On the heels of America’s 250th birthday, now’s a good time to purchase one of several properties on the market dating back to 1776. Stay in the know with our weekly roundup of headlines, launches, recommended reading and more.

Business News
Alaska passed House Bill 314 last month, officially creating a protected title for registered interior design professionals. Lawmakers overrode a veto by governor Mike Dunleavy to ensure the bill’s passage. Now, interior designers in the state will have a pathway to registration through the Board of Architects, Engineers and Land Surveyors, allowing for their formal recognition as regulated design professionals in commercial practice. After a multiyear effort led by the American Society of Interior Designers, the International Interior Design Association and the Consortium for Interior Design, Alaska is the latest state to legally codify the interior design profession, following the passage of similar legislation in states like Idaho and Utah.

The number of U.S. homeowners under 35 is on the rise, The New York Times reports, even as the average first-time homeowner age (40) is the oldest on record. Hannah Jones, a senior economist at Realtor.com, told the NYT that the dichotomy can be attributed to factors including a growing concentration of “high-earning, financially prepared” buyers in the younger demographic; the impact of intergenerational wealth from the parents of younger buyers intervening to provide financial assistance; and younger homeowners capitalizing on more affordable real estate markets such as the Midwest and the Sun Belt.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection—the agency overseeing the tariff refunding process—has launched the first of two expansions to its reimbursement system, Supply Chain Dive reports. In a notice last week, the agency announced that the refund portal (known as Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, or CAPE) will now accept entries for shipments awaiting reconciliation of their final duty calculations. That category, previously ineligible, is expected to account for roughly $28.7 billion in refunds. In late July, the agency is also expected to allow processing for finally liquidated entries, which accounts for another $11.4 billion in refunds. With that last expansion, roughly 95 percent of all refund entries that faced President Trump’s now-defunct IEEPA tariffs, which were struck down by the Supreme Court in February, will be eligible for reimbursement.

Quebec–based dining furniture manufacturer Canadel is entering the bedroom sector, Home News Now reports. Following its acquisition of local bedroom manufacturer JLM last fall, Canadel moved JLM’s production into its facilities earlier this year, then created a new entity for its bedroom segment: NAD Home. The company also has an eye toward expanding into the U.S. market in the second quarter of 2027.

Moore & Giles has announced that president Tray Petty has been appointed to the role of chief executive officer. Moving forward, current CEO Sackett Wood will move into the position of executive chairman, through which he will continue to support the business in its next phase of growth. The transition marks the end of Wood’s five-year tenure at the helm of the luxury leather company, where he started as a salesman in 1990.

Launches and Collaborations
Ruggable has debuted a new collaboration with Jungalow, the lifestyle and creative studio founded by Justina Blakeney. With inspiration drawn from the Los Angeles designer’s own home (which she’s dubbed her “indoor jungle”), the resulting collection of eight rug designs is packed with natural hues—including terra cotta, sage green and lavender—and a variety of organic and geometric patterns.

Rafael de Cárdenas has announced the launch of Joyride—a rotating series of auctions, collaborations and made-to-order pieces curated by the New York–based designer and architect himself. As Surface reports, the platform launches with two debuts: a furniture collection created by Ian Geoghegan of Kump Studio, and an online auction called Catalogue N.°1, featuring furniture and decor from de Cárdenas’s personal collection.

Together with Pottery Barn Kids, designer Bria Hammel has unveiled a new collection of children’s furniture, bedding, lighting, rugs, decor and more. The assortment includes a variety of styles—from florals to plaids, plus playful details like construction-inspired motifs and storybook imagery.

Recommended Reading
Last year, Lowe’s rolled out its Creator Network, a streamlined platform that allows online personalities to make content for the brand in exchange for partnerships. Now, the company is welcoming influencers into the product creation process too. For Retail Dive, Chris Kelly sits down with Jen Wilson, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Lowe’s, to better understand the new Lowe’s Creator: Into the Blue program, which allows creators to pitch ideas for new products, for scaling and distribution for the brand’s existing products, and for collaborations tied to existing product lines. Applications will be accepted through September 1 here.

The past two and a half centuries of U.S. history have ushered in a number of design icons and movements—some of which have maintained relevance today, while others (popcorn ceilings and avocado-colored appliances, for example) have come and gone. For The New York Times, Dina Cheney has assembled a quiz allowing design enthusiasts to test their knowledge of the homes, people and innovations that have defined the American aesthetic.

In Memoriam
Dave Dawson, founder, president and CEO of The Urban Electric Company, passed away on June 30. Following his first career in corporate law, Dawson founded the luxury lighting manufacturer in 2003, establishing a headquarters in Charleston, South Carolina. Under his leadership, the company grew to become a major force in the design industry, today employing 350 team members across multiple campuses. In 2018, Dawson turned the focus of his leadership and community-building skills outward with the launch of the Makers Alliance: a peer-to-peer group for the high-end product design and craft manufacturing industry. Not long after, he joined The Business of Home Podcast to share his optimistic outlook on the future of Urban Electric, and the design industry at large. “The good news is that design is in full bloom,” he said. “I don’t think it’s ever been more important than it is now—every restaurant, hotel or office wants to have a unique design. In a lot of ways, all of the challenges the industry is going through, they’re good things. They’re born out of more people aspiring for better design. Every time you see bad design, that’s an opportunity for good design.”

His passing produced an outpouring of grief from the industry, prompting magazine editors, designers, colleagues and fellow business owners to post remembrances, often tagged with the motto Dawson coined: “Always proud, never satisfied.”

“My admiration for Dave is profound,” design journalist Anne Hardy, who worked with Dawson on Urban Electric’s publication, The Current, told BOH. “He was known for zigging when others were zagging, getting into print in 2018 when publishers were fleeing, creating The Current—which became a kind of juggernaut, championing the art of interior design and beyond. Dave was a visionary business leader of course, but equally, he was the artist and editor among us.” His loss was greatly felt within the company he founded, with Urban Electric chief financial officer Sean Sykes writing: “Dave was a visionary, a true builder who turned a single idea into an entire community of passionate supporters and admirers. His legacy will live on in the strength of the team he built, the culture he created and the spirit he bestowed on everyone he encountered. He will be missed tremendously.” Anyone who would like to share a note or memory with Dawson’s family is invited to send their thoughts to rememberingdave@urbanelectric.com.