeoCon 2009. "As a technology provider, the judges realized how the product contributes to all contract office furniture and how it will impact office planning in the future. This is why it received the Best of Competition award from 42 best of NeoCon jurors."
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The Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association (BIFMA), a trade association for the North American office and institutional furniture industry, recently announced " level", a multi-attribute, sustainability standard and third-party certification program for the furniture industry.
The program offers a means for evaluating and communicating the environmental impacts of furniture products by accounting for companies' energy consumption, material selections, manufacturing, shipping and handling practices, social actions, and impact upon human health.
Retailers and consumers can use the level brand to make better informed choices knowing that a given commercial furniture product has been tested by an accredited third-party certification organization such as NSF International or SCS. A marking of 1, 2, or 3 indicates the level of certification that a particular product has achieved. And manufacturers can use the level brand to describe the environmental footprint of a given product in simple to understand terms in a consistent manner.
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