This week in design, couples looking for an alternative sleeping arrangement in a tight space need not look any further—queen-size bunk beds may be the best solution. Stay in the know with our weekly roundup of headlines, launches, events, recommended reading and more.
Business News
While high interest rates have sidelined many prospective homebuyers in recent months, the market’s wealthiest demographic is busy making deals. As Bloomberg reports, homes worth more than $1 million were the only price category to see sales rise in June, according to new data from the National Association of Realtors. That’s largely thanks to luxury buyers’ ability to avoid the high mortgage rate problem altogether, as 45 percent of U.S. high-end homebuyers used all cash as of the end of the first quarter—the largest share in at least a decade. As a result, business is booming for the country’s biggest publicly traded luxury homebuilder, with Toll Brothers Inc. ramping up its full-year deliveries guidance after reporting stronger-than-expected orders in its second-quarter earnings. Meanwhile, home prices continue to climb, with the median existing-home sale cost climbing to an all-time high of $426,900 in June, representing the 12th straight month of year-over-year gains.
Nearly a week after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the Conn’s retail chain is holding closing sales at its 550-store portfolio, Home News Now reports. The process is being managed by retail liquidation services provider B. Riley Retail Solutions, which will be starting with discounts of 30 to 50 percent off all in-store and online merchandise at Conn’s HomePlus and Badcock Home Furniture & More locations, eventually liquidating all inventory and putting store furnishings, fixtures and equipment up for sale as well. As last week’s filing revealed, the process will result in the shuttering of all Conn’s stores as the company prepares to go out of business completely, owing liabilities ranging from $1 to $10 billion to tens of thousands of creditors.
Nevada-based lighting manufacturer and distributor Varaluz filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy late last month, reporting assets totalling $2.8 million and liabilities of just under $3 million, Inside Lighting reports. As the company attempts to restructure its debt, Varaluz president Ron Henderson says the business will continue operations and aim to pay back its debt, which includes $545,028 owed to manufacturers and $300,000 owed to 31 sales agents.
Apparel industry veterans Mark Brashear, Jim Shreve and Sally Burnside have purchased tabletop distribution company DeVine Corp. from founder Tim Devine and rebranded the company as Maison3Amis, Women’s Wear Daily reports. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. The 32-year-old company specializes in importing and distributing luxury and premium brands in the home and tabletop category, such as English tableware company Royal Crown Derby, Hungarian porcelain brand Anna Weatherley, and French tableware brand Couzon. Following the purchase, Brashear will serve as chief operating officer, Burnside as chief commercial officer and Shreve as chief merchandising officer. Under new leadership, the company plans to introduce new brands to the Maison3Amis portfolio and develop its marketing and social media presence.
By the end of 2024, new sustainability rules are set to take effect across all EU Member States, requiring companies that sell cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soya and wood—and their derived products into the EU—to prove that their supply chains do not contribute to deforestation, Forbes reports. The EU Deforestation Regulation, as it’s called, would ban companies who cannot show that their products fall within the new terms from being sold in the EU. The new rules are drawing swift pushback from the Biden-Harris administration, which is seeking a delay in the EUDR and arguing that it could hurt American producers by giving them little time to adjust their supply chains. In the home world, the effects could be felt by furniture, textile and other product manufacturers whose supply chains fall outside of the designated forests.
Launches and Collaborations
Design Within Reach has partnered with Moroccan rug brand Beni on four new styles that mark the brand’s retail debut. The collaboration features a modern color palette and geometric patterns, with each of the new pieces—Brick, Borderline, Backgammon and Fences—crafted from 100 percent live wool.
Herman Miller has debuted a new version of the iconic Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman with a sustainable twist, Fast Company reports. The brand utilized a biodegradable bamboo material called Banbū from material innovation company von Holzhausen to outfit the piece in plant-based upholstery which reduces the chair’s carbon footprint by up to 35 percent.
Recommended Reading
Long gone are the days of rampant pandemic-era online shopping—a growing number of consumers are embracing a way of living that prizes pared-down closets, homes and makeup collections in defiance of influencer culture and the pressure to live an aspirational lifestyle. For The New York Times, Remy Tumin dives into a new trend called “unconsumption core” that’s taking off on TikTok, and explains why the movement is the latest iteration of cyclical shopping trends that occur during economic slowdown.
At last year’s RH England debut, the brand’s new country estate in the Cotswolds was filled with celebrity guests and promise for the company’s future in the U.K. A year later, Charlotte Ivers travels to the site’s restaurant for a status update—and as she reports in The Sunday Times, the “white, cold, empty” scene on the ground is a far cry from last year’s star-studded introduction.
In 1902, Venetian fabric and furnishings maker Rubelli worked with Queen Margherita of Savoy on a silk velvet pattern, crafted in the art nouveau style with ivory daisies on a royal blue background. Today, the brand is still looking outside itself for creative inspiration—though in this century, it’s tapping cool creatives like U.K.–based artist and designer Luke Edward Hall, known for his whimsical hand-drawn sketches. For Women’s Wear Daily, Sofia Celeste explores the rising trend among heritage home brands like Rubelli, Svenskt Tenn and The Conran Shop, all of which have turned to of-the-moment artists and fashion designers to bring their storied brands into the zeitgeist.
Cue the Applause
The U.S. Green Building Council has announced the winners of the annual LEED Home Awards. The program honors excellence in LEED-certified residential projects around the world, with multiple winners in categories such as outstanding single family, outstanding multifamily, outstanding affordable housing, outstanding developer of the year and more. For the full list of winners, click here.
