High Point Market
A Spring 2023 trip to the largest home furnishing market in the country
Every spring and fall, 75,000 unique and talented industry professionals descend upon High Point market to explore, learn and be inspired by all things new and noteworthy in the interior design world. From textile experts to custom furniture manufacturers and home design shop owners, Market provides an experience for professionals all across the industry. For interior designers in Knoxville, Tennessee and around the country, this spring market is worth the trip to High Point, North Carolina. This year, our founder, Alfie Rowan, traveled to meet up with her design friends from all over. There was no shortage of laughter and fun amidst their educational and inspirational time at market. It may seem like a week of girl time, shopping their way through thousands of exhibits, but there was plenty of work to do and new information to learn. This week on the blog, Alfie is sharing the highlights of High Point and how she made the most of her trip!
It’s Market Time!
Market is an important time for our Knoxville interior design team to gather information and knowledge, so we can deliver the best possible service to our clients. It’s when we get to meet with our favorite vendors, see the product we’re putting in our clients’ homes and find out what is on the horizon for home interiors. A crucial part of our job as interior designers is knowing the quality and comfortability of the pieces we order for clients. It’s ideal that we know how custom pieces will look and feel in a space, and market is the perfect time to test new furniture frames, see colors in person, and judge how fabrics feel. We test the differences in quality to determine durability and comfort level, and we take thousands of photos and pages of notes. Alfie knows that our process relies on selecting the right pieces for each client. We don’t take our clients to sit on every sofa until they find the perfect one. They’re hiring us because we already know the best of the best. At market, Alfie plays Goldilocks with every sofa and armchair she sees until she determines which ones are just right!
Let’s Learn
Alfie likes to begin her trip to market with an “aspirational” day. She looks at $25,000 sofas stuffed with baby kitten hair and kissed by the Pope, and she explores what’s on the cutting edge of the design landscape. She likes to get an idea of interior design trajectory and find out what will be the next “big thing.” Last year, she saw reds and oranges on the horizon, and this year those warm tones were everywhere. Even if she doesn’t plan on bringing every trend she sees home to Knoxville, it’s important to maintain her expert status! Staying educated and “in the know” is how we continually create beautiful spaces for our clients. Again, we maximize our time at market to learn the ins and outs so our clients can trust our extensive research and knowledge.
Another way Alfie educates herself at High Point Market is by taking master classes to expand her knowledge of various topics. This year, she participated in a two-day class on short-term vacation rentals. In East Tennessee, we are surrounded by beautiful locations that are perfect for second homes. When clients call on us to design their luxury cabin in Kahite or high-end condo in Downtown Knoxville, we’re typically designing a home created for families, but sometimes those clients want to be able to share that home with friends. This master class taught the best ways to design a vacation home that can double as a short-term rental if needed. There are many ways a client might want to utilize their second home, and Alfie learned how to maximize every option. Whether we are traveling with a Knoxville-based client to furnish their new beach house in Florida or welcoming a client who’s flocking to the Smoky Mountains and looking for a Tennessee interior designer, we are well-prepared to design homes that will suit whoever is lucky to stay there!
Fun For All
Alfie also met up with three of her long-distance design friends, and they were able to bounce ideas off one another all weekend long. Each one of these talented designers have different perspectives and strength-sets, which they use to help one another grow and learn. Alfie loves getting to catch up with these wonderful friends. This might be a work trip, but you will certainly catch them laughing their way through market. They just love their jobs that much!
Since Alfie is all about fun, she was thrilled to see that this year’s market was a livelier place thanks to one thing: color! After years of grays, whites and neutrals taking over the interior design world, it seems everyone is ready for some playful pops of color. Alfie reported that this was a happier market than years’ past, thanks to orange sofas, pink sideboards and pinata artwork. Check out our portfolio, and you’ll see that we’ve been incorporating fun color combinations and pops of bright hues for years. It was fun for Alfie to get some inspiration and set her eye on pieces she can use in future bold, colorful designs.
From inspiration and education to selecting fabrics and artwork for current projects straight from the source, Alfie certainly made the most of her time at High Point market. She prioritizes being a designer well-versed in the nitty gritty details of furniture customization, custom window treatment design and decor selection. The options are truly endless, and our clients would be overwhelmed if we presented them with every possible selection under the sun. Alfie utilizes her market trip to sift through those options and decide which pieces have the quality and beauty that she can be proud to incorporate into a design. Our clients can hire our Knoxville interior design team knowing that we’ve spent endless hours discovering the best of the best.
We’re ready to put what we’ve learned to good use! If you have a project in mind that could use the Rowan Hall touch, contact us today to get started. Explore our services and read about our process for more information about how we work, and check out our portfolio to get inspired. When you’re ready to invest in an initial consultation, book here, or schedule a free discovery call to find out more. We can’t wait to make your home dreams come true!
