This week in design, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater gets a facelift, thanks to a three-year conservancy renovation. Stay in the know with our weekly roundup of headlines, launches, recommended reading and more.
Business News
American businesses paid $265 billion in presidential tariffs between March 2025 and February 2026, according to new Census Bureau data. As Casual News Now reports, an estimated $151 billion of those funds were collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act—which has since been struck down by the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, a new page on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s site states that refunds for the illegal levies will take 60 to 90 days to process, and confirms the system’s debut date as April 20, Supply Chain Dive reports.
Consumer prices rose 3.3 percent in March compared to a year earlier, marking a sharp uptick in inflation from February’s 2.4 percent annual increase. As The Wall Street Journal reports, the metric represented the highest in two years, and was driven by the rising cost of energy—up 12.5 percent from a year earlier, with gasoline prices up 18.9 percent and fuel oil 44.2 percent. Accordingly, consumer outlook fell to its lowest level on record last week, down almost 11 percent from the previous month, as the Iran war enters its ninth week.
Somnigroup—the parent company of bedding brands Mattress Firm, Sealy and Tempur-Pedic—has signed a definitive agreement to acquire its longtime supplier Leggett & Platt in an all-stock deal valued at roughly $2.5 billion. Following the purchase, the furniture components manufacturer will operate as a separate business unit within Somnigroup, with chairman and CEO Karl Glassman remaining in his role. The transaction is expected to close by the end of this year.
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. has signed a letter of intent to acquire F9 Brands—the owner of Cabinets To Go and LL Flooring—in a deal valued at $150 million. Following the purchase, F9 Brands president and CEO Jason Delves will serve as CEO of Bed Bath & Beyond’s new Beyond Home Services division, which will cover storage, closets, cabinets, flooring, installation, renovation and distribution. Coming on the heels of the struggling retailer’s recent acquisition of The Container Store, the deal will also pave the way for the parent company to create “full-service home project centers where customers can design, purchase, finance, and install complete home solutions,” according to the release.
Trade show producer Emerald has sold NY Now to Rockview Management Group—a newly formed entity led by industry veterans Dorothy Belshaw, William Lacey and Karen Olson. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. According to trade news site Gifts and Decorative Accessories, RMG will usher the New York–based wholesale marketplace into its next chapter, with changes that include expanding the number of established brands among exhibitors, reimagining the trade show floor, and revamping the marketing strategy to drive community and buyer engagement. The biannual show’s first iteration under the new ownership will be held August 2 through 4 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York.
Pardon Ventures, the investment and operating arm of family office and creative studio Pardon, has acquired podcast and print magazine The Grand Tourist. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founded in 2021 by former Departures home and design director Dan Rubinstein, the podcast has gained a dedicated following in the five years since its launch, producing a total of 150 episodes, featuring guests like Kelly Wearstler and Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, in addition to numerous figures across the art, fashion and luxury lifestyle industries. Last spring, the venture also grew into an annual print magazine, which will be published biannually starting this year. Following the purchase, Rubinstein will continue as the podcast’s host and the publication’s editor in chief and publisher, and will join Pardon in the role of entrepreneur-in-residence, offering editorial advising to the company’s broader portfolio. Moving forward, the media outlets will expand into new mediums and markets, including expanded inbox publishing, video programming and international distribution.
America’s upper middle class is now the largest income group in the U.S., with 31 percent of the country’s households earning $133,000 to $400,000 in 2024—a more than threefold percentage increase from 1979, The Wall Street Journal reports. According to a report released this year by the American Enterprise Institute, which divided families into five different groups by income, a growing number of households are falling into the two highest-earning cohorts: upper middle class and rich. Roughly 19 percent of American families earned $40,000 or less in 2024—falling below the study’s threshold for the “poor or near poor” category, as defined by contemporary federal poverty guidelines—compared with 30 percent in 1979. A recent analysis from Pew Research Center uncovered the same shift over a similar time period, with researchers attributing gains in wealth for the highest-tiered earners to rising home prices and stock market values.
The cost of foam is rising quickly due to disruptions in the global chemical supply chain, Furniture Today reports. The issue stems from a shortage of propylene oxide, an essential chemical in foam production, following a fire at a major Texas chemical plant, which has created a bottleneck and led to pent-up demand. Deepening the impact, the conflict in the Middle East continues to drive up the cost of fuel (and subsequently, transportation) as well as crude oil, delivering a further blow to foam production, as petroleum derivatives are used to produce the material. As a result, suppliers are implementing surcharges within the next month: 3Z Brands alerted customers that conventional polyurethane foam would increase 22 percent and specialty foam products would jump 8 percent; FXI announced an 18 percent increase and Future Foam a 12 percent increase.
Pennsylvania-based retailer Waltman Furniture Co. is going out of business after 75 years in operation, Home News Now reports. Founded in 1951 by Vernon Waltman, the company became a local destination for furnishings, bedding and flooring. As second-generation owner Frank Waltman prepares for retirement, the store has begun winding down with a liquidation sale led by Planned Furniture Promotions.
Launches and Collaborations
Olive Ateliers teamed up with Canadian-American actress, model and author Pamela Anderson for the debut of a new furniture and decor collection. Inspired by Anderson’s memories of her grandmother’s farm on the coast of British Columbia’s Salish Sea, the 40-plus-piece assortment includes loungers, ottomans, settees, dining sets, side tables and more. Each is crafted in organic materials like natural rattan and solid teak, as well as performance fabrics in blue stripe or classic ivory patterns, all meant to evoke a familiar, lived-in quality.
Michaels tapped Jonathan Adler for the launch of a new collection of home decor, crafting and entertaining items inspired by the designer’s “modern American glamour” aesthetic. The collaboration spans table settings, partyware and decorative home accents, in addition to exclusive Jonathan Adler craft kits, allowing customers to use the designer’s silhouettes as a starting point to craft their own items, including needlepoint pillows and ceramics.
Recommended Reading
The closure of decades-old regional furniture stores has become an unfortunate news fixture in recent years. For The New York Times, Kim Bhasin examines how a frozen housing market—in which high home prices and mortgage rates have kept buyers and sellers on the sidelines—is casting a chill over the demand for home furnishings, with bigger brands using their resources to reposition themselves in the new landscape as smaller brands find it even more difficult to keep up. .
Flashy, big-ticket items like cold plunges and saunas have grown in popularity among the home health crowd—but others are adopting a quieter approach called “invisible wellness.” For House Beautiful, Meghan Shouse explores how subtle design choices like circadian-optimized lighting, emotion-regulating paint colors and scentscaping can improve well-being.
Call for Entries
Custom window treatment brand TwoPages is now accepting entries for its second annual design contest. The competition invites designers and design enthusiasts to submit a concept that follows the theme of “curtain as art.” Winners will receive up to $10,000 in cash prizes, along with the opportunity to see their designs become real products on the brand’s site. For more information or to submit an entry before the June 5 deadline, click here.
