This week in design, giant handmade squids, full-size cat towers and tree-shaped folded napkins are just a few of the over-the-top decorations you’re likely to see in the high-stakes world of competitive tablescaping. Stay in the know with our weekly roundup of headlines, launches, events, recommended reading and more.
Business News
President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on the promise of implementing sweeping tariffs upon his return to office. This week, he announced that those plans will include a 25 percent tax on imports from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10 percent tax on goods from China. As AP reports, Trump made the pronouncement in a post on his social media site Truth Social, in which he also shared that he plans to implement the tariffs as one of his first executive orders. While Trump’s transition team did not respond to AP’s request for additional information, tariffs could raise prices on a number of consumer goods, including home furnishings.
Bassett Furniture laid off 40 workers last week as part of its latest cost-cutting measures in a broader restructuring plan the company rolled out in July, Furniture Today reports. Bassett initially set out last summer to achieve between $5.5 million and $6.5 million in annual savings through initiatives like consolidating two manufacturing facilities and shutting down the Canada-based e-commerce business Noa Home. According to a statement from Bassett CEO and chairman Rob Spilman, the company hopes that the additional job cuts this month will bring its savings to between $8 million and $9 million annually. This latest round of cutbacks brings Bassett’s workforce to around 1,250, down from 1,400 at the start of this year, representing an 11 percent reduction overall.
Direct-to-consumer dorm decor retailer Dormify has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Home Textiles Today reports. In the filing, the company listed assets of $1 million to $10 million and liabilities of $10 million to $50 million, along with a list of top unsecured creditors that includes companies like FedEx, Google and Meta, plus home furnishings suppliers like New Sega Home Textiles North America and Jiangsu Royal Home USA. For now, Dormify’s site is still up and running.
Canadian furniture and home decor brand EQ3 has announced plans to close its retail locations in New York and Norwalk, Connecticut, by the end of December. According to a statement from the company, the closures reflect a shift in the brand’s U.S. strategy, moving away from brick-and-mortar and instead relying more heavily on e-commerce, trade partnerships and wholesale. Anna Payne, EQ3’s vice president of retail, cited the difficulty of maintaining foot traffic post-pandemic at the brand’s U.S. locations. Moving forward, the company plans to continue operating its 13-store retail fleet in Canada.
Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro has signed into law a bill that allows interior designers who meet certain education, experience and examination requirements to earn the title of certified interior designer. The legislation (Senate Bill 1319) includes an amendment to the existing Architects Licensure Law that will see certified interior designers governed and regulated by the Pennsylvania Board of Architecture, which will now include an interior designer on the board; it also lifts regulations that prohibit interior designers from receiving compensation for space planning. The legislation was supported by The Consortium for Interior Design—an advocacy group composed of representatives from the American Society of Interior Designers, the Council of Interior Design Qualification and the International Interior Design Association—which helped pass the bill with momentum from similar legislative wins in states like Nebraska and Oklahoma earlier this year.
Oldcastle APG, a manufacturer of outdoor living solutions, has acquired online landscape design platform Yardzen. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. For Oldcastle’s parent company CRH, the purchase marks the latest move in a strategy geared toward building a broader portfolio of outdoor living products and solutions. Following the acquisition, Yardzen CEO Allison Messner—who founded the company in 2018 alongside her husband, Adam Messner—will continue on in her role.
Uovo—a New York–based brand specializing in luxury storage and logistics for fine art, fashion and wine—has acquired wine-storage provider Vino Vault. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. The deal will allow Uovo Wine to expand the geographical footprint of its existing portfolio as it takes over Vino Vault’s facilities in Los Angeles, New York, Dallas and Denver and rebrands them under the Uovo Wine name.
Launches and Collaborations
Joanna Gaines is making her debut on MasterClass with a lesson showcasing her unique approach to the design process. In her episode, the Magnolia founder will share a variety of tips to help guide viewers through their own home projects—including how to take inventory of a space, finding one “hero piece” to anchor a room and refreshing your home on a budget.
The Noguchi Museum Shop partnered with Italian artist and craftsperson Valeria Belli for a collection of bed carpets, table runners and key ornaments. The product introduction draws inspiration from the ancient textile practice of transumanza—a twice-annual shepherd migration central to textile making in Abruzzo, Italy—for an assortment that nods to the region’s heritage craft traditions.
Pottery Barn teamed up with Sherwin-Williams for a color palette designed to complement the brand’s latest furnishings collections. The curated collection includes four subtle shades well suited to the winter months: Gauntlet Gray, Alabaster, Grassland and Pure White.
Chasing Paper, together with Far Studio Wallpaper, has unveiled six new prints, each available in multiple colorways. The collection is infused with qualities borrowed from Far Studio founder Brittany Hakimfar’s Persian heritage—including the Bazi Stripe pattern, named after the Farsi word for playful, and the Toile de Joon, which depicts hand-drawn motifs from the region’s folklore.
Showroom Representation
New York–based design co-op Colony has welcomed lighting studio Kawabi to its lineup of independent designers. Founded by Irisa Na and Aaron Kawabi, the New York–based brand will showcase four inaugural lighting pieces—the Souvenir Collection (featuring a table lamp and a floor lamp), the Legume Lamp and the Cascade Pendant—at Colony’s Tribeca gallery.
West Hollywood, California–based gallery Mogul is now representing design studio Barberini & Gunnell exclusively in the U.S. A selection of artworks, collectible designs, one-off pieces and limited editions created by the studio’s namesake duo—architects Francesco Barberini and Nina A. Gunnell—are now available at the gallery.
Recommended Reading
While the white-walled gallery has long dominated the art world’s display preferences, many industry players have recently swung in the opposite direction, choosing instead to sell pieces from the curated comfort of their own homes. For The New York Times, Kin Woo explores why curators and dealers are opting to turn their houses and apartments into live-in galleries with the hopes of helping potential buyers better picture the displayed pieces in their own spaces.
The dawn of WiFi-enabled devices has ushered in innovations such as the smart microwave, the smart dishwasher and the smart washer-dryer—and yet, the question remains: Are these features actually needed? For The Wall Street Journal, Kris Frieswick ponders why manufacturers continue to roll out connectible appliances with dubious results and little value to homeowners, and how their motivation may lie more in gleaning users’ data rather than improving the home experience.
Cue the Applause
The Interior Design Society, in collaboration with luxury appliance brand Thermador, has announced the five 2024 student scholarship recipients of the duo’s fourth annual Diversity in Design Pipeline initiative, which offers select design students across the country with scholarships and mentoring opportunities. This year’s recipients include Han Bui of the University of Nevada; Aidryann Lyman of Maryville University; Neriah Johnson of Eastern Michigan University; Phung Gia Kieu of Georgia Southern University; and Hannah Keim of Central Michigan University.
