Furniture Files

iFurn Stores is proud to announce that we have been listed as one of the top 20 online-only home furnishings retailers by Furniture/Today! Furniture/Today is a weekly print and online publication for the furniture industry, and has been providing authoritative coverage for over 30 years. Their exclusive report lists 20 of the strongest retailers in the online home furnishings market. Furniture/Today compiled their report by surveying online furniture retailers, speaking with industry insiders and researching newspaper archives.

Founded in 1998, iFurn Stores began as a single computer furniture sales site and has quickly grown into a multi-million dollar leader in online furniture sales. In addition to our main online store, iFurn.com, we currently have over 25 specialty stores including KidFurn.com, Office-Furniture-Superstore.com and Diningroom-Furniture-Superstore.com.

At iFurn Stores, we credit our continued success to our wide product line, competitive prices and most of all our commitment to customer service. We would like to thank all of our customers for their part in making iFurn Stores what it is today!

Visit Furniture/Today’s website to see the Top 20 List!

You can always find great prices on Bush Furniture at iFurn.com but now through June 30th save an additional 10% off of select products from Bush Furniture when using coupon code JNBUSH at checkout!  We have a variety of items with this incredible mark down, including brand new Bush computer desks, Bush lateral files, and Bush TV stands!  Pick the perfect accessories for your media room or home office with Bush Furniture! But hurry, sale ends soon!

Yves Saint-Laurent at Work. AP Photo.

The Yves Saint-Laurent auction held at the end of February in Paris certainly made news due to the unimaginable (well, for us regular folks) price tags. Yeah, we’ve heard about the Matisse that went for $46 million. Cai Mingchao’s refusal to pay the $40 million price tag for the two Chinese bronzes. (Have you seen them? I wouldn’t pay either.)

Never mind the money porn–I want the take-away message to be Art Deco.

Saint-Laurent and his partner Pierre Berge, in their 50 years of romantic and then business partnership, amassed a heck of a collection of Art Deco furniture. The Vice President of Christie’s America, Jonathan Rendell, said the Algerian-born designer and his civil-ceremony-spouse had accumulated “…the very best collection of Art Deco that I’ve seen come to sale.” Considering Mr. Rendell’s job description, that’s saying something.

A perusal of the furniture in the Christie’s catalog reveals pieces that don’t seem as if they were meant to be in a museum—but meant to be used, by human beings. Vivid, precise, graceful; yet with individual grace notes that lend a note of playfulness if not eccentricity.  Not dissimilar from the prêt-a-porter and haute couture lines designed by Saint-Laurent himself.

Chairs shaped like birds, ivory beds, occasional tables with silvered bronze sabots, consoles gleaming with lacquer, curule stools inspired by African sculpture—even among such fantasies there is a geometry that is both fluid and powerful.

It’s beautiful–but useful.  It’s meant to be a part of someone’s life. I hope that the designers of tomorrow were present at the auction, and that they went away with a lot to think about.

Dining Bench in Espresso and Ivory. Available at iFurn.com

Art Deco furniture has never really left us–we still see its influences here and there.

But isn’t it time for more than just ‘here and there?’

Here’s hoping that European Art Deco-inspired furniture is about to make a comeback.

You can view the Christie’s catalog with the furniture lots from the Yves Saint-Laurent auction here.

Learn more about the furniture pictured here and shop for other home furniture pieces at iFurn.com.

Inlaid Butterfly Accent Table, available at iFurn.com

The Las Vegas Furniture Market begins in 4 days, on February 9th, and goes through the 13th. Each year, exhibitors use this market to launch new products in every market category, from office furniture to entertainment furniture, lighting to storage, bedroom furniture to dining furniture.

This year’s market promises to be impressive, with over 5 million square feet of showrooms and exhibits, and over 1,500 exhibitors.

Promenade Collection Sectional Sofa by Coaster

So CNN is reporting from the 42nd annual International Consumer Electronics Show that marketing high-tech gadgets may be a struggle.  That’s an understandable worry–yet in my not-so-humble opinion, I have a suspicion that Scott Steinberg, publisher of DigitalTrends.com, hit the nail on the head when he anticipates an upswing in in-home entertainment.  “History proves that even during times of recession, people are willing to invest heavily in great escapes, and products that take their mind off the concerns and vagaries of everyday life,” he opines, according to the CNN story.

We’re seeing so much available cool stuff every day–flat screen TVs, touch-screen cell phones, the wow-worthy HD tech–that it seems we’re living in our own science fiction world.  And in terms of value, these are items that look like a better investment than, say, a trip to Six Flags or a diamond necklace.

The mantra for the coming decade may be “the family that plays at home together saves together.”

Contemporary Eastchester Television Console and Flat Panel Hutch from Encore Home Entertainment

So how to make sure your surroundings are as cool as your toys?

Make one more investment: in your entertainment furniture.  I’m thinking theater seating, entertainment centers.  Building your own escape room where you can watch Batman or invite your friends over to play Rock Band.  For instance, living room sectionals, long viewed as a luxury, are actually pretty practical in this setting.  They last for years, accommodate friends and houseguests, and are perfect for families who want to stay physically close while pursuing different activities.

With the right choices, you won’t ever want to leave the house again until times get better.

Everyone who’s anyone in the world of design will have their eyes on Europe this January. From the 14th through the 17th, Heimtextil, the world’s largest international trade fair for home and contract textiles, will be taking place in Frankfurt am Main, in Germany.

What’s covered in home and contract textiles?  Upholstery, carpet, bedding, filling materials, window treatments, sun screening–not just for the home or the office, but for everything architectural you can think of–hospitals, jails, the transport sector, schools, and more.

The products on display by manufacturers and designers will ultimately filter down to everyday folk like you and me.

What innovations in computer desks are going to appear in our department stores over the next year?  Will blue in upholstery fabrics stage a comeback?  Or will we see a further step into earth tones?  What will the hot new piece of accent furniture be?  If I buy a sofa table in the next year, will my best bet be for an antique country table or one with a darker, futuristic feel to it?  Are “tan-through” swimsuits coming to a Wal*Mart near me?

More seriously, with titles such as “Eco-Luxury — Green Business — Innovation” and  ““How does Sustainability establish itself in Interior Architecture and what Role do Textiles play in it?” one can see that some of the goals of the 21st century may be a marriage of environmental concerns–the planetary environment with the human environment.

I’m just hoping that no one trots out see-through swimsuits just yet.